Protected downloads with a unique, expiring link
Handing over a full-resolution photo is the moment you lose control of the file. FotoHook fences it in: a link of its own for each download, a limited number of uses and an expiry date.
What it does
When an order is marked as paid, FotoHook creates a download authorisation per photo and per client. That authorisation carries a long random token, a download counter, a maximum number of uses and an expiry date.
The original file is not in any public folder. It lives outside the web directory and is only handed over by the system, which first checks three things: that the token exists, that it has uses left and that it has not expired. If any of the three fails, there is no file.
Until then, all the client has been able to see are the versions with your watermark. The clean photo appears exactly once: when there is a purchase behind it.
That is the difference between delivering over a transfer link —which expires after a week, gets forwarded to the family group chat and leaves no trace— and delivering with a record of who took what, and when.
How it works, step by step
The client pays
Stripe or your bank confirm the transaction and the order becomes paid without you checking anything by hand.
The authorisation is created
One per purchased photo and per client, with its unique token, its counter and its expiry date. Nobody else can use it, not even another client from the same event.
The client downloads
From their orders section, in the private area. Nothing has to be emailed or sent over WeTransfer: the link is where they bought.
Each download is counted
The counter goes up every time the file is served. Three are allowed by default, enough to cover the phone, the computer and the attempt that failed halfway.
The link expires
Past the date it stops serving the photo even if someone saved it. The purchase stays on record; what expires is access to the file.
Details worth knowing
A long, random token
Not a sequential number: you cannot guess another photo's link by changing a digit, which is the classic flaw of homemade galleries.
Maximum downloads
Three by default, configurable. It is what stops a link ending up circulating like a shared folder.
Expiry date
Each authorisation stores when it stops being valid. It is what lets you actually close a job instead of dragging it on indefinitely.
One per client and photo
Two people buying the same photo get different authorisations, so the trail of each download is individual.
The original, untouched
What is delivered is the file exactly as you uploaded it: its resolution, its colour profile and its quality, with no recompression or resizing.
Watermarked until payment
Everything visible before buying carries your logo over it. The usable version is only handed over against a paid order.
Who it is for
Anyone selling digital files and not just prints. The moment you hand over a full-resolution JPEG the file can end up anywhere; what you can control is how many times it goes out and until when.
And also for anyone delivering without selling: a delivery gallery with expiring downloads is far easier to close than a shared folder still alive three years later.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. They are values on the authorisation, not something fixed in the system: if a client loses the file, access can be granted again without them paying twice.
They can, as with any link. That is what the counter is for: once the uses run out the link stops working, whoever shares it. And either way there is a record of how many times it was downloaded.
The authorisation is per purchased photo. If you sell batches, the client gets the authorisation for every photo in the batch and downloads them from the same place.
They stay in the gallery with a watermark. With no paid order there is no authorisation, and with no authorisation the original is never served.
They are stored on the FotoHook server, outside the web directory and with no public URL. You can delete them whenever you want by deleting the photo or the event.
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