Quick Start — Your First Event in 10 Minutes

This guide walks you through everything you need to get a live, shareable, AI-powered photo gallery up and running. No prior experience with FotoOwl needed.

By the end of this guide, you'll have:

A live event gallery
A QR code guests can scan to find their photos
Face recognition working across your uploads

Before you begin

Make sure you have:

A FotoOwl account (sign up at fotoowl.ai if you haven't yet)
Your event photos ready to upload (JPEG or PNG)
10 minutes

Step 1 — Create a new event

Log into your FotoOwl dashboard and click Create Event.

You'll be asked to fill in:

Event name — e.g. "Sharma Wedding – Dec 2025" or "Annual Sales Conference"
Event date
Event type — Wedding, Corporate, Sports, Festival, etc.

Stop here for a moment. Before you create the event, decide if you want to enable Photo Selling. These features must be switched on now — they cannot be added after the event is created.

Once you've configured your settings, click Create.

Your event is now live — it just doesn't have any photos in it yet.

Step 2 — Upload your photos

Inside your event, click Upload Photos.

You can:

Drag and drop photos directly from your computer
Upload in bulk — FotoOwl handles large batches without issues

Supported formats: JPEG, PNG File size: No limit per photo — original resolution is preserved

FotoOwl will start processing your photos as soon as they're uploaded. The AI scans every face in every image automatically — you don't need to tag or sort anything manually.

Processing time depends on the number of photos. For most event-sized batches (200–1,000 photos), you'll be ready within a few minutes.

Step 3 — Customize your gallery (optional but recommended)

Before sharing, spend two minutes making the gallery look like yours.

Go to Gallery Settings and:

Upload your logo — it appears on every page of the gallery
Set your watermark — your branding will appear automatically on every photo guests download or share
Add your contact details so guests (and potential new clients) know how to reach you
Choose your gallery theme and colors

This is what turns a shared photo album into a professional client experience.

Step 4 — Get your QR code

FotoOwl automatically generates a unique QR code for your event. You'll find it in the event dashboard under Share.

You can:

Download it and print it for venue signage, table cards, or banners
Copy the direct link to include in WhatsApp messages or email invites
Display it on a screen at the event entrance

Guests scan the QR code with their phone camera — no app download required. It opens instantly in their mobile browser.

Once you're happy with the gallery, it's time to share.

Option A — QR code at the venue Print or display the QR code. Guests scan it, upload a selfie, and see their photos immediately.

Option B — WhatsApp or email link Copy your event link from the dashboard and send it directly to guests. They click the link, upload a selfie, and get their personalized gallery.

Option C — Both This is the recommended approach for most events. Put up QR codes on-site and send the link to anyone who might not have seen the code at the event.

Step 6 — Guests access their photos

Here's what your guest experiences:

They scan the QR code or click your link
A simple form opens in their browser
They upload a selfie (this takes about 10 seconds)
FotoOwl's AI matches their face across all your event photos
They see a personalized gallery of every photo they appear in — nothing else

No scrolling through 1,000 photos. No asking you to send specific ones. No follow-up calls.

You're done

That's a live FotoOwl gallery. Your guests are finding their photos, your branding is on every image they download, and you haven't manually sorted a single file.

What to explore next

Now that your first event is live, here are some features worth looking at:

Photo Selling

If you enabled this during event creation, guests can now purchase photos directly from their gallery. Set your prices in the FotoOwl Store under your account settings.

→ Learn more about Photo Selling

Beam — Live camera upload

For your next event, consider setting up Beam so photos go from your camera to the gallery in real time — while you're still shooting.

→ Learn more about Beam

Guest Upload

Add a second QR code at your venue that lets guests contribute their own photos. Great for capturing angles you physically can't be in two places to get.

→ Learn more about Guest Upload

Hashtrack

If you enabled this during event creation, it's already working. When guests download a photo, they'll see a pop-up that makes it easy to share with your event hashtags.

→ Learn more about Hashtrack

Common questions

How long does face recognition take? Most photos are processed within a few minutes of uploading. Guests who scan the QR code while you're still uploading may need to wait briefly — you can let them know photos are still coming in.

What if a guest can't find their photos? Ask them to try uploading a clearer selfie (facing the camera, good lighting). The AI is 99.8% accurate, but a blurry or angled selfie can reduce matching quality.

Can I add photos after sharing the gallery? Yes. You can continue uploading photos to an event at any time. New photos are processed and added to the gallery automatically.

Can I edit or delete photos after uploading? Yes. You can remove individual photos from an event at any time from your dashboard.

My event is already created — can I still enable Photo Selling? Unfortunately, no. These features must be enabled at the time of event creation. For your next event, make sure to toggle them on before hitting Create.