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Projects

A project is one client job: its conversation, contact, date, contract, payments, and delivery.

Projects you add yourself or receive through inquiry forms start as inquiries, marked New Lead. Projects from service booking pages may arrive already booked. Each project stays with the job through the shoot, editing, and delivery.

Every project follows the same built-in steps, so there are no pipelines or stages to set up. The project’s Progress checklist shows the booking, contract, payment, session, and delivery steps, and what to do next.

Create a project

Use the + menu in the top bar and choose Add New Project. Enter:

  • Name: a useful job name, such as “Chen Family Fall Session” or “Morgan & Lee Wedding.”
  • Service Type: required. Create services in Settings → Services & Packages if the list is empty.
  • Contact: optional at creation. Search by the client’s name or email.
  • Date: optional. Add it when the project date is known.
  • Notes: optional context for your team.

The new project begins as New Lead. Open it to add the time and location under Details, then use Progress for the package, contract, invoice, and delivery.

Inquiry forms create a contact and project from the client’s answers. Service booking pages create projects when checkout is complete. Mini-session booking pages create bookings instead. Check the details already filled in before making changes.

Use one project per client job, and keep its conversation and documents on that project.

Find the work that needs attention

Go to Projects from the main sidebar. You can review your work in different views:

  • Table shows the project name, event date, service, location, amount, and the status most relevant to your current filter. Select rows here when you need a bulk action.
  • Kanban groups cards into Inquiries, Booked, In Fulfillment, and Completed. Drag a card to a valid next column or use the action on the card. LYGHTBOX asks for confirmation when a move needs an exception.
  • Calendar shows projects on their project dates, tasks on their due dates, and published mini-session days. Select a day to create a project or task with that date already chosen.

The Table view has broad groups for All Active, Inquiries, Booked, In Fulfillment, and Completed. Use the smaller filters to narrow the list to New, Needs Follow-up, Contract Needed, Payment Needed, or Awaiting Project Date. You can also filter by service.

A booked project can appear under both Contract Needed and Payment Needed until each step is complete.

To review older work, switch to Table view, open Filter settings, and turn on Show archived. Archived projects are hidden from the active views by default.

A circle with an exclamation mark beside a project date means other work falls on that day. Select it to see the projects and booking pages. You can find this notice in Table and Kanban views and beside the date on the project page. In Calendar, open the marked day.

The notice includes other projects and dates offered on published Services and Mini Sessions pages. It checks the whole day, even when times differ. Booking-page matches are labelled Services availability or Mini sessions availability and can appear before anyone books.

Tasks and the booking page the project came from are excluded. Other projects on the same day still appear, including those booked through that page. You can keep scheduling and saving as usual. If a check fails, select Try again.

Work from the project page

Select a project name or row to open it. Your conversation with the client fills the main column, and the sidebar shows where the job stands.

The main button in the header changes as the job moves forward: Mark Booked, Start fulfillment, then Mark delivered. Use the ⋮ menu beside it to archive the project.

The sidebar shows:

  • Contact: the client’s name, email, and phone. Open their full record, or assign a contact if the project does not have one yet.
  • Progress: the job’s steps: Inquiry (Booked once confirmed), Contract, Payment, Session, and Delivery, each with its status and date. Once the project is booked, an open step shows one next action, such as Create contract, Set up, Create invoice, or Record payment. Select a step to open it.
  • Details: the date, time, location, and notes. A date or time saves as soon as you pick it. Location and notes save when you leave the field.
  • Questionnaire, Form submission, Automated emails, and Activity: select one to open it in the sidebar while you keep writing. Use the back arrow to return.

Questionnaire lets you send a questionnaire and read the answers. Form submission shows the inquiry answers that created the project, or None for projects you added yourself. Automated emails lists the emails LYGHTBOX will send for this project, such as reminders and your service’s client emails; choose Skip to leave one out for this project. Activity shows what has happened on the project, who did it, and when.

Contracts

Select the Contract step to create, publish, and send a contract and track its signature. If the job does not need one, turn off Contract required at the top of the panel. See Contracts.

Payments

Select the Payment step to open Payments. The top shows what is remaining, what has been paid, and the total. Record payment adds money received another way. The panel has three tabs:

  • Invoices: create, send, and manage invoices.
  • Payments: payments received, including booking-page payments. Edit or delete the ones you recorded.
  • Package & add-ons: change the service, package, or amount, add extras, and turn Payment required or Charge tax on or off.

See Invoices and payments.

Delivery

Select the Delivery step to see the job’s stage, delivery date, and who it is assigned to, and to link galleries. Choose Open in Fulfillment to work on the checklist, team comments, and client messages.

Move an inquiry to delivery

1. Qualify and book the work

Keep the conversation and inquiry details on the project while the client decides. When they commit, choose Mark Booked and confirm the action.

You can book the project before the contract is signed or the balance is paid. Those steps stay visible until you complete them.

If the work does not go ahead, open the ⋮ menu in the project header. For an inquiry, choose Mark Lost and Archive and add a reason; the project is marked Closed Lost. For a booked project, choose Archive Project and confirm.

2. Finish the agreement and payment steps

Select the Contract step to create and send the contract, or turn off Contract required when no agreement is needed. Select the Payment step to set the package or amount, invoice what the client still owes, or use Record payment for money received another way.

The project status updates as signatures and payments arrive. Only mark these steps complete yourself when the client signed or paid outside LYGHTBOX.

3. Start the editing work

Start fulfillment becomes available when the project is booked and its contract is signed or marked not required. If the payment is incomplete or the project date is in the future, LYGHTBOX warns you and lets you decide whether to start early.

After the project date has passed in your account’s time zone, fulfillment starts automatically once the project is booked, the contract is signed, and payment is complete. Requirements marked not required also count as complete. Projects without a date need a manual start.

Starting fulfillment adds the project to Fulfillment as Queued. Open it there to assign an owner, set a delivery date, track a checklist, add gallery links, and send client messages. No separate task needs to be created.

Set Delivery time in the service’s Delivery settings to give new fulfillment jobs a delivery date based on the project date. If no project date is set, the time starts when fulfillment begins. You can change an individual job’s delivery date in Fulfillment.

4. Mark the work delivered

Once fulfillment has started, choose Mark delivered when the finished work has been delivered. You can do this from the project or from its Fulfillment details. In Fulfillment, you can also use Send & mark delivered to send the delivery message and update the job together. General tasks are managed separately.

Delivered projects appear under Completed until you archive them. If the client still owes money when you choose Mark delivered, LYGHTBOX shows the remaining balance and asks you to confirm.

Add extras after booking

To sell more after booking, such as extra photos, the full gallery, rush delivery, or extra time, open Payments and choose the Package & add-ons tab. Under Add-ons, choose Add, pick the add-on, and review the new total and balance. Then choose Add to project. Rush delivery can move the delivery date sooner, and extra time lengthens the session.

The add-on is added to the project total. Invoice it from the Invoices tab, or record the payment when it arrives. Use an add-on’s ⋮ menu to Change or Remove it.

Set up the add-ons you offer in Services and pricing.

Bulk actions

In Table view, select one or more rows. The action bar only shows actions that apply to at least one selected active project, such as Mark Booked, Start fulfillment, Mark delivered, or Archive Projects.

Review your selection before confirming. LYGHTBOX skips projects that are not ready for the chosen action. It asks before starting fulfillment with incomplete payments or future project dates. When archiving inquiries, it asks for one loss reason for the selection. Projects that are ready to start appear in Fulfillment.

Safe recovery and useful habits

  • A project disappeared: switch to Table view and check Filter settings → Show archived. You can still view archived projects, but cannot restore them from the project page.
  • A project was marked Closed Lost: lost work cannot be moved back to Booked. Only choose this when the job will not go ahead.
  • Start fulfillment is missing: confirm the project is booked and the contract is signed or not required. Payment and date issues produce a confirmation; contract issues block the action.
  • Record payment is unavailable: select the Payment step and choose a package or enter an amount. Choosing a package fills in its price, and you can change the amount afterward.
  • A status looks wrong after an external payment or signature: check the related invoice, payment, or contract first. Only change its status yourself if the client paid or signed outside LYGHTBOX.
  • An update fails: keep the project open, refresh, and check Activity in the sidebar before trying again so you do not repeat an action that already succeeded.