Run the entire studio from one system.
Clients, picture days, contracts, invoices, and books, connected in one operational record. Built inside two working photography companies.
Click around. It's all real.
Every relationship, one record.
Leads land from your public inquiry link, move across the pipeline, and become clients with a full timeline: every session, contract, invoice, and note, forever.
One record runs it all.
An accepted estimate becomes a contract, a signed contract becomes an invoice, a paid invoice thanks the client, automatically. You shoot; the business runs itself behind you.
Lincoln Elementary
Estimate → invoice → paid → kept
One link. Zero passwords.
Clients accept estimates, sign contracts, and see invoices, all from their phone.
Signed from a phone
Typed legal signature, timestamped with an audit trail. You find out when it's done.
Every touchpoint, remembered forever.
Busywork, retired
Inquiries answered instantly. Paid invoices thank the client themselves.
Both businesses. One login.
The studio nobody else's software fits. It fits here.
Half portrait. Half volume. Zero compromises.
Portraits & weddings
- Leads that follow up themselves. No inquiry dies in your inbox again.
- Clients book a real opening from their phone. No back-and-forth, no double bookings.
- Questionnaires that put wardrobe, shot list and details on the record, not in your inbox.
- Contracts signed and deposits paid before you ever lift a camera.
- Client timelines that remember every session, order, and conversation forever.
Volume & picture days
- Rosters in, QR cards out. Every kid matched to every image, automatically.
- School portals that answer twenty emails a day without you.
- Retakes, labs, and yearbook deadlines that schedule themselves.
Run both? One login, two brands. Your second brand is a simple add-on, free during the beta and $30/mo at launch. We set it up with you when you join.
Keylight Accounting
Coming soonPhotography-native books built right in: session profitability, school revenue, expenses, tax-ready by default. The QuickBooks tab, retired.
One login replaces the stack.
Most studios pay for a photography CRM and accounting software, and still keep spreadsheets for picture days. Keylight is all three.
| What you need | Keylight | Photography CRMs | Accounting apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clients, leads & pipeline | Yes | Yes | No |
| Estimates to contracts to invoices, connected | Yes | Partly | Partly |
| Client portal with e-signing | Yes | Higher tiers | No |
| Picture days, rosters & QR check-in | Yes | No | No |
| Expenses & net-profit reports | Yes | No | Yes |
| Portrait AND volume in one system | Yes | No | No |
Category comparison, not a feature-by-feature claim about any specific product. Payments via Stripe are on the public build schedule.
Every feature ships because one of those businesses needed it on an actual Tuesday.
Donnie Stevens, working photographer
Apply
Three questions about your studio: portrait, volume, or both. Donnie reads every application personally.
We set you up
Founding studios get white-glove onboarding: your clients, your schools, your first picture day, set up with you and not dumped on you.
Run everything
Inquiries, sessions, signatures, money, and books in one record. Free during the beta; founding price locked for life.
Fair questions.
Is this actually free right now?
Yes. Everything live is free during the beta. No card, no trial clock. When early access ends, founding studios keep a permanent discount on published pricing.
What's real today versus coming soon?
Sixteen modules are live today. Online payments and the copilot are on the public build schedule, and the features page carries a live status against every single line.
Live now: clients, leads, estimates, invoices, contracts with e-signing, the client portal, questionnaires, online booking, calendar, tasks, picture days with QR check-in, school portals, retakes and lab orders, expenses, reports, and starter automations.
I run volume AND portrait work. Does this actually handle both?
It was built inside one company that does exactly that. Both workflows live under one login: picture days next to wedding timelines, school revenue next to session profitability.
Can I import from my current software?
CSV import for rosters is live; client import arrives with migration tools. Founding studios get white-glove migration. We move your data with you.
Who's behind this?
A working photographer operating a volume photography company and a fine-art portrait studio. Every feature ships because one of those businesses needed it on an actual Tuesday.
Stop running the software.
Start running the studio.
We're hand-picking a small founding cohort of portrait and volume studios. Applications are read personally, every one of them.
Apply for the beta →Free during the beta · Founding price locked for life · No card required