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The Browser is the page in ZenTransfer where every photo arriving at your account is visible. You open it from your dashboard. It's a grid of thumbnails with a filmstrip preview, culling tools, a metadata panel, and a Transfer panel — everything you need to go from "the files are here" to "the picks are at the client."

When to use the Browser¶

• You want to see what's arrived and confirm a shoot landed safely
• You shoot more than you deliver and want to select before sending picks out
• You need per-image metadata or filename overrides on specific frames
• You want to send only selected frames to specific destinations (manual transfer)

If your workflow is purely "shoot and let everything fan out automatically", you may rarely open the Browser. It's there when you need it.

Opening the Browser¶

From your dashboard, click Browser in the navigation. You land in the grid view of your files.

Layout¶

• Header — ZenTransfer logo (live indicator), sort and filter controls, actions menu
• Grid pane — thumbnail grid; click to preview
• Filmstrip / preview — large preview with filmstrip strip
• Side panels — Metadata, Transfer, Uploads
• Action bar — pick / reject, star rating, color label, apply template

Getting files into the Browser¶

Most files arrive automatically — anything uploaded via camera FTP, the Desktop app, mobile apps, browser dropzone, guest links, or HTTP shows up here.

You can also drag and drop files directly into the Browser. Files dropped into the Browser are kept for culling but do not fan out to your enabled destinations automatically — you'll deliver them through the Transfer panel when ready. This is the difference between auto-transfer and manual transfer.

Culling tools¶

Standard photo-culling gestures:

• Pick / reject flag — quick include / exclude
• Star rating (0–5) — finer-grained ranking
• Color label — Photo Mechanic and Lightroom compatible colours

Select multiple items (shift-click or rubber-band) to apply an action to the whole selection.

Metadata panel¶

The right-side Metadata panel lets you:

• Edit IPTC and EXIF fields per image or for a selection
• Pick a layout (ZenTransfer, Photo Mechanic, or another)
• Apply template — batch-apply your active metadata template to the selected items

See Metadata templates for setting up the template that gets applied.

Transfer panel (manual transfer)¶

The Transfer panel is where you send selected items to selected destinations.

Destinations are grouped in the panel:

• FTP servers
• Email recipients
• Galleries
• Cloud drives
• Cloud storage

How it works:

• Each destination has a checkbox in the panel
• Disabled destinations (those that are off for auto-transfer) are still selectable here for one-off manual transfer
• Selections are remembered per session
• The Transfer button shows "Transfer N items to M destinations"
• Clicking submits the job

Use manual transfer when you've culled and want to deliver only the selects, not every frame.

Uploads panel¶

Shows the progress of files being dropped directly into the Browser. Useful when drag-dropping a folder of frames to watch them upload.

Live updates¶

The logo in the header doubles as a live indicator:

• Colour — connected; new files and edits appear instantly
• Greyscale — disconnected; refresh or check your network

When you have the Browser open in multiple tabs, edits in one tab appear in the others automatically.

Keyboard shortcuts¶

Common shortcuts are listed in the actions menu. The defaults mirror Photo Mechanic and Lightroom where applicable:

• P — pick
• X — reject
• 0–5 — star rating
• 6–9 — color labels
• Arrow keys — navigate
• Enter — open preview / filmstrip

Access¶

The Browser belongs to your ZenTransfer account. There is no separate editor login — anyone who needs to see the files either logs into your account or receives the files via a destination (FTP, cloud folder, gallery share link, etc.).

To share photos with a client, use a gallery and share link — those have a public URL that doesn't require a login.

Common mistakes¶

• Drag-dropping into the Browser expecting destination fan-out — manual upload here keeps the file for culling, it doesn't auto-deliver. Use camera FTP, Desktop app, or another auto-transfer path for direct delivery.
• Forgetting to apply the metadata template before transfer — files leave with default metadata. Apply the template from the Metadata panel.
• Wrong destinations selected in the Transfer panel — verify checkboxes before clicking Transfer.

Related reading¶

• Core concepts — auto-transfer vs manual transfer
• Metadata templates — IPTC fields applied before delivery
• Solo photographer workflow
• Galleries and client sharing