For brand & commercial photographers
The shoot is a day. The licence is how they use it for a year.
Commercial and brand photography is quoted to a marketing manager or an agency producer who needs an estimate for their own approval chain. The estimate covers a creative fee, crew, studio or location, props, styling, retouching, and — the part that's often left out — the usage licence. Then the website images end up on a billboard, or retouching requests run into a third round, and the original estimate didn't say anything about either.
ApeiroCraft sends the estimate as a link with the shot list, the creative fee and licence on separate lines, production costs, retouching rounds and the deliverables. You see when it's opened and reopened, it's signed in the browser, and the advance and balance are invoiced from the accepted proposal.
Where commercial shoots lose value.
Licence missing from the estimate
If the licence isn't priced on its own line, the client assumes everything is included forever. Expanded use becomes an awkward request rather than a new invoice.
Shot list creep on the day
A list of twenty product shots becomes thirty-five once the brand team arrives on set. Without a shot count, the day runs long for the same fee.
Retouching rounds
Every image gets three rounds of colour and skin notes from different stakeholders. Retouching is often the slowest part of the job.
Brief to final selects, on one record.
Fee, licence and costs apart
Price the creative fee, the usage licence and production costs — crew, studio, props, styling — separately, so the client's approval chain sees each.
See when it's in approval
Opens and re-opens are recorded on the link. A flurry of reopens after a week of silence often means the estimate has reached the budget holder.
Licence signed, not assumed
The signature records name, email, IP address and a UTC timestamp and can't be changed — media, territory and term are on record.
Advance and balance
Convert the accepted estimate into an advance invoice to cover production costs, then again for the balance on delivery of final images.
What a commercial photography estimate has to include.
Commercial clients expect an estimate that survives their procurement. These sections make it do that.
Shot list
If it's left vague
The list grows on set.
With ApeiroCraft
List shots or set-ups and the day length, and price extra shots or overtime.
Usage licence
If it's left vague
Images used anywhere, forever.
With ApeiroCraft
State media, territory, term and exclusivity, and price expanded use separately.
Production costs
If it's left vague
Crew, studio, styling and props are assumed to be inside the fee.
With ApeiroCraft
List each production cost as its own line.
Retouching
If it's left vague
Unlimited rounds of retouching notes.
With ApeiroCraft
State images retouched, the level, and rounds included.
Cancellation and weather
If it's left vague
A cancelled location shoot leaves crew and studio costs unpaid.
With ApeiroCraft
Give cancellation and postponement terms, including weather days for location work.
- Advance and balance invoices from one accepted estimate.
- Licence renewals tracked as tasks on the client record.
- Invoice currency set per invoice for international brands.
Common questions.
How do commercial photographers usually price?
Common structures are a creative fee (per day or per project) plus a usage licence priced by media, territory and term, plus production costs passed through or marked up. Some quote per image for product work, often with packages for e-commerce. An advance covering production costs is common. ApeiroCraft holds the structure; it doesn't set rates.
What does a brand shoot estimate look like?
A one-day studio shoot of a named shot list; a creative fee; a licence for owned digital channels and in-store print in one country for two years, non-exclusive; paid advertising licensed separately; crew of an assistant and a stylist, studio hire and props as lines; retouching of a set number of selects with two rounds; an advance on signing and the balance on delivery. The producer reopens it after an internal meeting, signs, and you invoice the advance.
When is ApeiroCraft not the right fit?
It doesn't host galleries for client selection or deliver final images, and it doesn't have a booking calendar. If your clients issue their own purchase orders and contracts, you might only need the invoicing. ApeiroCraft fits direct estimates where you write the licence terms.
How is this different from your photographers page?
The photographers page focuses on private clients — weddings, portraits, events — where the date and deposit matter most. Commercial work turns on the licence and production costs, so this page focuses there.
Can I charge for a licence extension later?
Yes. Send a short proposal for the extended licence, get it signed, and invoice it against the same client record.
Price the licence on its own line.
Start from the photography template and add your commercial licence terms.
Start freeStill deciding? Talk to the founder
Keep reading
Free template
Photography proposal template
Coverage hours, deliverables, usage rights, and a deposit schedule that holds the date.
Solution
ApeiroCraft for photographers
Quote, contract, and deposit in one link — instead of a PDF and a chased invoice.
Solution
ApeiroCraft for content creators
Brand deals with usage rights, deliverables, and payment terms a sponsor can sign.