The Lumen Portal is PhotoShelter for Brands' current site experience — the page your invited users and site visitors land on to browse, search, and download your content, and it looks just like the Lumen Library. This article covers what invited users see and do on the Portal, as well as what Library Admins can configure.
Article Contents:
- What invited users can do in the Lumen Portal
- Upload to shared galleries
- Use Workspaces
- Branding and customization
What invited users can do in the Lumen Portal
Access shared content
Invited users access the Portal the same way they always have — by opening a gallery invite link in an email notification or by going directly to the site if they already have login credentials. If a gallery requires a password or an account login, the Portal will prompt for whichever is required before showing content.
Browse and search
Invited users can browse galleries and collections, and use the search bar to find specific content by keyword, caption, or metadata.
Download content
Invited users can download individual files or select multiple files for a batch download, depending on the permissions set on the gallery.
Upload to shared galleries
Invited users who've been granted Upload Permission on a specific gallery or collection can upload files directly into it from the Lumen Portal — no special camera integration or FTP software required. Upload Permission works like download permission in reverse: if a gallery's actions menu shows an Upload option, the invited user can add files there.
Note: Upload Permission can be granted to any invited user, not just Contributors. It's a good fit for event and game-day workflows, or for collecting content from one-time freelancers, since uploads land directly in the target gallery instead of the Incoming Files collection. This upload feature is meant for straightforward file collection and routing, not public submissions. For branded campaigns or broader user-generated content workflows, PhotoShelter's UGC feature remains the right tool.
Use Workspaces
Invited users can create a Workspace to curate a selection of media and share it with others for feedback — this works the same way on the Portal as it does in the Library.
Note: Workspace notification preferences (getting notified of activity on a shared Workspace) aren't available on the Portal yet. That setting currently only lives in Classic.
See Workspaces in Lumen for the full walkthrough.
Note: Content Sort Order
Galleries and files on the Portal display in the order your Library Admin has set. See Changing Sort Order for details — note that custom root-level sort currently applies to publicly-visible content, not to invited-only galleries specifically.
What Library Admins can configure
Confirm the Lumen Portal is enabled.
- Go to Settings > Display > PhotoShelter Labs.
- Toggle Enable the Lumen Portal — this turns on the Lumen Portal button in your admin toolbar.
- Toggle Portal links redirect to Lumen instead of Classic — this switches which version your Library URLs point to. Existing shared invite links aren't affected either way.
Branding and customization
For the full walkthrough with screenshots, see: Lumen Portal Overview & Customization Options.
Head to library.photoshelter.com/settings/portal to set your Portal URL, site name, color scheme, logo, and landing page mode (Library View, Search View, or Custom).
Granting Upload Permission
To let an invited user upload into a specific gallery or collection:
- Open the gallery or collection's sharing settings.
- Add or edit the invited user's email-based permission.
- Enable Upload alongside (or instead of) their view/download access.
Note: Upload Permission currently works with email-based invites only — it isn't yet available for password-protected shares. It also requires the Lumen Library and Lumen Portal; it's not available on Classic.
Coming soon
The following features are not yet available on the Lumen Portal.
- Upload Permission via password-protected shares: Granting upload access currently only works through email-based invites.
- Paid digital downloads (e-commerce): Portal e-commerce (cart, checkout, payment processing) is still Classic-only. Customers selling prints or downloads through their Portal need to stay on Classic for now.
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Custom sort order for invited galleries: Custom root-level sort currently applies to publicly visible content only — it doesn't yet extend to invited-only galleries.