Editing workflow: how we deliver a 60-photo listing in 24 hours
Lightroom, Capture One, presets, batch edits, and a fixed delivery template. The exact pipeline we run when an agency needs a full listing back the next morning.
The 24-hour delivery is the most common ask we get from Marrakech real estate agencies. It is also the most expensive service we offer. Here is the exact pipeline, the software stack, the presets, and the delivery template that lets us turn a 60-photo listing around in 24 hours without compromising on quality.
The 24-hour delivery costs 35% more than the standard 3-day turnaround. Most agencies book it 2-3 times per quarter, when a listing is going live and the photographer has shot it late. The constraint is hard: photos by midnight, edit by 6am, delivery by 9am. We have run this pipeline 47 times in 2025. We have missed the deadline once — and only once, on a 110-photo luxury listing during a power cut.
The 6-step pipeline
Step 1 is the import. The shooter dumps the cards into a single project folder, organised by property address. Step 2 is the cull — we use Photo Mechanic for the first pass, 60 photos per minute, no rating yet, just a star for the keepers. Step 3 is the colour match — we run the 60 keepers through a fixed preset stack in Lightroom, then hand-correct the 8-12 frames that need a second pass. Step 4 is the export — 4096px on the long edge, sRGB, 80% JPEG quality. Step 5 is the delivery — we upload to a fixed client folder, send a single email, and mark the project done in our CRM.
- 01Step 1: Import via Photo Mechanic, 1 folder per property
- 02Step 2: Cull at 60 photos/min, star the keepers
- 03Step 3: Colour match in Lightroom, 8-12 frames hand-corrected
- 04Step 4: Export 4096px, sRGB, 80% JPEG
- 05Step 5: Upload to client folder, send delivery email
- 06Step 6: Mark project done, invoice the agency
The presets
We use a fixed stack of 4 presets — base, twilight, interior, and pool. The base preset is our default for the 80% of frames that just need a colour match. The twilight preset adds 200K of warmth and lifts the shadows by 8%. The interior preset pulls the highlights down by 15% and adds a small contrast curve. The pool preset cools the water by 300K and adds a tiny clarity bump on the tiles. Every preset was built in-house over 18 months, and every preset is locked — we do not edit the presets at the project level.
“If you are changing the preset at the project level, you do not have a preset. You have a habit.”
The delivery template
The email template is 4 paragraphs, fixed. Paragraph 1: thank you for the brief, the project is delivered. Paragraph 2: links to the gallery, the low-res proofs, and the high-res download. Paragraph 3: the standard licence terms (personal use, agency use, no third-party sublicensing without written permission). Paragraph 4: a single line asking for feedback and a Google review link. The template is signed by the editor who did the cull, not the photographer. The agency knows exactly who to ask for, and we know exactly who owns the delivery.
The 24-hour delivery is a service we built for the agencies that needed it most. It is not a service we recommend for every shoot — the price premium is real, the strain on the team is real, and the margin is thinner than our standard turnaround. But for the listings that need it, it is the most reliable 24-hour photo service in Marrakech. If you need a 24-hour turnaround, send the brief before 4pm, and we will deliver by 9am the next morning.
