Plain answers for the people standing at the table
What the code does, what happens to a photograph once it is sent, whether your phone is showing anything to anybody, and what to do when the upload stops. Written to be forwarded to a relative who says he does not know how.
Every collection gets the same four or five questions from the guests, usually from the person who is confident enough to ask out loud and quiet enough about the answer to send a photograph by text instead. This page is written for them, and for the host who would rather forward a link than explain it twice.
Getting on the page
Do I have to install anything?
No. Point your camera at the card or tap the link, and your normal browser opens on the collection — Safari, Chrome, whichever you already use. There is nothing to download from an app store and nothing to update.
Do I need an account or a password?
No. The page asks for your name and your email address, which is the whole registration. Nothing is confirmed by email, nothing is charged, and there is no password to forget by the time you get home.
Why does it already know my name?
Because you gave it on this phone within the last twelve hours. The sheet shows "You're sending as" instead of asking again. "Not you? Change" brings the fields back — for a borrowed phone, a partner sending their own set, or a name that got spelled wrong in a hurry.
The code will not scan. What now?
Type the short address printed under it, or ask the host for the link, which is the same thing. A cracked camera lens and a laminated card under a downlight are the two usual reasons, and neither is a reason you stop having photographs.
What the host can see
Can the host see my camera roll?
No. A browser can only hand over files you chose through the picker, and nothing else on your phone is reachable from that page. This is also what makes a shared or borrowed phone safe to use.
Can other guests see my photographs?
Only if the host opened the shared gallery, and only the ones you sent. Some hosts keep the page upload-only so nobody sees anything until the end.
Is my name shown to other guests?
Only if the host chose to show contributors. Either way your name is visible to the host beside what you sent, which is how they know whose to thank.
Will this be posted anywhere public?
No. The collection sits behind an address that is not in any search index and is not listed anywhere. The only people who can reach it are the ones the host handed a card or a link to.
Sending, and what happens to the file
Will my photographs be squashed?
Not by this page. There is no compression step between your camera and the collection, so the host receives the file your camera wrote, at full size, with the date it was taken still in it. That is the difference from sending the same photograph through a messaging app.
A file was refused as too big. What does that mean?
The ceiling is fixed rather than something the host sets: 15 MB for a photograph and 100 MB for a clip, the same on every package. The one thing that works is to send a smaller export of the same file, and the page will take it.
My upload stopped halfway. Are the photographs lost?
No. The queue holds your chosen files and retries them; you can leave the page, browse the gallery, or put the phone in your pocket and the uploads carry on. Anything that genuinely gave up shows as failed with a retry beside it, and pressing that resumes the files rather than starting again.
Can I delete something I sent?
Not yourself — the file is in the host's collection now. Ask them and they can remove it, and it stops appearing to anybody else.
The page says uploads have closed. Is that my fault?
No. It means the host's period for receiving files has ended, and the gallery beside it still shows what came in. The photographs you tried to send are still on your phone, which is the only copy that matters.
After the evening
How long can I keep looking at the gallery?
For as long as the collection stays open, which is a stated period chosen by the host — a week, six months, a year or two. The page tells you when uploads have closed, and the photographs themselves are downloaded by the host before they leave the site.
Will the host get a copy of my photographs?
Yes, in one archive containing everything the collection holds, taken before the closing date. That archive is how the photographs reach the relative who was not there.
Can I get my own photographs back from the gallery?
They never left your phone. Where the host allows downloads, any photograph in the gallery opens at full size and saves — including the ones other people took of you, which is the part a group chat never delivered.
Someone in my photos does not want them there
Tell the host. They can hide a file without deleting it, or remove it entirely, and the gallery and the room screen both stop showing it immediately.
A short version, for the invitation
- Scan the code, or type the address printed underneath it
- Give your first name — the only thing the page asks for
- Choose the photographs and press send
- Stay on the page until the queue has emptied
- Clips are welcome and land in the same collection
Some hosts write the instructions into the invitation themselves, which is the kindest thing available to the guest who does not like being handed a QR code at a table. It fits in two sentences, and there is no reason to make it longer.
There is a card on every table. Scan it, or type the short address underneath, and send us the photographs you took — no app, no account, just your name and your pictures.
Send this page instead of explaining it
A host who forwards one link saves themselves four conversations, and the guest who was unsure gets the same answer in the same words on a phone they are already holding.
Packages
One price for the collection, chosen before the invitations go out
Every package carries the guest link, the printable stands and the private gallery. Guests never pay and never register.
Something this page does not answer? Write to support@candidphotos.myjoyfullday.com.