Core concepts to understand ZenTransfer

These are the terms that come up repeatedly across the documentation. Read this once and the rest of the docs will make sense.

The relay model¶

ZenTransfer is a relay. You upload a file once, and ZenTransfer forwards a copy to every destination you have enabled. You do not configure the camera to talk to Google Drive, Dropbox, and an FTP desk separately — the camera talks to ZenTransfer, and ZenTransfer handles the rest.

Why this matters:

• One camera profile covers every destination
• Toggle destinations on or off from your phone between assignments
• Add or remove destinations without reconfiguring the camera
• A single transfer over 4G/WiFi, the fan out happens in the cloud with infinite bandwidth
• ZenTransfer will retry failed transfers in the background - even if you have no connection

Ingest vs delivery¶

Ingest is how files enter ZenTransfer.

• Camera FTP, FTPS, or SFTP
• Mobile apps (photo library upload)
• Desktop app (card import, folder upload, drag-drop)
• Browser dropzone on your dashboard
• Guest upload links (third-party contributors)
• HTTP upload (curl, scripts, webhooks)
• API upload (custom integrations)

Delivery is how files leave ZenTransfer.

• Email recipients with traceable download links
• Outbound FTP/FTPS/SFTP servers
• Cloud drives (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Lightroom)
• Cloud storage (AWS S3, Azure, GCP, Cloudflare, other S3-compatible)
• Webhooks and Zapier triggers
• REST API for pull-style integrations
• Gallery share links to clients

See the Ingest methods reference and Destinations matrix for the full details.

Monitor and Browser¶

The Monitor lets you see activity in ZenTransfer. The view updates in real time so that you can see incoming files and that they are successfully transferred to the preconfigured destinations.

The Browser offers a realtime, multi-user, culling experience comparable to what you find in Photo Mechanic and Lightroom. You can browse and preview all files, see detailed file and EXIF information, view and edit metadata, and manually initiate transfers to any of your configured destinations. Files are available in the browser until their retention period expires.

The Browser is designed for use on larger screens, and is optimal with a keyboard for fast culling. It is not available on mobile devices (small screens).

Destinations¶

A destination is any configured endpoint that can receive files. ZenTransfer supports a multitude of protocols, cloud services, and technologies for delivering files.

Destinations can be enabled for auto-transfer. When a file is ingested, the server will peform a fan-out operation to relay the file to all destinations. Disabled destinations are skipped on auto, but can still be selected explicitly in the Browser's Transfer panel for manual transfer.

Auto-transfer vs manual transfer¶

Auto-transfer happens whenever a file arrives through the standard upload paths. The file is processed, then fans out in parallel to every emabled destination. This is the default mode and what most photographers use. You control which destinations are enabled for auto-transfer in the Dashboard.

Manual transfer happens in the Browser. You select one or more files, then click Transfer to send chosen items to chosen destinations. This is useful when you want to deliver only your picks rather than every frame. An editor working together with a photographer will find the Browser useful. You drag photos directly into the Browser to upload them without invoking the default fan-out to enabled destinations.

Storage and retention¶

Files uploaded to ZenTransfer.io are held briefly while they are delivered to your destinations. Default retention is 24 hours — but you can configure ZenTransfer to hold your files for longer. The retention window is configurable in your dashboard under Upload. ZenTransfer will automatically delete files when the retention period expires.

Destinations get permanent copies; ZenTransfer's role is to deliver and provide short-term download links. Note that remote systems may have their own retention policies which are outside of ZenTransfer's control.

Galleries are an exception — gallery storage is permanent (curated collections you intend to keep). ZenTransfer keeps content in a gallery until you delete a file or the gallery itself.

Renaming files and applying metadata¶

You can define a rename template, so that every file being ingested into ZenTransfer is renamed to your liking, ensuring a unique file name on every file you upload.

Metadata templates¶

ZenTransfer applies your active metadata templates to every outgoing file before it leaves the platform. IPTC and EXIF fields like copyright, byline, credit, caption, and keywords are written into the file itself.

You can have many templates and switch the active one per assignment. Templates can also be applied selectively from inside the Browser for per-image overrides.

Enabling more than one template is an advanced concept - all enabled templates will be applied in alphabetical order. If a field exists in multiple templates, the last template decides what is written into the file. Use the Replace, Prepend, Append or Clear toggles for detailed control.

Variables, counters, code replacement, and autocomplete¶

All XMP and EXIF data is available as variables, and can be used for rename operations and in metadata templates. Sequence counters lets you assign unique numbers to files that are uploaded.

When you edit metadata interactively, you can use code replacements to quickly expand text, e.g. names of players by their player number. You can also set up autocomplete per metadata field to reuse common values, such as city or credit line.

Image processing¶

ZenTransfer offers a range of image processing options. These are optional pixel-alterting operations that produce a new image file that is transferred to the configured destinations.

Realtime / live indicator¶

The ZenTransfer logo in the Browser and on gallery share pages doubles as a live-sync indicator. Color means the live channel is connected — new files and edits arrive instantly. Greyscale means disconnected — check your network connection or refresh the browser to ensure you are are authenticated with a valid session.

Galleries¶

Galleries provide permanent storage for photos that can be shared externally. Galleries are shared via links that you can distribute via email or messaging apps.

Supporting apps¶

While all you need to use ZenTransfer is an account and a camera that supports FTP, there are apps to support and extend the functionality of ZenTransfer.

• ZenTransfer Desktop lets you ingest from memory cards, upload to ZenTransfer, and receive files from ZenTransfer to your own computer
• ZenTransfer for iPhone and Android lets you upload from your mobile phone, useful when you take photos with your mobile or connect a memory card reader to the phone