File sharing for interior designers: a review workflow
A five-stage file workflow for interior designers, from client plans and mood boards to approval and final delivery.
File sharing for interior designers is one loop that repeats on every project: collect what you need from the client, send boards and plans, gather comments, revise, then deliver the final files. This workflow gives each stage one link, so clients do not need an account and you stop hunting through email threads for the latest version.
Stage 1: collect floor plans, room photos and measurements
Before concept work starts, you need the client's existing floor plans, photos of each room, measurements and inspiration images. Asking for them by email gives you attachments scattered across replies. A file request replaces that with one link. Tarkle describes it this way: "Collect files from anyone with one link, into the folder you choose, and stop chasing attachments."
Give the request a title and a description of what you need, choose the folder the files should land in, and send the link. You can turn on email notifications, so Tarkle emails you when files are uploaded. The person uploading does not need an account. Set a deadline for the request and, if you want, the most a visitor can upload at once, which caps the total size of one submission. The details are on the file requests page and the request deadlines and limits page.
Write the instructions as a short checklist: "a photo of each wall, the floor plan as a PDF, three images of rooms you love." A checklist tells the client what to send, so there are fewer follow-up emails.
Stage 2: send concept boards as one review link
When feedback arrives by text, email and phone, it is easy to lose track of it. Client feedback keeps it in one place. In Tarkle's words: "Turn images and PDFs into a review board that clients comment on and approve with one link, no account."
To create a board, open Feedback in the sidebar, click Create board, choose PDF or Images, add your files and click Create board again. You can add a password, and you can set a deadline. After the deadline, nobody can comment. Then copy the link, or enter email addresses to send it.
A board holds PDFs or images, not both. A mood board exported as a PDF goes on one board, and a set of loose material photos goes on another.
Clients click a spot on an image or on a PDF page to place a numbered pin, then write their comment. They can also write a general comment for the whole file, reply to each other, and attach one image or PDF to a comment, such as a reference photo.
Stage 3: run revision rounds without version confusion
When the client has seen everything, they click Finish review, choose Approve this work or Request changes, add an optional note and click Submit review. The owner is emailed when a review comes in. Every verdict stays on the board's record, and the latest answer becomes the board's current answer.
Your team can reply to comments and set each one to Active, In Progress, In Review or Resolved, so you can see what is still open. Only the team changes statuses. When a status changes, the person who wrote the comment is emailed.
If changes are requested, the owner, or a team member with permission to edit files, can use Add version on the board. It replaces the board's current file with the new one.
For a clear answer in each round, create a new board for round two and tell the client in your message which round the link is for. Reviewers never need an account, and comments and reviews cannot be edited or deleted once they are sent. For more on keeping versions straight, see how to send updated files to clients without version confusion.
Write the round in your message when you send the link, for example "Living room concept, round 2". When the client replies "the second one", you both know which link they mean.
Stage 4: send plans and material samples as one folder link
Some files need a download, not a discussion: dimensioned floor plans, elevations, supplier spec sheets and material sample photos. For these, use a transfer. As the feature page puts it: "Pick files or folders, get one link, and send it anywhere. No account needed to download."
Add a message if you want one. If a package should stay private, add a password when you create the transfer, and send the password by a different channel from the link. Transfer status shows whether a transfer was delivered, viewed or downloaded, so you know when to follow up. Your logo and colours can appear on the transfer page, and the pricing page lists custom branding on Free. The steps are on the share files by link page.
Stage 5: deliver final files after approval
Once the client has chosen Approve this work, send the final package as its own transfer: approved plans, specification PDFs and the shopping list in one folder, separate from your working files. Keep it apart from the files you used for review, so nothing half-finished goes out by mistake.
Set an expiry date when you create the transfer. After that date the link stops working. Pick a date that gives the client time to save everything, and put it in your message. Read more about link expiration. If a client also asks for editable project files, how to share source files with clients after final approval covers a handover routine.
Send the final package only after the last invoice is paid. Keep it prepared in its own folder, so it is ready when the client needs it.
File sharing for interior designers: which plan fits
Floor plans and renders can be large, so check the size of your biggest file. Free supports uploads and transfers up to 1 GB each, and Pro and Agency support files up to 200 GB. If you send very large files, the send large files page explains how.
The Free plan is for one workspace and one person, with 5 GB of storage. It includes sharing and requesting files, client feedback and approval, and custom domain and branding. The Free plan allows 5 active boards, and archived boards do not count. Pro adds 3 TB of storage, unlimited team members, team folders and file versioning, which suits a studio with more than one designer.
One thing a review board does not take is a native CAD file: a board holds PDFs or images only, so keep CAD files out of the board and share the PDFs and images you review on it.
Set this up this week
Create one file request for your next client and send it with a checklist of what you need.
Put your latest concept on a review board and send the link.
Make a new board for each later round, and say which round it is in your message.
Send plans and samples as one transfer, with a password if you want one.
After approval, send the final package with an expiry date.
What to remember about Tarkle
For plans and photos, a file request collects them through one link. For comments and approval, a review board takes them with one link, no account. For plans and final files, a transfer is one link, and no account is needed to download. You can run this workflow on the Free plan, within its limits, and pricing shows which plan fits the file sizes you send. Start for free.