File sharing for web designers: a handover routine
A four-step handover for web designers: collect content, send exports, get sign-off and deliver final files.
File sharing for web designers comes down to one routine you repeat on every project: collect the client's content with a request link, send the design exports with one link, get sign-off in a place the client can open, and hand over the final files with a last link. This guide walks through those four steps.
Step 1: collect the client's content with a request link
A web project usually starts with a list of things only the client can send: logos, product photos, copy and the brand fonts they own. Chasing those through email is where most projects lose a week. Send one file request on day one and ask for everything on one list. File requests are part of Free, so you can run this step before you pay for anything.
Keep one folder per project, named with the client and the site. The content, the exports and the sign-off notes then sit together, and you can find them again when the client comes back months later.
Ask for the content with a due date and a numbered list of files. A clear list gets fewer follow-up emails than "send me what you have."
Step 2: send design files and exports with one link
When a design round is ready, choose the files or the whole folder, create the transfer and send one link. Share files by link works this way. Choose files or whole folders, create the transfer, and share the link by email, chat or wherever the conversation is. The client opens it in any browser and downloads straight away. They do not need an account and nothing to install.
Two limits matter on a web project. On Free, each file can be up to 1 GB, and you can create 15 transfers a month. Pro and Agency support files up to 200 GB, and Pro is unlimited on transfers. In the message, name each file: which one is the homepage, which is the mobile export, which is the favicon set. The client then knows exactly what to check.
Step 3: get sign-off in a client portal
Sign-off is where handovers go wrong, because the approval ends up in a reply buried under three other threads. Tarkle covers it with two features, and they differ by plan.
Client feedback turns images or PDFs into a review board. The client pins comments on a picture or a page of a PDF, then finishes with Approve this work or Request changes. Clients need no account, and client feedback and approval is on Free, Pro and Agency.
For the whole project, a client portal gives each client a branded place to sign in. After the invite, a client signs in by typing their email address and entering a 6-digit code that Tarkle emails them. The portal shows each client only what you shared with them, and clients can send files back because they upload into their own folder. The client portal is available on Pro and Agency. Free cannot turn portal access on, so on Free the sign-off runs on a feedback board.
Make the sign-off a yes or no question: "Reply approved and I will send the final files." Keep that reply with the project.
Step 4: hand over the final pack with one link
The last step is the final export and the source files, sent as one transfer. Put the site export, the source files, a list of the fonts you are allowed to share and a short readme in one folder, then send that folder with one link. Free also lets you protect shared files with passwords, so add one when the files are private.
Keep the client's account logins out of the transfer. Send them in a separate, private message. Keep your own copy of the project as well.
Open the handover folder from the copy you sent, not from your working drive, and check that every linked image and font opens before the client does.
This routine covers the files and the sign-off. Putting the site live on a server stays a separate step on your own hosting.
File sharing for web designers: which plan fits
Free includes file requests, transfers, feedback boards and password protection, within the limits above. Custom domains are available on every plan. Pro costs $29 a month, or $19 a month billed yearly ($228 a year). It adds the client portal, file versioning, unlimited team members and the 200 GB upload limit. Agency costs $59 a month, or $49 a month billed yearly ($588 a year). It suits a studio that runs many client accounts, with 20 client workspaces and 6 TB of cloud storage.
The one part Free does not cover is the client portal. If your clients need a signed-in place of their own, you need Pro. Everything else in the routine works on Free for one person. See the pricing page for the full list.
Set this up today
Send your next client a file request with a numbered list of content and a due date.
Create one folder per project and send the next design round as one transfer.
Ask for sign-off on a feedback board, and ask for a clear approve or request changes.
Build the handover folder with a readme, then send it with one link and a password.
Start for free and run this routine on your next client site.
What to remember about Tarkle
Tarkle covers each step of a handover with a request link, a transfer, a feedback board and a final transfer. Clients need no account to download or to approve, and Free is built for one person. The client portal, with sign-in by email code, needs Pro. Start for free and compare plans on the pricing page.
