Photography & events
Photography Quote Calculator
Builds a quote, where the licence and the deliverables are the contract.
Result
A planning estimate, not a quote. Access, the age of the equipment, what is found once it is opened up and local labour rates all move the real figure, sometimes a long way.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
The priced estimate converted into a client-facing document stating the fee, the deliverables, the revision rounds, the delivery timeline, the licence granted and what is excluded. The licence statement matters as much as the fee, because it defines what the client may actually do with the images.
What moves the number
- Fee and what it includes.
- Licence scope: use, media, duration and territory.
- Deliverable count and format.
- Delivery timeline and revision rounds.
Where this one goes wrong
A photographer owns the copyright in their images from creation unless it is transferred in a signed writing, and work made for hire is a narrow statutory category rather than whatever a client calls it, so a quote that is silent on licensing leaves the client with less than they assumed and the photographer in an argument. State the licence. Delivery timeline is the other common dispute, and a stated date prevents a client expecting images in days when the edit takes weeks.
Before you quote
- State the licence: use, media, duration and territory.
- Do not rely on an assumption about copyright ownership.
- State the delivery timeline and revision rounds.
Where the rules come from
Questions
About this calculator
Who owns the copyright in commissioned photographs?
The photographer, from creation, unless it is transferred in a signed writing. Work made for hire is a narrow statutory category rather than whatever a client calls it, which is why the quote should state the licence explicitly.
What should a licence specify?
The permitted use, the media it covers, the duration and the territory. A client buying images for a website campaign for a year is buying something different from one buying unlimited use forever, and the price should reflect which.
Why state a delivery timeline?
Because editing takes weeks and clients frequently expect days. A stated date prevents the most common dispute in the business, and it also lets the photographer schedule the work rather than responding to pressure.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
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How to use this calculator
- Hours on the project (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 6 h.
- People on the project. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Hourly rate charged ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $175.
- Production, stock and licensing ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $60.
- Discovery or scoping fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $95.
- Sales tax (%). Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to estimated total, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Hours on the project | 6 h |
| People on the project | 1 |
| Hourly rate charged | $175 |
| Production, stock and licensing | $60 |
| Discovery or scoping fee | $95 |
| Sales tax | 0% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total main result | $1,205 |
| Labour | $1,050 |
| Before tax | $1,205 |
| Sales tax | $0 |
About $1,205: $1,050 of labour, $60 of parts and a $95 call-out.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only hourly rate charged, this is what happens to estimated total. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Hourly rate charged ($) | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| $88 | $683 |
| $131 | $941 |
| $175 example above | $1,205 |
| $263 | $1,733 |
| $350 | $2,255 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Hours on the project (h)
- Measured in h, between 0 and 400, starting at 6 h.
- People on the project
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 1.
- Hourly rate charged ($)
- A money amount, starting at $175.
- Production, stock and licensing ($)
- A money amount, starting at $60.
- Discovery or scoping fee ($)
- A money amount, starting at $95.
- Sales tax (%)
- Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Estimated total | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour | A money figure. |
| Before tax | A money figure. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.