Make the reference
mean something.

Milanote gives the visual direction a flexible home. Storyflow connects the pitch with the shoot plan. For either workflow, tell your client and crew exactly what to take from each image.

Compare the handoff Build a reference packet

A client view
and a working view.

Both products can organize a visual direction. The useful choice is how the client reads it, how feedback arrives and what the crew receives on the day. This comparison uses current official product and help pages reviewed October 5, 2026, rather than claimed shoot testing.

Milanote: visual composition

The photography moodboard template supports existing images, links, video and color swatches. Its guide describes resizing references to show hierarchy, cropping or rotating them, and collecting material through the web clipper. This suits a visual discussion where arrangement itself helps communicate the look.

Keep the board selective. A lighting reference and a styling reference can sit together, but the crew needs to know whether you want the entire image or just one feature. Add the interpretation beside the reference instead of assuming everyone sees the same thing.

Read Milanote's photography moodboard guide

Storyflow: direction into planning

The current photographer page describes a visual treatment that becomes the working shoot board. References are organized by light, pose, styling and location; the board can hold a shot list and call sheet. Storyflow describes AI drafting from the material already on the board, with the photographer correcting and deciding.

Choose this approach when retaining the connection between pitch, references and later planning is the main problem. Treat generated planning material as a draft you check against the actual brief. This is planning software; editing raw images and delivering a final gallery remain separate workflows.

Read Storyflow's current photographer workflow

Milanote: sharing and feedback

Milanote's May 2026 sharing guide distinguishes editing, commenting and read-only viewing. Read-only viewers do not need an account. Commenters and editors need a free Milanote account. Sharing a board also shares its sub-boards, so inspect the material inside the board before sending the link.

Its export help lists PDF, PNG and linear text formats, plus a ZIP route for files. PDF and PNG board exports are limited to one page; a large board may become hard to read. For a shoot packet, select the relevant references or use a linear format for detailed notes rather than relying on a tiny overview.

Sharing permissions · Export behavior

Storyflow: client access and scope

The photographer page says clients can open a view-only link without an account; leaving comments requires signing in. It describes Treatment PDF export for a client who wants a file. A view link and a feedback workflow are different promises: decide which one the client needs.

The current photographer and pricing pages state paid-only early access, free invited collaborators today, and standalone Free planned before the end of 2026. Older use-case marketing promotes a free start, so use the explicit current availability when choosing access. These public sources were checked October 5, 2026; no signup was tested.

Decision: neither an opened board nor a comment is automatic approval. Record the actual decision and open questions yourself.

Client handoff · Current availability

A reference is a question.

Are we taking the shadow, the pose, the framing or the atmosphere? Name the detail. Explain what should carry into the shoot. Leave room for the client to say which part does not belong.

For the client

Show the intended result and ask a specific question. A reference can communicate a direction without implying that the final photograph will duplicate it.

For the crew

Keep the point of the reference beside the setup note. Separate a visual intention from a confirmed practical arrangement, and keep unresolved location or styling questions visible.

For the handoff

Retain image source and provenance notes. Save the annotated images and the complete written explanation together so a flattened board does not lose the reasoning.

A lighting reference

Mark the edge of the shadow and describe what should be kept. Ask whether the client wants that contrast, rather than asking whether they like the whole image.

Point to the detail.
Keep the reason.

Upload your own PNG, JPEG or WebP references. Add a title, purpose, client question and source note. Enter an annotation label, then click the image to place its numbered marker. Download an annotated PNG overview, a PDF packet with the images and full notes, or JSON that restores the original decoded pixels and annotations.

Shoot titleVersion / audienceBrief / directionOpen questions

Add reference imagesRestore JSON

Add a shoot title and at least one image.

Images are fitted without cropping. Markers use normalized positions on the decoded image; letterbox clicks do not add markers. PDFs use raster pages so the visible notes and Unicode characters stay together, rather than editable text. PNG captions are abbreviated; PDF and JSON retain full notes. Source notes do not verify permission, and no client decision is inferred. Files stay in page memory; save JSON before leaving. There is no upload or autosave.

Before the shoot.

Can clients view without creating an account?

The cited Milanote and Storyflow documentation both describe account-free read-only viewing. Their feedback routes are different: Milanote commenters need a free account, and Storyflow's current photographer page says comments require signing in. Confirm the mode you are actually sharing.

Will a large moodboard print well?

Milanote's export help says PDF and PNG board exports use one page, so a very large board can become small. Inspect the actual file. A selected reference packet with readable notes may be easier to use on the day than a full overview.

Does the local tool store or share the board?

It keeps the draft in this page's memory and creates downloadable files. It does not share a live board, collect client approval or save changes after you leave. Save the JSON project if you need to restore it.