How to Sell Photography Prints on Squarespace

Squarespace is great for showcasing art — but limited for digital access

Squarespace does an excellent job helping artists display their work. Portfolios, galleries, and branded pages are where it shines.

The friction appears when you need to control who can download what, when, and under what conditions. Selling digital art often involves:

• Collections instead of single files
• Client‑only galleries
• Licensing or usage tiers
• Ongoing access to new releases

These needs go beyond basic product checkout.

Why many photographers outgrow Squarespace’s built‑in selling tools

For simple, one‑time downloads, Squarespace’s ecommerce tools can work.

But many creators quickly run into limits:

• You want to sell bundles or themed collections
• You want to give buyers access to future updates
• You want different pricing for personal vs. commercial use
• You want repeat customers without reselling the same files

At that point, artists often look to third‑party marketplaces like Etsy or Gumroad. Those platforms can help with discovery, but they also come with trade‑offs: fees, algorithm dependence, limited branding, and very little control over the customer relationship.

That’s where selling from your own site becomes more powerful.

The simpler approach: keep Squarespace, add MemberSpace

You don’t need to abandon Squarespace to sell digital art more effectively.

The most flexible setup is to keep Squarespace as your website and add MemberSpace to sell access to your exclusive work.

Squarespace handles your branding, galleries, and public pages. MemberSpace controls who can access, download, or view your digital work after purchase.

This setup gives photographers and artists full ownership of their content, pricing, and customer experience—without handing control to a marketplace.

Prep work: what to set up before you add MemberSpace

Before installing MemberSpace, it helps to outline how you want to sell your work.

Most digital artists or photographers start with:

 

• A public sales page describing the collection or products
• A clear understanding of what buyers receive (downloads, updates, templates, licenses)

If your work includes client services or custom projects, this post on starting a service‑based business on Squarespace covers a similar setup.

You don’t need to finalize everything upfront. The structure can evolve as your catalog grows.

Step 1: Install MemberSpace on Squarespace

Installing MemberSpace on a Squarespace site is quick and low‑stress.

You copy a small snippet of code and paste it into your site settings. No redesign. No migration. No changes to your existing galleries or pages.

Once installed, you can start uploading exclusive content immediately.

Step 2: Add members‑only digital photography and art files

With MemberSpace, you upload your digital files directly into your account and organize them however you want. You’re not limited to single downloads or rigid product layouts.

You can upload and protect:

• High‑resolution image files (JPG, PNG, TIFF)
• Photo collections
• Digital art prints and illustrations
• Design templates or assets
• Links to templates hosted on Canva, Figma, or similar tools
• Private client galleries or delivery pages

All content lives inside Spaces, which you can organize with folders and nested folders to match how people actually use your work.

For example:

• One Space for Photo Collections, with folders organized by theme or shoot
• Spaces for Client Deliverables
• A Space for Templates & Assets, linking out to Canva or editable design files
• A subscriber‑only Space for New Releases, where you add new work over time

Because access is controlled by membership or purchase, you can sell one‑time downloads, bundles, or ongoing access—without re‑uploading files or duplicating products.

Step 3: Set up pricing, access, and licensing options

This is where MemberSpace offers significantly more flexibility than standard ecommerce tools.

You can create:

• One‑time purchases for individual collections
• Subscription access for ongoing downloads
• Tiered plans for personal vs. commercial use
• Payment plans for larger bundles

Free trials can be used for preview access, and multiple plans can unlock different Spaces depending on what someone buys.

If you need to review buyers before granting access—such as for commercial licenses or client work—you can also manually approve members on Squarespace using MemberSpace.

Step 4: Customize checkout and file access

Selling from your own site only works if the experience feels professional.

MemberSpace lets you customize checkout and login forms to match your Squarespace design, keeping everything visually consistent. You can also enable Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Link to reduce friction.

After purchase, buyers can login to see their content—no manual delivery, no file‑sending emails.

Why hosting your work on your own site beats third‑party marketplaces

Marketplaces like Etsy can be useful for discovery, but they come with limitations:

• • Platform fees on every sale
  • Limited control over branding
  • Algorithm‑driven visibility
  • No ownership of the customer relationship

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When you sell digital photography or art from your own Squarespace site using MemberSpace, you control:

 

• • Pricing and access

• • Customer communication

• • Updates and new releases

• • Long‑term relationships with buyers

You’re not just selling files—you’re building a catalog and an audience you own.

Grow your digital art business over time

As your work evolves, your setup can evolve with it.

MemberSpace makes it easy to:

• Add new collections without creating new products
• Reward existing customers with bonus content
• Offer exclusive access to subscribers or collectors

Everything stays organized in one place, and your website remains the central hub of your business.

Building a sustainable digital art business on Squarespace

Squarespace gives you the canvas. MemberSpace gives you control over access, delivery, and growth.

Together, they allow photographers and digital artists to sell their work directly, flexibly, and on their own terms—without relying on third‑party platforms to run their business.

That combination is what turns a portfolio into a sustainable digital storefront.