picpeak/README.md

📸 PicPeak

Open-source, self-hosted photo sharing for events.

Homepage · Live Demo · Documentation · Support ☕

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PicPeak is a powerful, self-hosted open-source alternative to commercial photo-sharing platforms like PicDrop.com and Scrapbook.de. Built for photographers and event organizers, it makes it simple to share beautiful, time-limited photo galleries with clients while keeping full control over your data and branding.

Important

PicPeak has moved to its own GitHub organization. Docker images are now at ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/{backend,frontend} and active development is on main. The old ghcr.io/the-luap/... path still responds but its tags are frozen at 2026-05-27 — if updates never arrive, check your image path first. See docs/migration-to-org.md for the one-line docker-compose.yml edit.

Contents

• Live Demo
• Quick Start
• Why PicPeak?
• Features
• Documentation
• Comparison
• Tech Stack
• Contributing & Support
• License

🎮 Live Demo

Try PicPeak without installing anything — demo.picpeak.app · admin panel

Email	Password
demo@picpeak.app	Demo2026!

The demo resets periodically. Uploaded content may be removed without notice.

🚀 Quick Start

On a NAS or a small VPS? There's a single-container image — one docker run, one volume, SQLite by default, no compose file: docs/single-container.md. You can move to the full stack later via a .picpeak export/import; it isn't a dead end.

Get PicPeak running in under 5 minutes:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/PicPeak/picpeak.git
cd picpeak

# Copy the environment template — the defaults work out of the box.
# Machine secrets (JWT, DB, Redis) are auto-generated on first run, and the
# admin account is created in the browser. Edit .env only to customise
# (domain, SMTP, storage paths, …) — nothing is required.
cp .env.example .env

# Start with Docker Compose
docker compose up -d

# Access at http://localhost:3000

On first start, open http://localhost:3000/admin and follow the in-browser setup to create your admin account. Full details — the one-time setup token, Docker file permissions, and ARM64 notes — are in First-run setup.

Updating / release channels: set PICPEAK_CHANNEL (stable default, or beta) in .env, then docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. See RELEASING.md for the promotion cadence.

🌟 Why PicPeak?

Unlike expensive SaaS solutions, PicPeak gives you:

• 💰 No Monthly Fees — one-time setup, unlimited galleries
• 🔒 Complete Data Control — your photos stay on your server
• 🎨 White-Label Ready — full branding customization
• 📱 Mobile-First Design — beautiful on all devices
• 🌍 Multi-Language — built-in i18n (EN, DE)

✨ Features

For photographers — drag & drop upload, auto-expiring & password-protected galleries, automated emails, an analytics dashboard, custom themes, a public landing page, and a Live Slideshow projector view that auto-picks-up new uploads during live events.

For clients — clean mobile-optimized galleries, one-click bulk downloads, smart search, optional guest uploads, and download protection (watermarking + right-click prevention).

Technical — Docker-ready, automatic thumbnail generation, external media reference mode, smart archiving of expired galleries, S3-compatible storage backends, webhooks, and security-first defaults (JWT, rate limiting, CORS).

🧾 For studios — CRM & Accounting (Beta, off by default)

• 📝 Quotes → Contracts → Invoices — one deal lineage; cancel-and-reissue (Storno) keeps issued invoices immutable
• ⏱️ Hours Logging & Calendar — per-customer time tracking; admin calendar of events, logged hours, and pending quotes/contracts
• 🧾 Inbound Supplier Invoices & Expenses — capture received invoices (upload/camera, rasterised server-side), categorise, and re-bill costs to clients
• 📊 Tax Report & Accountant Export — period-scoped income/cost report with VAT breakdown; PDF/CSV plus a Treuhänder/Banana (Swiss/LI) journal export
• 🌍 VAT & Multi-currency — single VAT-code registry snapshotted onto each document

Warning

CRM & Accounting — examples only, verify locally. Feature-flagged off by default. Seeded contract blocks are written by the maintainer, not a lawyer; QR-bills/SEPA payloads and every tax, VAT and Treuhänder/Banana figure are computed from your input and defaults and are jurisdiction-specific guidance only. Have your lawyer review contracts, scan a test QR with your bank's app, and verify all numbers with your accountant / Treuhänder / tax authority before customer-facing use. Read the CRM disclaimers first.

📖 Documentation

Full documentation lives at docs.picpeak.app — deployment, admin settings, API, branding, and more.

Topic	Link
🚀 Deployment (Docker, env, reverse proxy, SSL)	docs.picpeak.app/deployment
⚙️ Admin settings reference	docs.picpeak.app/guides/admin-settings
🎯 Creating events	docs.picpeak.app/guides/creating-events
📽️ Live Slideshow	docs.picpeak.app/features/live-slideshow
💾 Backup & Restore	docs.picpeak.app/guides/backup-restore
🔌 API reference	docs.picpeak.app/api
🪝 Webhooks	docs.picpeak.app/features/webhooks
💾 Storage backends (local / S3)	docs.picpeak.app/features/storage-backends
💻 System requirements & tuning	docs.picpeak.app/deployment/system-requirements
🧾 CRM & Accounting	docs.picpeak.app/features/crm · disclaimers
🗺️ Roadmap	GitHub Issues

Project meta: Contributing · License · Security · Code of Conduct

📊 Comparison with Alternatives

Feature	PicPeak	PicDrop	Scrapbook.de	Pixieset
Self-Hosted	✅	❌	❌	❌
Custom Branding	✅ Full	Limited	Limited	✅ (paid)
Monthly Cost	$0*	$29-199	€19-99	~$60
Storage Limit	Unlimited**	50-500GB	100-1000GB	3GB–Unlimited***
Client Uploads	✅	✅	✅	Limited
API Access	✅	Paid	❌	❌
Open Source	✅	❌	❌	❌
Customer Accounts	✅	❌	❌	✅
Quotes / Contracts / Invoices	🧪 Beta	❌	❌	✅
Incoming Invoices & Accounting	🧪 Beta	❌	❌	❌

_{*You bring your own server and, optionally, a domain. **Limited only by your server storage. ***Pixieset's "unlimited" is photos only; video is capped by plan. 🧪 Beta = built but feature-flagged off by default.}

🏗️ Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Express, SQLite/PostgreSQL
• Frontend: React, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion
• Storage: Local filesystem (default) or S3-compatible object store (AWS S3, MinIO, R2, B2, Wasabi, Spaces) — see Storage Backends
• Email: SMTP with customizable templates
• Analytics: Privacy-focused with Umami integration
• External media: point PicPeak at EXTERNAL_MEDIA_ROOT to reference existing originals read-only, index quickly, and generate thumbnails on demand

📸 Screenshots

Click to see the admin dashboard, analytics, and event management

🎛️ Admin Dashboard

📊 Analytics & Insights

📁 Event Management

🤝 Contributing

We love contributions! PicPeak is built by photographers, for photographers — whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, or improving docs. See the Contributing Guide to get started.

Found a security issue? Please open a security issue. See SECURITY.md for the policy.

☕ Support the Project

PicPeak is free, open source, and self-hostable forever. If it saves you time or replaces a paid subscription, consider buying me a coffee — it directly funds new features, bug fixes, and keeping the demo + docs running. You can also ⭐ star the repo, share it, file good bug reports, or open a PR.

🙏 Acknowledgments

PicPeak is inspired by the best features of commercial platforms while remaining completely open source. It's developed with AI assistance, but human-tested end-to-end, security-audited, and human-reviewed for quality.

👥 Contributors

A huge thank you to the people whose code, reports, and feedback have shaped PicPeak:

@the-luap — creator and lead maintainer

• Gallery foundation (events, uploads, sharing, download protection, templates)
• Backup & restore, analytics, branding/theming
• The architecture every later feature builds on

@Luca-Timo

• Native Apple Silicon multi-arch images
• CRM & accounting suite (quotes/contracts/invoices)
• Hours logging & Treuhänder/Banana tax export
• Gallery header/banner decoupling

@Rekoo-PS — bug reports & product feedback

• Login-loop fix, mobile-lightbox overhaul, bulk-delete workflow
• Also a BuyMeACoffee supporter

If you've contributed and aren't listed here, please open a PR — this list is meant to grow.

📄 License

PicPeak is released under the MIT License. Use it freely for personal or commercial projects.

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Made with ❤️ by photographers, for photographers
Homepage · Live Demo · Documentation · Support