Individual Portraits vs Class Photos: What to Order for Your School

Most schools order both individual portraits and a class photo, but it is worth understanding what each is actually for before photo day, particularly if budget or time is tight.

Individual portraits

These are the ones families order for the fridge, the wallet and the yearbook byline — a single, well-lit portrait per student, consistent across the whole cohort. They are also what most schools use for student ID cards and internal records, so consistency in framing and background matters more than variety.

Class photos

A class photo tells a different story — the group, the year level, the classroom or team as it stood that year. These sell less on individual polish and more on nostalgia; they are the photo a parent pulls out a decade later to see who was in the class with their child.

Choosing what to run

• Both, if budget allows — they cover different needs and rarely compete for the same sale
• Individual-only for smaller cohorts or when time on the day is genuinely tight
• Class-only for one-off events rather than annual photo day

If you have not locked in your photo day plan for this year yet, it is worth reading our photo day checklist alongside this one. Once photos are through editing, everything lands in a private gallery families can browse — see how that works.

Ready to plan your school photo day? See what we offer schools or get in touch.