Stripe lets you accept credit card payments directly from your clients.

Once connected, Photeria automatically handles payment collection on invoices and job checkouts, tracks payment status, and records every transaction in your billing history.

Before You Start

You will need a Stripe account. If you do not have one yet, head to stripe.com and sign up. Stripe will walk you through identity verification and bank account setup before you can accept live payments.

Once your Stripe account is active, you will need two API keys:

• Publishable Key - starts with pk_live_
• Secret Key - starts with sk_live_

You can find both of these in your Stripe Dashboard under Developers > API keys at dashboard.stripe.com/apikeys.

Connecting Stripe

1. In Photeria, go to Settings from the left sidebar.
2. Click the Integrations tab at the top of the page.
3. Find the Stripe Payments card.
4. Paste your Stripe Publishable Key into the first field (it should start with pk_live_).
5. Paste your Stripe Secret Key into the second field (it should start with sk_live_).
6. Click the Connect button.

Photeria will validate both keys, connect to your Stripe account, and automatically set up a webhook so that payment events (successful charges, failed payments, and more) are tracked in real time. You do not need to configure webhooks manually.

When the connection is successful, you will see a confirmation message that says "Stripe connected successfully with automatic webhook setup," and the card will update to show a "Stripe connected" status.

What Happens After You Connect

With Stripe connected, several features become available:

• Job payments - Clients can pay for jobs directly through the checkout flow. Photeria creates a Stripe Checkout session and records the payment once it completes.
• Invoice payments - Invoices sent to clients include a payment link powered by Stripe.
• Automatic status updates - When a payment succeeds or fails, Photeria updates the job and invoice status automatically via webhook notifications.
• Payment history - Every transaction is logged in the job's payment ledger, including the Stripe charge ID for easy cross-referencing.

Using Test Mode

If you want to try things out before going live, you can use Stripe's test keys instead. Test keys start with pk_test_ and sk_test_. Payments made with test keys will not charge real money. When you are ready to go live, disconnect the test keys and reconnect with your live keys.

Disconnecting Stripe

1. Go to Settings > Integrations.
2. On the Stripe Payments card, click the Disconnect button.
3. Confirm the disconnection.

This removes your API keys and the webhook from Photeria. No data is deleted from your Stripe account. Existing payment records in Photeria are preserved, but new payments will not be processed until you reconnect.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid key format" error

Make sure your Publishable Key starts with pk_ and your Secret Key starts with sk_. If you accidentally swapped them, clear both fields and re-enter them in the correct order.

Payments are not being recorded

Check that your Stripe account is fully activated (identity verification complete, bank account linked). Also confirm that the connection status on the Integrations tab shows "Stripe connected." If the webhook was disrupted, try disconnecting and reconnecting Stripe to re-create it.

I want to switch Stripe accounts

Disconnect your current Stripe account first, then reconnect with the API keys from your new account.