> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.9pic.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Avoid Foot-Guns

> The five mistakes that quietly burn the most credits on Pay As You Go

## Why This Matters

Almost every "my credits ran out faster than expected" support ticket on Pay As You Go traces back to one of the five mistakes on this page. Read this once, and most of the surprise expenses on PAYG go away.

## Foot-Gun #1 — Re-Processing the Watermark After Going Live

**The mistake:** You process 5,000 photos, go live, then realise the watermark logo was the wrong file or the position is wrong. You re-process the watermark on all 5,000 photos.

**The cost:** 10% of the processed-photo count. **500 credits** for a 5,000-photo event. **2,500 credits** for a 25,000-photo race.

**The fix:**

<Steps>
  <Step title="Always test on a Custom Batch first">
    On the **Process Photos** dialog, pick **Custom Batch** and process **100 photos**. Open the gallery and inspect.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the watermark is final before the big sync">
    Look at logo position, opacity, size, and that the right file is loaded. Approve from the same browser the attendee will use.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Only then process the rest">
    Run the remaining photos. If you need to fix the watermark, fix it now — *before* you've processed thousands of photos.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  100 credits to test is always cheaper than 500+ credits to re-process. Always.
</Tip>

## Foot-Gun #2 — Leaving AI Search On When You Don't Need It

**The mistake:** Every event you create has **Enable Selfie Search** and **Enable BIB Search** on by default in your habit, even when the gallery is internal-only and nobody will ever use search.

**The cost:** 1 credit per photo. A 1,200-photo internal team event = 1,200 credits when it could have been 0.

**The fix:**

<Steps>
  <Step title="Decide upfront whether attendees will search">
    Internal company events, family galleries, single-day photo booths where everyone scrolls — these usually don't need AI search.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Turn both off in event Configuration">
    On the event details, go to **Configuration** and turn off both **Enable Selfie Search** and **Enable BIB Search**. The Process Photos dialog will then say "*This batch does not require AI credits.*"
  </Step>

  <Step title="Process for free">
    The watermark and gallery still work. You just skip the AI indexing — and the credit cost.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  This only works for events where AI search isn't valuable. A public race or a large festival absolutely needs FaceFind / BibTrack — leave them on. Don't sacrifice the customer experience to save credits.
</Note>

## Foot-Gun #3 — Storing Originals When You Don't Need To

**The mistake:** You enable **Store Original Memories** on **Create New Event** "just in case", on every event.

**The cost:** Originals add to your usage. Over a year of events, this can quietly double your credit consumption.

**The fix:**

* Leave **Store Original Memories** **off** unless you have a concrete reason to keep originals (e.g. Enterprise photo sales, archival contract, a specific request from the client).
* Originals are not required for FaceFind, BibTrack, watermarking, or gallery viewing.
* You can always re-upload originals from your local archive later if you need them.

## Foot-Gun #4 — Running Out Mid-Sync

**The mistake:** You start processing 8,000 photos with 5,000 credits available. The dashboard processes the first 5,000 photos, hits zero credits, and pauses. You buy 1,000 more credits, only enough to process 1,000 of the remaining 3,000. You run out again. Stop-start cycles waste your time, not your credits — but they make events feel chaotic and they make customers wait.

**The fix:**

<Steps>
  <Step title="Check your balance before starting Sync, not after">
    Open **Credits** in the sidebar. Confirm available credits ≥ expected photo count (with a 10% buffer if you might re-process the watermark).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Top up to cover the whole event in one purchase">
    Top-ups have a 1,000-credit minimum. Buying 8,000 once is the same per-credit cost as buying 1,000 eight times — but only one trip to the payment gateway.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Use the credit estimate table">
    See [Photo Processing Costs](/pay-as-you-go-guide/photo-processing-costs#how-to-estimate-before-you-sync) for recommended top-up sizes by event size.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  When you run out of credits mid-event, processing pauses but **already-processed photos stay live**. You don't lose data. You just have to wait for your top-up to clear before the rest can finish.
</Warning>

## Foot-Gun #5 — Not Checking the Monthly Usage Summary

**The mistake:** You buy credits when you run out and never look at the trend. Three months later, you're surprised by how often you've topped up.

**The cost:** Lost insight. You miss the moment when your usage justifies switching to the Pro subscription, or when one runaway event consumed credits for an unrelated reason.

**The fix:**

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Credits → Monthly Usage Summary at month-end">
    The Credits page shows current month + the previous 3 months as cards with the total credit usage and the number of usage transactions per month.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Spot the trend">
    If your monthly usage has been steadily growing for 3+ months, you may be at the point where Pro's economics work better than top-ups. See [When to Upgrade](/pay-as-you-go-guide/when-to-upgrade).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Spot the outlier">
    A single month that spikes is usually one event. Open **Credit Usage** below the summary cards, sort by date, and find the events that drove the spike. Use the data to plan better next time.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Quick Pre-Flight Checklist Before Every Event

Tape this to your monitor:

* [ ] **Watermark verified on a 100-photo Custom Batch** before the big sync.
* [ ] **AI search toggles** match what your customers actually need (off for internal galleries, on for public events).
* [ ] **Store Original Memories** is **off** unless you have a reason to keep originals.
* [ ] **Credits balance** ≥ 1.1 × expected photo count.
* [ ] **You're an admin** of the organisation (operators can't top up).

## Common Questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is it cheaper to buy credits in big batches or small ones?">
    Per-credit cost is the same regardless of batch size. The minimum per top-up is 1,000 credits. Buy enough to cover your **next event**, not your whole year — credits don't expire, but neither do they discount at higher volumes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="If I disable AI on an event after photos are already processed, do I get a refund?">
    No. Credits are spent at the moment of processing. Disabling AI later prevents *future* charges on that event but doesn't refund past ones.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if I need to fix the watermark on a single photo, not all 5,000?">
    The dashboard's **Reprocess Watermark** flow re-processes the whole event, not individual photos. For one-off fixes, contact [support@9pic.ai](mailto:support@9pic.ai) — we can help with single-image overrides.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Are there any free actions I might be missing?">
    Yes — uploading, syncing, branding, going live, team invites, and viewing the gallery are all free. Only the **process** step (with AI on) and the **re-process watermark** step cost credits.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Photo Processing Costs" icon="gauge" href="/pay-as-you-go-guide/photo-processing-costs">
    Full credit-cost cheatsheet.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manage Credits" icon="chart-line" href="/pay-as-you-go-guide/manage-credits">
    Track balance and monthly usage.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Buy More Credits" icon="cart-shopping" href="/pay-as-you-go-guide/buy-more-credits">
    Top-up walkthrough.
  </Card>

  <Card title="When to Upgrade" icon="scale-balanced" href="/pay-as-you-go-guide/when-to-upgrade">
    When the per-credit math flips toward Pro.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>