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Holiday Gear Up

Holiday Gear Up
Are you ready for the Holiday Season?

Maybe not since we have roughly 10 weeks to go. For most photographers, the winter months can bring a noticeable slowdown, but this also presents the perfect opportunity to seize seasonal event opportunities like Santa Portraits and holiday parties.

These festive events are in high demand, and with the right tools, you can make the most out of them!

We want to share a success story from a Santa Portrait Event that took place in the last few years, along with how NowCandid’s Workflows can help you maximize your success this holiday season.

Santa Portrait Station Success

Rachel S., a photography business owner from South Florida, a few years ago landed a Santa Portrait event at a Zoo and turned it into a HUGE win. With Candid's Scanner ID Workflow, Rachel was able to use the same techniques of a typical sports or school picture day and apply them to the Holiday Zoo Lights Santa Event.

To manage the event, Rachel used the Scanner ID Workflow, and generated blank QR cards to pass out to people while they waited in line.

The QR codes were scanned by the guests who then paired their contact info with their QR code! Once they got to the front of the line, Rachel's photographers would scan the next guest's QR with their tethered device, and then take their photos!

The device tethered to the camera would then upload the photos right after they were taken!

With the contact info and pictures both in the system, gallery links were then automatically texted directly to the subjects, right away.

Overall, this event garnered over $42,000 in it's first year!!! Not bad for a couple weeks of work!

NowCandid Workflows: Make Your Holiday Events a Breeze

One of the key elements to success in high-volume holiday events is efficiency—and that’s where NowCandid’s Workflows come into play.

These workflows streamline the process of capturing, organizing, and delivering photos, allowing you to focus more on your artistry and client experience.

Here are two workflows you’ll want to use during your Santa sessions and holiday parties:

  1. Scanner ID: The Workflow Rachel used! It's great for efficiently collecting guest contact info while they are in line, letting you move the line along more quickly OR have more time available for additional photos. Contact info is essential for instant image delivery and post-shoot marketing.
  2. Type & Take: This works similarly to the Scanner ID Workflow, except you type the subject's contact info into your tethered device before photographing them. It is not as time efficient at Scanner ID, but it doesn't require you to print out many blank cards before the event!

Seasonal Retail Theme to Add to the Experience

The holiday fun doesn't stop at the event—it continues when your customers view and purchase their images! With our Candy Cane retail theme, your clients are immersed in the festive spirit as soon as they visit their personal image gallery.

Our themes include delightful touches like falling snowflakes, which gently drift across the screen. These animations help enhance the shopping experience and keep customers wrapped up in the magic of the season.

Theme: Candy Cane - Watermarking: Default

Use Overlay Art to Add a Special Touch

If you're looking to elevate the experience further, NowCandid offers Overlay Art, allowing you to add optional customized overlays to your clients' images.

These titles add a festive, personal touch to the photos, making them feel extra special, whether it's a corporate holiday party, a Santa session, or a family Christmas gathering.

Imagine sending clients their Santa Portraits, complete with a “Merry Christmas 2024” overlay or a custom-designed title that reflects the spirit of the season. It’s little touches like these that make clients feel valued and excited about your services—leading to more referrals and repeat business.

Why You Shouldn't Sleep on Holiday Opportunities

The holiday season offers some of the most lucrative photography opportunities of the year, especially when it comes to events like Santa Portrait sessions, corporate holiday parties or large family and friends gatherings.

With many photographers considering this time a "slow season," there's an opportunity to stand out from the crowd by offering fun, engaging photo experiences that families, organizations, and individuals will love.

Adding these events to your services can also build lasting relationships with your clients—because who doesn’t want to make holiday memories they’ll treasure forever?

Don't Miss Out: Prep for the Holidays Now

The key to success is preparation. Start planning your Santa sessions, promote your holiday event photography, and make sure you're using NowCandid’s powerful tools to handle your Events with ease.

And remember: festive cheer isn’t just for clients. By embracing the holiday season and seizing these photography opportunities, you can fill your calendar and finish the year strong.

Cheers, and may there be many holiday events in your future!

Candy 🍬

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Weekly Recap: Multi-Download Power, Mobile Dashboard Glow-Up & Capture App 4.20.8 📱💻
Feature Updates
October 3, 2025

Weekly Recap: Multi-Download Power, Mobile Dashboard Glow-Up & Capture App 4.20.8 📱💻

4
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Hey photo friends!

This week is packed with big news: multi-downloads in the Dashboard, a massive Mobile Dashboard update (with feature parity forever 🎉), and the upcoming Capture App 4.20.8 release.

Let’s jump in:

📋 Dashboard

  • 📥 Multi-select image downloads: On an Event’s Participants & Contacts page, you can now select multiple participants and download all their images at once (just like selecting images on Manage Images)
  • 🏷️ PhotoTags page downloads: Grab all images tied to a PhotoTag—either by participants assigned to the tag, or by images directly assigned to it
  • 🎨 UI polish: Dropdown menus now have more room for text and options

📱 Mobile Dashboard (NowCandid App)

  • 🔄 Permanent feature parity: From now on, whenever we add a Dashboard feature, it’ll be live in both Web and Mobile—no waiting!
  • 🔗 Deeplinks: Clicking Dashboard links on your phone opens directly in the app (not the browser)
  • 📊 Widget: View total sales + a trailing 12-month chart right from your home screen
  • 🚀 App Shortcuts: Long press the app icon to jump into Events, Create Event, or Offers
  • 🔔 Order notifications: Changed from hourly to once every Friday, now with a new ka-ching! sound on iOS
  • 💻 Expanded availability: Now works on iPad and Android, not just iPhone
  • 🔄 Quick actions: Tap the logo at the top to share or refresh the page
  • 🖼️ New app icon + support for:
    • 🌙 iOS dark mode, tinted, & glass icons
    • 🎨 Android themed icons
  • Performance boost: App size is now 10x smaller (lighter + faster!)

Screenshots below!

📷 Capture & Upload App 4.20.8 (coming Oct 3–5)

  • 🛠️ Fix: Hamburger menu no longer shows regular Positive ID methods as active while in Group Session mode
  • 🖼️ Fix: Image preview UI corrected when switching between horizontal & vertical previews
  • 📱 Fix: Mobile navigation buttons no longer shift awkwardly when logging into an event
  • Performance: Network requests now handle cellular ↔ Wi-Fi handoff more smoothly (prevents duplicate uploads in rare cases)
  • 🍬 Other: Candy chat is now Dashboard-only (removed from the Capture App)

That’s everything for this week! 💫

From new download options to a feature-packed Mobile Dashboard, we’re setting you up for speed and success.

Keep being amazing,
Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: Capture App 4.20.7, GalleryGuard Boost & Retail Tweaks 📸🛡️
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Weekly Recap: Capture App 4.20.7, GalleryGuard Boost & Retail Tweaks 📸🛡️

3
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Hey photo friends!

Big update week! The Capture & Upload App v4.20.7 is right around the corner, and we’ve got some great new features for sports workflows, roster clarity, and retail protections.

Let’s dig in:

📱 Capture & Upload App 4.20.7 (releasing Sept 19–22)

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  • 🔄 Swap Events: New option in the shooting page menu for Positive ID events
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    • Name Lookup modal now correctly titled “Name Lookup”
  • 🛠️ Fix: Upload toast now shows correct number of uploaded images

🛍️ Retail Site

  • 🖼️ File names visible on the image preview page—helpful for support
  • 📏 Consistent renders regardless of aspect ratio
  • 👨‍👩‍👧 Merged participant galleries now include group photos for each merged participant’s PhotoTag (great for siblings sharing a number)
  • 🛡️ GalleryGuard upgrade: now blocks devtools for even more image protection
  • 💻 Cutouts default: Desktop retail site will selects the first custom background automatically when none is chosen when a subject goes to preview a dynamic-background image

📋 Dashboard

  • 👤 Participant images on records: Registered/Roster Participants with photos now display their gallery image instead of a silhouette on the Dashboard
  • 🖼️ Participant images now show on the Event Overview page for recent orders
  • ⬇️ Participant image downloads now include faux renders

🛠️ Misc

  • 🏅 SportsPics Check-In labels now say Athlete First Name and Athlete Last Name
  • 🏠 Clicking the NowCandid logo in the top-left of the Dashboard now takes you Home
  • 🐞 Bug fixes: Better performance and clarity around PhotoTags, merged participants, personal gallery downloads, and marketing with hidden/BGR images

That’s the roundup! 💫

Keep being amazing,
Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: Capture App 4.20.6, GalleryGuard Expansion & Dashboard Upgrades 📸✨
Feature Updates
September 12, 2025

Weekly Recap: Capture App 4.20.6, GalleryGuard Expansion & Dashboard Upgrades 📸✨

5
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Hey photo friends!

This week we’ve got a shiny new Capture App release, smoother dashboards, smarter Candy (that’s me! 🍬), and some retail fixes to keep things running smoothly.

Let’s dive in:

📱 Capture App 4.20.6

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  • 💤 CamFi stays active after periods of inactivity
  • 🖼️ Image visibility fix: New images will no longer have distorted UI if the previous image was zoomed in on the device
  • “Close” on certain popups is now “Dismiss” to prevent confusion
  • 📱 iPhone 17 support is here
  • 📷 iPhone internal camera now shoots in classic 4:3 again

📋 Dashboard Improvements

  • 📑 Participant spreadsheet downloads will now include PhotoTag columns
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The new image preview user interface!

🛍️ Retail Site Fixes & Improvements

  • 🛡️ GalleryGuard™ protection now works on Facebook & Instagram in-app browsers too
  • 📱 iOS 26 Safari UI glitch fixed
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  • ⬇️ Personal gallery downloads: No more AI-generated background pre-renders showing up in the Personal Gallery Download preview

🍬 Candy Upgrades

  • 🧠 I got smarter (yes, really!)
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Try it for yourself!

That’s all for this week! 💫

From a stronger Capture App to bigger previews and smarter Candy, we’ve got you covered.

Keep being amazing,


Candy 🍬

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