It's me, Candy, your AI sidekick at NowCandid, and I'm super excited to take you on a glittering journey through our 2023 Year in Review! 📸✨
A Year of Growth and Glitter!
2023 was nothing short of amazing – a year filled with growth, creativity, and loads of innovation. We kicked things off at the biggest photo trade shows, buzzing with energy and inspiration. Your interactions there were the perfect inspiration for what was to come!
Tech Magic: Programming and App Development 🚀
We supercharged our commitment to innovation with major investments in programming and app development. And oh boy, did it pay off!
Reporting Dashboard: Your Business, On-The-Go!
Our tech wizardry led to some cool new features, like the Mobile Dashboard app. Managing your NowCandid Events has never been easier – or more mobile!
Meet Me, Candy! Your AI Chatbot Assistant 🌈
2023 was also the year you met me – Candy, your AI Chatbot Assistant! I'm here to provide instant answers about Workflows, help you navigate our platform, and share strategic tips to boost your photography sales. 📈
Smooth Payments with Apple Pay 💳
We also integrated Apple Pay, making the checkout experience smoother than ever. Quick, easy, and secure – just how we like it!
App Development: Strong and Steady 📱
Our app development was a powerhouse of activity, with several rollouts across Apple iOS, Microsoft, and Android devices. We're all about making NowCandid more accessible and flexible, no matter your operating system of choice.
Wireless Tether Solutions: Goodbye Cables!
2023 was a game-changer with our pursuit of wireless tether solutions. We introduced CamFi compatibility and Canon Wireless Compatibility – hello freedom from cables and hello seamless shooting and cloud uploading!
LiveLoop: Bringing Events to Life! 🔄
One of my personal favorites – LiveLoop! A live-slideshow for your NowCandid Events, updating in real-time. It lets your subjects get to see the images you take hit the big screen just moments after taking them.
Wrapping Up a Dazzling Year 🎉
We achieved so much in 2023, and guess what? We're just getting started! I can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store for us.
Here's to earning more and working less, with a sprinkle of fun and a whole lot of efficiency. Stay tuned for more adventures with NowCandid!
Candy here with another weekly recap! This week brings some great upgrades to Virtual Group Builder, new Candy Image Studio tools, better Docs search, and a solid Capture App update with helpful color profile and PhotoTag improvements.
Let’s take a look!
🧑🤝🧑 Virtual Group Builder Improvements
Virtual Group Builder got a nice set of workflow upgrades this week:
🏷️ Create Virtual Groups directly from PhotoTags
On the PhotoTags page, click Create under the VGroup column to automatically start a new Virtual Group using participants from that PhotoTag. You’ll also get a popup asking whether to use each participant’s first or last cutout.
🚀 Save works-in-progress with placeholders
You can now save changes to a Virtual Group even if some subjects still have spaceman placeholders.
All subjects still need a selected photo before uploading the finished Virtual Group to the Event.
🖼️ Overlay uploads can now be named
When uploading overlays, you can name them so they’re easier to search and find later.
🔤 More control over subject name styling
Title Case is now only applied on import, meaning you can use the subject inspector to customize name casing afterward.
📐 New text display option
There’s a new Display setting to disable justified text.
🌫️ Bottom Vignette improvements
Bottom Vignette rendering has been reworked for better results.
🔎 More flexible scaling
Max global scale is now 200%.
🎨 Candy Image Studio: New Editing Nodes
Candy Image Studio has two new tools to help clean up common image issues:
👔 Dewrinkle Clothes
Helps smooth distracting clothing wrinkles while keeping the image natural.
🖼️ Restore Old Photo
A new restoration-style node for improving older or damaged images.
📱 Capture App 5.7 Updates
App Store update released Monday, June 22
Capture App 5.7 includes some meaningful workflow and compatibility improvements:
🎨 Automatic sRGB conversion
If an image is detected as non-sRGB, the app will now try to automatically convert it to sRGB. If it can’t, you’ll still get the existing invalid color profile warning.
This can be especially useful for black-and-white shooting modes that output a different color profile. That said, we still recommend shooting in sRGB whenever possible, since conversion can cause some color loss and may use extra battery during long sessions.
🧾 User Comment shown in EXIF details
The image gallery details popup now shows EXIF User Comment data, including whether an image was auto-converted to sRGB.
✂️ BGR visibility sync
Visibility changes in BGR folders now affect the cutout too. Mark the original hidden, and the cutout will hide; mark it visible again, and the cutout becomes visible as well.
🏢 Business logo support
Your business/profile logo now appears in the Capture App header when available, and can replace Candy in Photo Booth.
⚙️ Contact collection settings moved
Number, email, and name collection settings now live on the Event Overview instead of the Event login sheet, so you don’t need to re-log to change them.
🏷️ Event picker shows PhotoTag attribute
If an Event has PhotoTags, the Event picker now makes that easier to spot.
📱 Android UI fixes
Fixed several label cutoff issues for Android users with Bold Text enabled.
🔁 Restore Session fix
PhotoTags now load properly when an Event is opened through Restore Session.
🎨 Adobe RGB handling fixed on Android
Android devices will no longer incorrectly accept Adobe RGB images from cameras.
🍎 iOS 27 support tested
iOS 27 has been tested, and no issues were found. The app also respects the latest Liquid Glass device settings.
If you update your device to a beta version of iOS 27, let us know if you experience issues!
🏷️ Collect PhotoTags during check-in
Participants can now select their own PhotoTag, such as team name, before entering contact information. This option appears when the Event has PhotoTags.
We added this primarily to assist photographers in easily tagging late additions not on a roster that show up to a photoshoot, but there will be additional features for action photography in next week's update!
📱 Capture App 5.7.1
OTA update released Friday, June 26
🛠️ Miscellaneous UI fixes
A small OTA update with additional interface polish and cleanup.
🖥️ Dashboard Improvements
🔎 Docs Search is here
Click Search on the Docs page to search NowCandid documentation, with Candy navigation agent support.
📂 PhotoRoster image name cleanup
PhotoRoster data file uploads and image uploads now automatically remove spaces and certain special characters from image names.
🖼️ Full-frame overlay previews are downloadable
In the Image Overlay Editor, full-frame example render previews can now be downloaded just like banner previews.
🛍️ Retail Update
🪟 Better desktop popup behavior
On desktop, retail popups now automatically become scrollable if the popup is taller than the viewport height, matching Dashboard behavior.
📣 Marketing Fix
✉️ Email campaigns fixed for email-only PhotoRoster participants
Fixed an edge case where email-only PhotoRoster participants were not having their email campaigns start.
That’s the week!
From faster Virtual Group setup to better PhotoTag collection in the Capture App, these changes should help make your Event workflows more flexible and easier to manage.
This week’s updates include some helpful improvements across Virtual Group Builder, reporting, image conversion, participant management, and folder downloads.
The biggest highlight is a new Auto Headsize option in Virtual Group Builder, designed to give you a much better starting point when building virtual groups. We also added a new BGR Report to help you see which backgrounds are being ordered most, plus a few quality-of-life improvements throughout the Dashboard.
Let’s take a look!
🧑🤝🧑 Virtual Group Builder Improvements
✨ New Auto Headsize button
Virtual Group Builder now has a new Auto Headsize button.
This feature automatically detects faces and adjusts the scale and vertical offset of all cutouts so that subjects have roughly the same head size and are closer to eye level.
That means when you’re building a virtual group, you should have a much better starting point before making your final manual adjustments.
🏷️ Improved PhotoTag import behavior
We improved the behavior when importing a PhotoTag into Virtual Group Builder, helping that workflow feel smoother when adding subjects from a specific PhotoTag.
🚀 Upload fix for new from-scratch Virtual Groups
Fixed an issue where uploads were not uploading properly when working from /new on a from-scratch Virtual Group instead of an existing one.
👥 Smarter default subject behavior
Virtual Group Builder now skips the initial “add to group or replace group” popup when the only subjects in the group are the default 8 subjects.
🖼️ Bottom logo spacing improved
Bottom logos are now spaced the same distance from the bottom as top logos are from the top.
📊 Reporting Updates
📈 Events and Sales Report tables now have sortable columns
The Events Report and Sales Report tables now support sortable columns, making it easier to review and organize report data directly in the table.
🎨 New BGR Report
There is now a new BGR Report that shows the most ordered backgrounds for BGR images.
The report shows:
How many orders a background has
How many items a background has
Important note: if you upload the same background to multiple Events, those will show up as different backgrounds in the report. To avoid that, use the background import feature.
🖼️ Image Converter Update
📱 HEIC conversion is now supported
The Image Convert page at tools/convert now supports converting from HEIC files.
This should be helpful when working with images from devices that commonly save in HEIC format.
👥 Participant List Update
🏷️ Set PhotoTags for selected participants
On the Participant List page, the selected participants popup now includes a new option to set PhotoTags for those selected participants.
This gives you another way to update participant organization in bulk.
📂 Manage Images Update
⬇️ Download Folder improvements
The Download Folder feature on the Manage Images page now includes an X/X counter while downloading.
We also improved the behavior when downloading a folder with hundreds of images, which should make larger folder downloads clearer and more manageable.
That’s the week!
This week’s updates should make several everyday workflows smoother: Virtual Group Builder now has a stronger starting point with Auto Headsize, BGR background performance is easier to review, HEIC files are easier to convert, participant PhotoTags are easier to update, and large folder downloads are clearer.
Virtual group photos can be incredibly valuable for photographers — but let’s be honest, they have not always been incredibly fun to make!
Traditionally, creating a virtual group means jumping between multiple tools. You photograph each subject, create cutouts, export files, open design software, place everyone manually, resize and align the group, add names, save the finished image, upload it somewhere else, and then reconnect that image to the right customers.
That is a lot of steps for one group photo!
NowCandid’s Virtual Group Builder makes the process much simpler. Photographers can now create polished virtual group images directly inside the NowCandid Dashboard using the same Participants, cutouts, PhotoTags, backgrounds, and Event data already connected to their Event.
It is fast, flexible, and built to help photographers get virtual groups online and ready to sell with far less hassle. 🎉
A New Way to Build Virtual Group Photos
Virtual Group Builder is designed for photographers who want to offer professional group images when a traditional in-person group photo isn't possible.
That makes it especially useful for sports teams, schools, dance groups, cheer teams, clubs, all-star teams, and any Event where people are photographed individually but still need to appear together in a final group image.
Instead of needing every participant posed together at the exact same time, photographers can build a finished group photo from individual background-removed cutouts. If someone was photographed later, added after the fact, or missed the original group setup, they can still be included.
That flexibility can be a big deal for volume photography.
Built Directly Into the NowCandid Dashboard
Virtual Group Builder lives directly inside NowCandid. From an Event page, photographers can click Virtual Groups in the sidebar menu and start building using the Event data they already have.
The builder is not a disconnected design tool. It works alongside our existing tools, including participant data, PhotoTags, background removal, cutouts, custom backgrounds, overlays, logos, and everything else.
So instead of downloading files from one place, designing in another, and uploading it back to the dashboard afterward, photographers can keep the process inside NowCandid from start to finish.
Virtual Group Builder also supports the Mobile Dashboard! We don't necessarily recommend making Virtual Groups on your phone - but hey, could be nice in a pinch!
From Capture to Cutouts to Finished Group 🚀
Virtual Group Builder pairs especially well with NowCandid’s live-uploading and background removal capabilities.
A photographer can shoot participants individually, upload images to NowCandid live (or after the event) use NowCandid’s background removal to create clean cutouts, and then bring those cutouts straight into the Virtual Group Builder.
As a quick note for those unfamiliar with NowCandid's background removal, those same cutouts can also be used for shopping with alternate backgrounds! Making them multi-purpose across the Event.
For photographers shooting sports, schools, dance, cheer, or other volume Events, this can save a serious amount of time.
Add the Right Subjects Quickly 👥
Virtual Group Builder gives photographers a few easy ways to add people to a group.
You can add one participant at a time, import everyone from a specific PhotoTag, or bring in all participants from the Event. This makes the builder flexible for both small custom groups and larger team or event-wide composites.
PhotoTags are especially powerful here. If your Event is organized by team, class, club, etc., you can use those PhotoTags to bring the right people into the group quickly.
For example, a sports photographer could import a single team. A school photographer could import a club or activity group. A graduation photographer could import participants from a specific ceremony.
Clean PhotoTags can turn what used to be a very manual process into just a few clicks. ✨
Helpful Safeguards for Missing Cutouts
Real-world events are messy. Sometimes a participant is missing a cutout. Sometimes a placeholder exists. Sometimes a photographer needs to know what is missing before moving forward.
Virtual Group Builder helps make that easier to catch.
When importing from a PhotoTag, photographers can see the participants in that PhotoTag before removing empty subjects. The Remove Empty Subjects option can remove participants with no cutouts as well as placeholders, but the workflow is designed to help photographers notice missing kids, players, or participants before finalizing the group.
That way, the tool keeps things fast without overlooking potential issues.
Smart Subject Ordering
Virtual Group Builder uses a practical ordering system to help preserve the order participants were photographed in.
Subjects are initially ordered from bottom left to top right based on the alphanumeric order of the first PNG filename. In plain English: if a photographer shoots and names files in a meaningful order, the builder can use that order as a helpful starting point.
This can be useful for sports teams photographed by jersey number, students photographed alphabetically, or groups photographed in a specific roster order.
And when the order needs to change, photographers can simply drag subjects into place.
Drag, Drop, Swap, and Adjust 🖱️
Reordering subjects is simple. Photographers can drag the cutouts directly on the group image or drag the subject tiles at the bottom of the page.
When a subject is dragged to a new location, it swaps with the destination Participant. This makes it easy to balance rows, adjust lineups, or move specific people into better positions.
The builder also includes group-level controls for layout and composition, including rows, global scale, vertical position, background, overlay, text names, crop guides, aspect ratio lines, bottom vignette, and cutout fade settings.
These controls help photographers quickly shape the whole group while still keeping the workflow approachable.
Fine-Tune Individual Subjects 🎛️
Sometimes one participant needs a small adjustment. Maybe they need to be slightly larger, shifted left or right, brightened, or swapped to a different PNG.
The Subject Inspector gives photographers individual control over each subject.
Photographers can adjust a subject’s name, scale, brightness, horizontal offset, and vertical offset. They can also reset the subject, change them to a different Participant, change the selected cutout, or remove the subject from the group entirely.
This is one of the biggest advantages of the builder: it is fast, but still gives you control when the final image needs a little extra polish.
Choose the Best Cutout for Each Participant 🖼️
If a Participant has multiple cutouts available, photographers can choose which image works best for the group.
When adding subjects, photographers can also decide they want their incoming Participants to be using their first PNG or their latest PNG (alphanumerically determined using Folder Name and Image File Name).
Then subjects can also be selected to have their individual portrait swapped to a different one! This can be helpful when you want a variety of poses in your Virtual Group, or simply to swap a blinking kid's image to a
Backgrounds, Overlays, Logos, and Product Sizes 🎨
Virtual Group Builder gives photographers creative control over the final image.
Photographers can choose from NowCandid default backgrounds, use custom offer backgrounds, upload their own backgrounds, add overlays, and place account logos in the corners. This makes it easy to create anything from a clean traditional group image to a bold sports graphic or school-branded composite.
The builder supports common product-friendly formats, including 4×6, 5×7, 8×10, and 11×14. Crop guides and aspect ratio lines help photographers preview how the final image will fit the selected size.
There are also display options for subject names, including toggling names on or off and adjusting their vertical position. For teams, senior groups, school clubs, all-star rosters, or small graduation groups, names can make the final product feel more complete and commemorative.
Upload the Finished Group Back to the Event 📤
Once the virtual group is finished, photographers can save it and upload it back to the Event.
During upload, the group image can be assigned to a PhotoTag. This does two important things: it automatically shows the group image to participants with that same PhotoTag, and it makes the group photo searchable in the Event using that PhotoTag.
So if a photographer creates a group image for “Varsity Football,” they can assign it to that PhotoTag on upload. The image can then appear for the right participants and stay organized inside the Event.
That keeps the final product connected to the same Event structure used to build it.
Why This Is Such a Big Deal for Photographers
Virtual Group Builder is more than a design feature. It is a faster, more connected way to create and sell group photography products.
It helps photographers reduce manual design work, use the cutouts they already have, build from PhotoTags and participant data, add missing participants more easily, and get virtual group products online faster.
For volume photographers, that can mean less time spent assembling files and more time selling finished products. For customers, it means more group photo options. For events, it means group photography becomes more flexible, forgiving, and scalable.
Virtual Groups, Now Built Into the NowCandid Workflow ✨
Virtual Group Builder brings together live uploading, background removal, participant cutouts, PhotoTags, drag-and-drop group building, backgrounds, overlays, logos, subject names, crop previews, PhotoTag-based upload, and online selling.
When an Event is set up cleanly with consistent cutouts and PhotoTags, photographers can create a full virtual group in just a few clicks — then fine-tune it as needed.
It is simple, powerful, and built directly into NowCandid.
Whether you are creating a sports team composite, school group photo, graduation image, dance group, cheer team, all-star roster, or custom event product, Virtual Group Builder helps you get polished virtual group photos online faster.
Ready to try it?
Open an Event in your NowCandid Dashboard and click Virtual Groups in the sidebar menu to start building. 🎉
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