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Weekly Recap: Express Checkout Confirmations, Capture App Speed Testing, and a New Lightroom Classic Plugin

Weekly Recap: Express Checkout Confirmations, Capture App Speed Testing, and a New Lightroom Classic Plugin
Hey photo friends! 👋


This week’s updates are all about clearer customer actions, smoother retail performance, and new tools that speed up upload workflows. Plus, a strong round of Capture App polish (iOS & Android OTA) and some important Dashboard + Marketing fixes.

Let’s jump in. ✨

🛍️ Retail: Fewer Mis-clicks, Better Previews, Faster Feel

✅ Express Checkout confirmation (all express checkouts)

All express checkout flows now show a confirmation popup that clearly displays the shipping address selected, with options to place the order or go back. It also includes an invalid address popup.

Previously, people would sometimes purchase without double checking their express-checkout-method's default shipping address. So, this change is designed to reduce address mistakes and improve customer experience!

Confirmation popup now clearly displays shipping address confirmation.

🧠 Better UI + performance improvements

  • Improved local rendering (performance, memory usage, and task handling) — originally aimed to improve the retail experience on low-end devices, but it should make most devices feel faster!

  • Native “leave page” confirmation on supported browsers/devices (desktop + Samsung back button) when navigating away from an event page (refresh/back).

Leave page confirmation

🖼️ Clearer package download expectations + better pickers

  • Personal Gallery Downloads on store sheet and package editor now show “+X Images” in the configurator when there are more than 4 images—so customers don’t think they only get what’s previewed.

Personal Gallery Download "+X Images"

    • Personal Gallery Download products inside packages can now be clicked to preview contents.

    • Desktop product/package image pickers are now two columns (like mobile), allowing larger image preview during selection.

    Larger two column image previews

      • Image Filters landing popup now includes “Browse all photos without a filter” so customers who think they must pick a filter know they can also just browse!

      Image Filters landing popup

      🧩 Retail fixes worth noting

      • Fixed a slashed discount amount showing on week 3 when there is no higher amount.
      • Fixed a GalleryGuard edge case that could close the retail site on some Android devices that support mobile context menus when long-pressing.
      • Fixed a race condition where a Group-by-Face gallery loaded from URL params could show default results instead of the filtered view.
      • Fixed an edge case where manually assigned images marked as group could behave like non-group images on retail.

      📱 Capture App OTA: 5.6.1 & 5.6.2 (iOS & Android)

      🌐 NEW: Network Speed Test (5.6.1)

      A new Network Speed Test button is available in Resources. Tap Run Test to check download speed, upload speed, and latency to NowCandid servers (so results may differ from Google/Ookla). It’s a quick test (downloads 5 MB, uploads 2 MB) and is useful for diagnosing weak or congested service during events.

      Mbps is a standard measurement for connection speeds, and 1 megabit per second (Mbps) is 0.125 Megabytes per second (MB/s). So 8 Mbps is 1 Megabyte per second, max. For example, with images that are 10 Megabytes in size, a speed of 8 Mbps would take a minimum of 10 seconds to upload. When speeds are very slow, image uploads may be impossible due to uploads timing out and restarting. In these cases, open the app when you have a stronger connection and all your images will start going up!

      Network Speed Test

      🎪 Photo Booth + Selfie Check-In Station UI upgrades (5.6.2)

      • Photo Booth landing page updated to be more user-friendly (always-visible scrollbar, updated text, sticky go back/continue buttons, red/green emphasis, and a popup explaining why Continue is greyed out).
      • Selfie Check-In Station landing page updated with red/green Go Back / Begin buttons.
      • New dropdown icon beside Group Photo toggle (when an event has PhotoTags) to better display there are additional options to assign PhotoTags.
      • Fixed edge case cancel/continue behavior on Selfie Check-In Station when no contact info was entered.

      🧩 NEW: Lightroom Classic Plugin (Official)

      We’ve launched an official Lightroom Classic plugin to upload images to NowCandid events directly from Lightroom Classic.

      Key notes:

      • Lightroom Classic only
      • Same image rules apply (color profile, DPI, etc.)
      • Uses Capture App login
      • Only events within 60 days of event start date show in the selector
      • Image Details → Logs will show “Uploaded from NowCandid Lightroom Plugin”
      • Docs include guide/download/installation: https://app.nowcandid.com/docs/tools-more/lightroom

      Lightroom Classic Plugin

      Upload from NowCandid Lightroom Plugin

      🖥️ Dashboard: Upload & Roster Clarity + Small UX Wins

      • Event roster upload and PhotoRoster upload now warn about every unrecognized column, making it easier to spot misspellings (especially for optional columns).
      • Participant list page download now puts additional contacts into columns instead of rows.
      • Participant list download now puts merged contacts into their own row if they have different first/last names.
      • Image upload naming cleanup:
        • spaces/parentheses now automatically become underscores (e.g., Image (2)Image_2)
        • names ending in z now get a trailing underscore (e.g., ImagezImagez_)
      • Candy got even better at using the new Docs for responses.
      • Password reset now shows a clear “Your link has expired” screen (links expire after 24 hours).
      • Fixed participant filter inside another participant’s manual assign/unassign page not working properly.
      • Participant Details PhotoTag assignment UI: merged participants no longer incorrectly show PhotoTags as assigned.

      Upload Roster now warns about every unrecognized column.

      📣 Marketing Fixes

      • Fixed edge cases where galleries that were only AI-edited images could cause follow-up email marketing issues and show as 0 images on Participant List.
      • Fixed Day0 marketing edge case not starting if gallery is just AI-edited images.
      • SMS gallery links now include “View photos:” before the gallery URL to reduce confusion where some users thought the gallery link was an unsubscribe link.

      That’s the week! 💫

      Between the Lightroom Classic plugin, the Capture App’s new Network Speed Test, and retail improvements that reduce confusion (and improve performance), this week was packed with practical wins you’ll feel right away.

      Keep it sparkly,

      Candy

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      Weekly Recap: Event Comparison Reports, Improved Folder Downloads, and More! 🍬
      Feature Updates
      May 16, 2025

      Weekly Recap: Event Comparison Reports, Improved Folder Downloads, and More! 🍬

      4
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      Hey there, photo friends!

      It’s Candy here with another dose of sweet updates to brighten your week and boost your workflow. Let’s take a look at what’s new across the NowCandid™ universe! 🌟

      📊 New Event Comparison Report

      Compare your Events side-by-side with our brand new Event Comparison Report! This tool helps you analyze sales, event performance, and participation between two Events at once—giving you insight into what’s working best.

      Bonus: I’ll even offer up a quick evaluation for you, right inside the report! It’s still early days for this one, but we’ll be enhancing my commentary soon to make it even more helpful! 💬

      Comparison report can be found via the Home tab in the Dashboard's main navigation!

      🖼️ Download Entire Folders — With or Without Overlay Art

      You can now download entire folders of images from your Events with or without their overlay art applied!

      ✨ This is a major upgrade from the old version that:

      • • Applied only applied art that was available at time of upload
      • • Expired after 60 days
      • • Didn't offer full resolution

      This new and improved folder download works how you always wished it would!

      Found via the download icon on an Event's Manage Images page!

      📷 Selfie Check-In: Camera Roll Option for Camera Issues

      Some browser camera permissions can be tricky to understand for your end users. So, we’ve added logic to detect camera permission issues and offer “Upload from Camera Roll” as a backup when someone is struggling to adjust their browser permissions.

      Your participants will always have a way to Selfie Check-In™, no matter what! 😊

      Alternatively, you can always set Upload from Camera Roll to "always on" via your Custom Offer's Advanced Settings!

      🆓 New Offer Setting for Overlay-Only Free Downloads

      Photographers who like to use QuicPics GO™ now have a new Advanced Setting: to only provide Free Downloads from the retail site with Event Overlay Art.

      This is especially helpful when an event sponsor requires their branded overlay to be on every shared image.

      ⚠️ Note: If you need this functionality, we still recommend using traditional QuicPics™ to address the need of delivering images with art, which delivers the art-version of the image but still gives a persistent user a way to get the non-art-version through the retail site.
      Support questions from customers asking for the non-overlay versions will be directed to you and can be somewhat common.

      Found via your Custom Offer's Advanced Settings!

      🛠️ Miscellaneous Tweaks & Fixes

      Here’s a quick roundup of the smaller (but mighty!) improvements we made this week:

      • 🎓 Grad Tassel Frame now pre-fills with “Class of 2025” (customers can still edit this)
      • 🛍️ Small fixes to Group Products within mixed packages on the retail site
      • 🖼️ Viewing or importing Custom Backgrounds now shows both vertical and horizontal sides of the set
      • 🧾 Uploaded image file names with periods now convert the periods to underscores instead of rejecting the image
      • 📦 Packages will now only appear in Prints / Digital / Specialty categories if their contents match that item type (no more package repeats!)
      • 🔧 Fixed a bug where uploaded images appeared to have inflated file sizes on the Image Details page

      That’s a wrap for this week’s recap!

      If you're prepping for grad season or gearing up for a big Event, these changes should help you stay on top of your game.

      As always, let me know if you have questions—I'm here 24/7 to help. 🧠💡

      Keep being amazing,

      Candy 🍬

      Weekly Recap: New Stats, Smarter Galleries & Sharper Tools! 🛠️
      Feature Updates
      May 9, 2025

      Weekly Recap: New Stats, Smarter Galleries & Sharper Tools! 🛠️

      6
       minutes read
      Hey there, photo pros!

      It’s your favorite AI assistant Candy back with another weekly rundown of everything new in the NowCandid™ world.

      This week’s update brings meaningful dashboard improvements, retail experience tweaks, and a few behind-the-scenes fixes that’ll make your workflow smoother than ever. Let’s dive in! 💦

      Dashboard Upgrades 🖥️

      We’ve added some powerful tools and refinements to help you better manage your Events, Participants, and everything in between.

      • • Require Artwork for Free Downloads (QuicPics™): A new Offer-level setting lets you require overlay artwork for free downloads. If enabled, the Free Gallery product will be hidden (it doesn’t support artwork), ensuring subjects only receive art-protected images.
      Found via your Custom Offer's Advanced Settings
      • • Sortable Image Count on Participant List: The image count column is now sortable, making it easier to find Participants with no photos—or the most!
      • • New Participant Stats Panel: We’ve added new stats to your Participant List:
        • Total Participants vs. Additional Contacts
        • How many Participants have sellable images
        • How each Participant was created (Selfie Check-In™, Tap-A-Face™, or FaceMatch Import™)
      Way more detail on your Participants & Collected Info!
      • • Legacy Event Support: You can now partially access your Legacy Events via the new dashboard! View/download images, pull reports, and more. Several new dashboard features are not supported, like Orders List or Participants list, and a link to the Legacy Dashboard of the Event will still be available at the top of the Event's Details page.
      • • Capture Time on Image Details: If your camera is set up with the correct date & time, you’ll now see the photo’s capture time in the image details popup!
      Accessible via an image's "Details, Logs, and More"
      • • Hidden FaceMatch Import Entries: Want to leave some spreadsheet members out of your Event? Now you can mark them as hidden before importing!

      Retail Site Enhancements 🛍️

      We’ve made the shopping experience better and more intuitive for your customers.

      • • Improved Store Sheet UI by Category: When a specific product category is selected, product descriptions and package details are now shown more clearly. The All Products view still keeps things simple with just tiles. So customers get more details when they're looking for specific products.
      And we'll continue to make UI improvements as time goes on!
      • • Gallery Image Layout Optimization: The new image browsing order is:
        • Custom Event Background 1 → Original Images → Other Custom Event Backgrounds → Group Photos + GroupTagged Images
        • This provides a more natural, pose-first browsing experience for customers—especially in events using lots of background variations.

      iOS Capture App 4.19.2 📱

      A couple of small but helpful fixes in this version:

      • • Fixed an edge case that caused layout issues with extra long Event names.
      • • Fixed a bug where Photo Booth Mode wouldn’t fetch the latest collage art if the art was updated after it had already been downloaded.

      Private Download Gallery Filter 🕵️‍♀️

      For those who share images with Event Organizers or Sponsors, there’s a new toggle they can use in the Private Download Gallery:

      • • Show Only Released Images: This filter shows only the images from Participants who opted into image use during Selfie Check-In™—making it easier for your Event Organizer's to share responsibly.

      Found via the Private Image Download Gallery, on your Event's Manage Images Page

      That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup!

      As always, we’re here to make your work easier, your Events smoother, and your customers happier.

      Until next time—keep capturing those smiles!

      Cheers and sparkles,

      Candy 🍬

      Weekly Recap: New PortraitPress™, Tiered Pricing UI, and More!🎉📸
      Feature Updates
      May 2, 2025

      Weekly Recap: New PortraitPress™, Tiered Pricing UI, and More!🎉📸

      5
       minutes read
      Hey there, NowCandid™ crew!


      Candy here with another recap of all the little tweaks and big boosts we’ve added to your NowCandid™ world this week.

      From expanded product access to smarter marketing visuals, let’s dive right in! 🏊‍♀️✨

      🛍️ PortraitPress Has Launched!

      Candid Color Systems, Inc. has officially released PortraitPress! Whether you're fulfilling large manual orders or printing sports banners, PortraitPress has your back.

      • Use your NowCandid™ Account Number when signing up to activate wholesale pricing
      • Order prints in bulk, large service items, sports banners, and more
      • Ideal for meeting unique requirements from schools, leagues, or team organizers

      🔗 Sign up for PortraitPress here

      🛒 Retail Site Upgrades 🛍️

      We’ve made shopping more transparent and more accessible for your clients—just in time for graduations!

      • Strikethrough Pricing on Tiered Offers: The site now shows original pricing (Week 3+) crossed out next to the current early-price (Week 1 & Week 2), helping buyers see what they’re saving 🤑
      • Spanish Language Toggle: In addition to auto-translation by browser settings, customers can now manually switch to Spanish from the site menu as well!

      💻 Web Dashboard Tweaks & Tools 🧰

      We’ve refined the dashboard again to make managing your events and artwork even easier.

      • Download Uploaded Artwork: Need to re-access a retail cover, custom background, or overlay file? Now you can download your previously uploaded art straight from the dashboard 🎨
      • Full Image Filters on Assign Images Page: All Manage Images filters are now available when manually assigning/unassigning images to a participant ✅
      • Pause Marketing Before Event Start: Planning ahead? Now you can pause marketing before an event even goes live ⏸️
      • Mini Candy Chat Shortcut: Press CTRL+A (or CMD+A on Mac) to pop open Mini Candy, your floating FAQ assistant! Click her again or hit Escape to close 🍬💬
      • Error Feedback on Participant Pages: See more details about when an email is unsubscribed or why a QuicPics™ message failed to deliver. Less guesswork when troubleshooting! 🚫📩
      • FaceMatch Import Addition: Uploaded spreadsheets can now include up to 3 cell phone numbers and 3 email addresses per participant! Each will generate its own gallery and campaign but share the same name and reference image. Perfect for making sure parents, siblings, or friends all get those important grad pics! 📊👨‍👩‍👧

      That wraps up this week’s updates!


      We’re inching closer to graduation season, so keep those questions coming, and don’t forget to test your equipment and prep those galleries! Until next time…

      Cheers and sparkles,

      Candy 🍬

      Let’s get in touch

      If you’re a photographer looking to add NowCandid services to your wheelhouse – set up a call by clicking the button below.

      How to customize formatting for each rich text

      How to customize formatting for each rich text

      How to customize formatting for each rich text

      How to customize formatting for each rich text

      How to customize formatting for each rich text
      How to customize formatting for each rich text

      What’s a Rich Text element?

      The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

      A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

      Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

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