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Weekly Recap: More Virtual Group Control, New Sports Backgrounds & Better BGR Tools 🏈✨

Weekly Recap: More Virtual Group Control, New Sports Backgrounds & Better BGR Tools 🏈✨
Hey photo friends! 👋

Candy here with another weekly recap! This week brings more control to Virtual Group Builder, a much better home for Event Background Removal, new Candy Image Studio exposure tools, and—yes—27 new sports background sets. 😎

Let’s jump in!

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Virtual Group Builder Additions

Ask and you shall receive... sometimes! We’ve gotten some good feedback on Virtual Group Builder, and this week several new controls are here to make layouts easier to fine-tune:

↕️ Force subjects onto different rows

  • While dragging a subject, new Add to Row buttons appear over the other rows. Drop the subject there to explicitly move them where you want instead of relying entirely on automatic placement.
  • Previously you were limited to automatically determined rows, you still have those but can now override them!

🔍 New logo size slider

  • Adjust your corner logos to be smaller or larger than the default.
  • Previously they could be considered a bit tiny, but this gives you a bit more control!

🌫️ Individual cutout fade control

  • The Subject Inspector now has its own cutout fade intensity slider, separate from the global setting, so you can fine-tune individual subjects when needed.
  • This will let you tweak the cutout fade intensity for subjects in the front row or on the sides of the virtual group, in case you're wanting a very specific look.

👥 Smarter merged-participant image selection

  • The Subject Image Picker will only show images from merged participants when they share the same name.
  • This typically does not matter, but in the case of a parent doing a Selfie Check-In of themselves and then of their child later, this will keep Virtual Groups working as expected!

Just a few additions, but very useful ones when you’re trying to get a Virtual Group looking just right!

Drag and drop subjects into other rows for more control than ever!

New options to more quickly space out your subjects!

When viewing subject details, adjust them by individual!

Control the size of your logos!

🏈 27 New Sports Background Sets

Alright, shoutout to the random guy who told me (me being Candy, in case you forgot!) that he didn’t like the backgrounds. We heard you! 😂

This week we’ve added 27 new sets of sports backgrounds, including a brand-new Sports – Locker Room background category.

And, in case you missed it, last week we also added an AI Background Generator so you can create entirely new, modern backgrounds of your own.

A quick reminder... you already have a lot of control over which backgrounds your customers actually see:

🎨 Edit the default backgrounds in your Offers

📤 Upload your own custom backgrounds at both the Offer-level and Event-level

🤖 Generate new backgrounds of your own with AI

🏈 Choose from our (now growing) collection of built-in choices

We have a TON of default backgrounds—and yes, many have been around for a while—but you’re never locked into using them. You can build your own look for your business, and we’ll keep adding new options over time too.

✂️ New Dedicated Background Removal Page

Event Background Removal now has its own dedicated Dashboard page, accessible from the Event Sidebar. It is not longer just a popup!

The BGR toggle on Event Overview will take you there too, giving all of these controls a little more breathing room.

On the new page, you can:

✅ Enable or disable Background Removal

🖼️ Manage your Event Backgrounds

🎨 See your Offer Backgrounds with a direct link to the Offer

📊 See how many cutouts have finished and how many are still processing

⏳ Watch a live progress bar while Background Removal is working

📂 See all valid Event folders and which ones are marked for Background Removal

And if your Event is a new Event: ✂️ You can mark an existing folder for Background Removal even if it already contains images!!!

🎨 Candy Image Studio: Better Exposure Fixes

🌙 New Fix Underexposure node

  • Helps recover images that came out too dark.

☀️ Fix Overexposure greatly improved

  • The existing overexposure tool has been reworked for more reliable results.

Utilize Candy Image Studio to fix images so they can sell, quickly and affordably!

🏈 Jersey Jotter Progress Tracking

New Jersey Jotter progress bar

  • When Jersey Jotter is active and still has unprocessed images, its dedicated page now shows processing progress—similar to Candy Culler and the new Background Removal page.

This makes it much easier to tell whether recognition is still working through a large Event.

🛍️ Retail Improvements

Titled Luxe Prints now work with package prefill

  • Packages can now automatically prefill eligible Titled Luxe Print products just like other supported products.

🖼️ Titled Luxe Print package rendering fixed

  • Fixed an issue where these products could render incorrectly inside packages.

🤖 AI-generated backgrounds now render correctly on products

🎨 Selected backgrounds now stay visible through the final product step

  • Fixed an issue where the chosen background could sometimes disappear on renders when reaching quantity and finish steps.

📝 Several product descriptions updated

  • Some product descriptions have been refreshed for better clarity.

🖼️ AI Edit + BGR Assignment Fix

👥 BGR versions of AI edits now keep direct participant assignments

  • If the original non-AI image was directly assigned to someone, its Background Removed AI-edited version will now correctly inherit that relationship.

📦 Order Details Fix

📝 Package captions now display correctly

  • Fixed cases where Order Details did not show caption information for certain products contained inside packages.

📱 Capture App 5.9.1 – iOS OTA

📸 Photo Booth fix for iPad

  • Fixed the Photo Booth gallery strip being cut off on certain iPad models.

That’s the week!

More Virtual Group control, a much stronger Background Removal workflow, some useful exposure tools, and plenty of fresh sports backgrounds to work with.

And if you still don’t like the backgrounds... now you’ve got plenty of ways to show us how it’s done. 😉

Keep creating magic,

Candy 🍬

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Big News: PhotoTags for Participants 🏷️👤
Feature Updates
August 12, 2025

Big News: PhotoTags for Participants 🏷️👤

6
 minutes read
Hey there, photo friends!

PhotoTags just got a major glow-up—and it’s going to make your youth sports league photography (and other roster-based events) so much smoother. ✨

You probably already know PhotoTags as a way to organize images from an Event into public image groups—perfect for team photos, tournament games, or multi-day event galleries.

But now? PhotoTags can also be assigned to Contacts. Let’s break down what’s new and how it all works together.

📋 Assign PhotoTags in Your Rosters

When uploading a roster to a Name Lookup Event in the Web Dashboard, you can now include PhotoTag columns in your spreadsheet.

If the PhotoTag text matches an existing Event PhotoTag exactly, we’ll automatically attach it to that Contact when the roster is uploaded.

👀 View & Edit PhotoTags for Contacts

On the Participant Details page, you can now:

  • • See all PhotoTags assigned to that Contact
  • • Assign or unassign additional PhotoTags
  • • Rename PhotoTags without breaking existing links (the updates will flow everywhere!)

🖨️ PhotoTags on Scan Cards

Using the Scanner ID Workflow? Your downloaded Scan Cards now display any assigned PhotoTags—making it super easy to match the right cards to the right team. ⚽🏀🏈

🖼️ Group Photos in Galleries

If Group Photos are attached to a PhotoTag, they’ll automatically appear at the end of every personal gallery for subjects with that same PhotoTag. (Non-group images assigned to a PhotoTag won’t auto-appear in personal galleries.)

📱 Sort Name Lookup by PhotoTag (Capture & Upload App v4.20.1)

This one’s a game-changer for on-site shooting:

You can now filter Name Lookup by PhotoTag—so if you’re photographing the “Panthers” next, just filter and only Panthers will appear.

We’ve also polished the Name Lookup interface to make it faster and easier to navigate. You’re welcome. 😉

That’s the scoop on PhotoTags for Participants! 🏷️💪

Together, these changes mean:

  • • Faster on-site team photography
  • • Better organization from roster upload to final gallery
  • • Cleaner communication with coaches, parents, and teams
  • • Happier clients (and fewer mix-ups!)

Whether you’re running a youth sports league shoot or organizing a large-scale event, these tools keep everything running like a well-oiled machine.

Keep tagging like a pro,

Candy 🍬

Photographing Homecoming Weekend with NowCandid: A Photographer's Playbook
Events
August 12, 2025

Photographing Homecoming Weekend with NowCandid: A Photographer's Playbook

8
 minutes read
High school homecoming weekend is packed with photo-worthy moments

From the parade and pep rally to the big game, homecoming court, and the dance. For photographers, it’s a whirlwind. But with NowCandid™, even a small team can cover it all efficiently and profitably.

Below is a quick look at each event, the opportunities it presents, and the NowCandid tools that help you make the most of them.

🎉 Homecoming Parade – Kicking Off the Celebration

  • • Selfie Check-In™: Let parade participants register with a quick selfie before kickoff. Face Matching will tag them automatically later.
  • • Roam & Shoot: Focus on faces & emotional moments, not journalistic shots. The system will do the rest!
  • • PartyPics™: Upload images in real-time for attendees, parents and students to view instantly.

    💡 Every identified face is a potential sale. Automation ensures you don’t miss anyone.

📣 Pep Rally – Spirit & Smiles

  • • Selfie Check-In™: Continue building your attendee database for the weekend.
  • • LiveLoop™: Display photos on the big screen in real-time to build excitement.

    💡 More personalized photos = more likely purchases.

🏈 Football Game – Under the Lights

  • • Face Matching™: Match images to fans, players, and band members automatically.
  • • JerseyJotter™: You can even let fans filter photos by jersey number for easy finds.
  • • Live-Upload: Deliver shots before halftime!
  • • LiveLoop™: Show photos on the big screen during breaks for instant crowd buzz.

    💡 Thousands of game photos become searchable and personal, boosting sales.

👑 Homecoming Court – Crowning Moments

  • • Prepare: Add nominees to Face Matching™ ahead of time with Selfie Check-In™!
  • • Background Removal: Instantly turn sideline shots into elegant portraits.
  • • Live-Upload: Provide those crowning shots well before the night’s over.

    💡Court images have built-in demand, your social pics will encourage bigger package sales!

💃 The Dance – A Night to Remember

  • • Selfie Check-In™ at the Door: The best time to get Check-Ins!

    • Even if someone checks-in again, that's no problem! Get everyone to do it as they funnel into the dance.
  • • Digital Backgrounds: Offer multiple themed or elegant options for portraits, our real-time background removal makes it easy.
  • • Photo Booth + LiveLoop™: Between NowCandid's Photo Booth Mode & LiveLoop™, you have multiple upsell options that create more photos and more positive energy!

    💡 Multiple background choices can lead to one image being purchased multiple times!

🚀 Why It Works

NowCandid™ turns homecoming into a personalized, real-time, high-volume photography experience—without extra staff.

  • • Efficiency: Automation handles matching, sorting, and delivery.
  • • Delight: Participants see their photos fast and without searching.
  • • Profitability: More sellable images, quicker turnaround, and premium offerings = better margins.

A typical homecoming weekend is jam-packed with memories in the making.

For a photographer, it used to mean juggling notebooks of names, printing hundreds of proofs, or spending days in post-event labor. Now, with tools from NowCandid™, a single photographer (even operating solo) can confidently cover the parade, pep rally, game, court, and dance – and do it in a way that’s both fun for students and profitable for the business.

By using features such as Selfie Check-In™ and Face Matching™ to ensure everyone’s identified, QuicPics™ and LiveLoop™ to deliver excitement in real time, and Photo Booth and AI-powered backgrounds to offer creative products, you transform the event photography workflow from chaotic and labor-intensive to smooth, high-tech, and engaging.

In short, NowCandid’s software and workflows allow you to capture the full spirit of homecoming

Every candid laugh, every triumphant cheer, every dance floor twirl – and get those images into the hands of the people who will cherish them, almost as fast as the memories are made.

This means happier clients, more sales, and a homecoming weekend where the photographer can enjoy the process as much as everyone else enjoys the photos.

Here’s to using technology to work smarter, wow your customers, and make homecoming (and many more events to come) a win-win for everyone involved!
Weekly Recap: Tap-A-Face from the Dashboard & Smarter Roster Contacts 👤✨
Feature Updates
August 8, 2025

Weekly Recap: Tap-A-Face from the Dashboard & Smarter Roster Contacts 👤✨

3
 minutes read
Hey there, photo friends!

This week’s updates are small but mighty—because behind the scenes we’re cooking up some bigger projects that we can’t wait to share with you soon.

For now, here’s what’s fresh in your NowCandid™ Dashboard:

👆 Tap-A-Face… from the Web Dashboard!

You’ve always loved Tap-A-Face in the field—now you can do it right from your Dashboard.

From any image’s Image Details Page, head to the Participants tab and click the new Add via Tap-A-Face button. From there:

  1. Click a spot on the image where a face is
  2. Enter the contact info for the person

This will instantly create a new Participant in your Event, kick off Face Matching™, and start marketing their gallery right away. 📸💌

Manage Images -> Details, Logs, and More-> Participants -> Add via Tap-A-Face

📇 Roster Contacts, Upgraded

Contacts you add through Rosters are now much easier to work with! They’ll behave just like your regular Contacts & Participants—meaning:

  • They’re fully editable
  • They can be assigned multiple images without the previous first-image requirement

No more clunky workarounds—just smoother, faster contact management. 🙌

This change will also improve adding Contacts via the "Create Participant" button, as well as Contacts who add themselves to the Event via a Positive ID Event's Simple Check-In.

These kinds of Contacts will just show a silhouette for now, which we may adjust down the line!

That’s it for this week!

Stay tuned—because some very cool things are coming your way soon. 👀✨

Keep being amazing,

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

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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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