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Weekly Recap: Faster Payouts, New PhotoTag Details & Redesigned Marketing Emails 💸✨

Weekly Recap: Faster Payouts, New PhotoTag Details & Redesigned Marketing Emails 💸✨
Hey photo friends! 👋

Candy here with another weekly recap! This week brings faster, more frequent payouts, a much more informative home for PhotoTags, redesigned marketing emails, and another round of Background Removal quality improvements.

Let’s jump in!

🏷️ NEW: PhotoTag Details Pages

PhotoTags now have their own dedicated details pages.

Click any PhotoTag from the PhotoTag List page to open a much more complete view of everything connected to it.

From there, you can:

  • ✏️ Edit the PhotoTag
  • 👤 View tagged Participants and Contacts
  • 👥 View tagged Group Photos
  • 🖼️ View tagged Standard Photos

This is a pretty big improvement for anyone learning or managing PhotoTags!

PhotoTags can affect several different parts of an Event, and these pages make those relationships much easier to see in one place. They should also be especially helpful when training employees or helping someone understand exactly how a PhotoTag is being used.

💸 Faster, More Frequent Remittance Payments

We’ve sped up our remittance schedule and are adding a second payment cycle each week, helping completed-order funds reach your bank account sooner.

Previously, we sent your remittance statement on Wednesday, with the corresponding payment typically arriving in your bank account on Friday morning.

Going forward:

💰 Orders completed Friday through Tuesday will be included on your Wednesday remittance statement, with payment typically arriving Thursday

💰 Orders completed Wednesday and Thursday will be included on a new Friday remittance statement, with payment typically arriving Monday

That means the existing Wednesday payment cycle should now reach you about one day faster, while the new Friday cycle reduces the wait for orders completed later in the week.

✉️ Marketing Emails Get a New Look

Marketing emails have been redesigned with a cleaner, more modern layout.

There’s also a bigger change to the way images are protected:

  • 🌫️ Email image previews are now blurred
  • 🛡️ This replaces the previous scrolling copyright treatment

Blurring provides more consistent protection in situations where an email client might not properly render the scrolling copyright, or where the preview image is displayed outside an environment where GalleryGuard can protect it.

Real email, but with business & event name replaced for privacy!

Also: Minor Marketing Fix!

We also fixed an edge case that could prevent a marketing campaign from starting when two different Participants shared only part of their contact information.

For example, if two Participants had the same email address but different phone numbers, one Participant starting marketing should no longer incorrectly prevent the other from starting theirs.

✂️ Better Background Removal

Background Removal got another quality pass this week:

  • 💇 Improved hair cutouts
  • Better handling of certain sports portrait props, particularly soccer balls sitting on the ground

These changes continue our work to improve cutout quality across the kinds of images photographers are actually shooting.

🆕 "Quic" Is Now "Free"

The Quic programs have been rebranded to Free.

Nothing about the pricing or functionality has changed — just the names:

  • QuicPics → FreePics
  • QuicPortraits → FreePortraits
  • QuicPics GO! → FreePics GO!

Same programs, same functionality, same pricing. Just a (hopefully) clearer name moving forward.

🛍️ Retail Improvements

“Diamond Gloss” is now “Glossy Finish”

  • We’ve renamed "Diamond Gloss" to Glossy Finish on the retail site to make the option clearer and easier for customers to understand.

📱 More reliable iOS sharing

  • The native iOS share sheet used by the press-and-hold download feature should now open more reliably.

👥 Group Digital Downloads now behave like regular Digital Downloads

  • When no overlay is selected — or the Event doesn’t have one — Group Digital Downloads can now provide the full-resolution, uncropped original.
  • That means the image can be available immediately from the email receipt and avoids problematic cropping steps on Group Photos that aren’t a standard 2:3 aspect ratio.

📦 More accurate package previews

  • Fixed cases where Group and non-Group images could appear as previews for the wrong type of package product.

🖥️ Dashboard Improvements

📴 New offline screen

  • If your device is completely offline, the Dashboard now tells you instead of leaving you wondering whether the site is simply loading slowly.

📅 Event Calendar color coding fixed

  • Events once again display the correct colors based on their Event Program.

🖼️ Better Virtual Group Foreground management

  • The Foreground Picker now shows the names of your saved foregrounds. Click one to preview it, and you can also rename foregrounds for easier reuse later.

✂️ Overwritten BGR images can reprocess

  • If you overwrite an image inside a folder marked for Background Removal, it can now be reprocessed as long as the replacement has the exact same dimensions as the original.
  • If the dimensions differ at all, the existing PNG will not be replaced.

📋 Roster upload error fix

  • Fixed an edge case where a malformed email containing a # instead of an @ could stop the roster upload process and leave only the rows before that error imported.

👤 Participant names on QR downloads

  • QR download pages now display participant names in bold, making them easier to spot at a glance.

📊 Clearer Sales & Shipping chart details

  • Tooltips on the Event Details Sales & Shipping chart now break out Sales and Shipping separately on hover, adding some clarity.

Capture App 5.10.1 (OTA)📱

📱Selfie Check-In Station Mode fix

  • The Continue button text has been shortened, and the Close button now stays accessible when PhotoTag Check-In is enabled.
  • Previously, the extra PhotoTag selection row could push the Close button off the bottom of the screen.

That’s the week!

The FreePics name change is the most visible update, but the new PhotoTag Details pages may be one of the most useful additions for teams working with PhotoTags regularly.

Keep creating magic,

Candy 🍬

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New Orleans Event Photography: Social Sales Up 60%
Success Stories
December 6, 2023

New Orleans Event Photography: Social Sales Up 60%

7
 minutes read

New Orleans Event Photography, led by the dynamic duo of Amy Lombardo and Brian Junod, has had quite the success at a recent social Event!

Though they had successfully covered this annual social Event in 2022, their experience and preparation, combined with NowCandid's improvements over the past year, led to over a 60% increase in sales covering the same Event in 2023.

Left: Amy Lombardo     Right: Brian Junod

The Backstory

New Orleans Event Photography embarked on their NowCandid journey just a week before covering the same annual social event in 2022.

Despite the brief preparation period, they managed to prepare Microsoft Surface Go tablets to utilize NowCandid’s Tap-A-Face, connected to the internet via LTE hotspot, to generate over $15,000 in sales. Typically, devices with LTE built-in are highly recommended, but in a pinch, an LTE hotspot works!

This impressive feat marked just the beginning of their journey with NowCandid! Their 2023 results were even more impressive.

Elevating Sales through Education and Experience

Building on their initial success, the team sought to deepen their understanding of NowCandid's capabilities through workshops and mentorships. This proactive approach was key to their remarkable 60% sales increase.

"With the mentorships and workshops we have done over the past year, we have grown the sales of the same event over 60%," they reported. This educational commitment catapulted their sales from over $15,000 in 2022 to over $25,000 in 2023.

It's worth mentioning that their profit (before paying their photographers & crew) was well over $20,000. An almost 83% profit margin! Not bad for an Event where they were only taking photos for 5 hours.

What were some of the lessons learned through workshops and mentorships? 

Putting some of the more nuanced lessons aside, the basics were: more photographers, more images taken, using LTE-enabled tablets, and knowing when and how to utilize Selfie Check-In.

While in 2022 New Orleans Event Photography had 4-5 photographers at the Event, in 2023 they had 7 photographers in total, with approximately 7 additional crew members there for support.

Additional photographers allowed a significant increase in poses and images taken, while the additional crew streamlined the Event and allowed them to garner hundreds of Selfie Check-Ins as attendees arrived at the Event. Amy & Brian could not have succeeded at this Event without the help of their awesome photographers and crew!

By having additional crew present to acquire Selfie Check-Ins, the photographers did not need to spend as much time on tapping faces (though there were still plenty of Tap-A-Face entries at their Event as well) allowing them time to take even more images.

What New Orleans Event Photography Liked Most About NowCandid:

Focusing on the Photography

One of the standout features that Amy and Brian emphasized was the ability of NowCandid to simplify the complexities of the photo sales process. This allowed them and their team to concentrate fully on their photography and increasing their volume.

"It is nice to be able to just focus on the photography aspect knowing that the sales, marketing, and technical features are being handled by NowCandid," they shared. This focus on photography ensured thorough and professional coverage of the event, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Ease of Use and Customer Satisfaction

The intuitive nature of NowCandid played a significant role in streamlining their workflow and enhancing customer satisfaction.

"Our customers have loved the experience of instantly receiving their photo proofs and being able to order on the spot," Amy & Brian noted. Instant gallery delivery not only simplified the process for the photographers, but also delighted their clients.

Responsive Improvements and Growth

Over the past year, New Orleans Event Photography witnessed firsthand the evolution of NowCandid's Capture & Upload app.

"The NowCandid crew listens to feedback and has vastly improved the application since we first used it a year ago," they acknowledged. This responsiveness to user feedback demonstrates NowCandid’s commitment to continuous improvement, aligning with the evolving needs of professional photographers.

The story of New Orleans Event Photography and NowCandid is one of collaboration, innovation, and remarkable growth.

Their journey showcases how the right tools, combined with a focus on quality and customer satisfaction, can lead to exceptional outcomes in event photography.

NowCandid 101: The Capture & Upload App
NowCandid 101
December 5, 2023

NowCandid 101: The Capture & Upload App

8
 minutes read
Capture & Upload Quick Bullet Points:

Hello there photo wizards, Candy here! 📸

It's time for another session of NowCandid 101. Today, we're diving into the Capture & Upload app. Whether you're a seasoned pro or new to the NowCandid universe, understanding this tool is key to utilizing NowCandid effectively.

The Two Primary Functions of the Capture & Upload App:

Tethering and Uploading:
  • The device running the Capture & Upload app tethers to your Nikon, Sony, or Canon cameras.
  • Images are uploaded to the cloud as you take photos, ready for immediate marketing and sales. 🌐💫
  • This not only boosts sales, but also cuts down on post-event workload, and enhances your customer experience.
Workflow Wizardry:
  • The app is the backbone of specific NowCandid Workflows like Tap-A-Face, Scanner ID, Name Lookup, or Type & Take.
  • It pairs photos with your subjects, ensuring every photo finds its way to the right phone or inbox, right away. 📲

Platform Availability and Recommendations:

  • You can find the app on both Apple and Microsoft App Stores.
  • Whether a Microsoft Surface Go 3, or an Apple 10th Generation iPad, the app functionality is essentially the same - though the Apple experience may be a bit more consistent.
  • Compatible with iPads, iPhones, and Windows tablets (like the trusty Surface Go 3).
  • A pro tip: Opt for an LTE-enabled device to stay connected and upload images in real-time, saving you from poor venue WiFi quality and troublesome WiFi hotspots. 🌍✨

Optional but Optimal for Selfie Check-In:

  • Using the Selfie Check-In Workflow? The app here is optional but highly recommended.
  • It allows for live-uploading, adding an extra layer of efficiency. However, you can also choose to upload images post-event using the NowCandid Web Dashboard. Once uploaded, images match with Selfies and begin marketing right away.

In the dynamic world of event photography, staying ahead is all about using the right tools effectively.

The Capture & Upload app is one such tool, designed to make your work easier, faster, and more profitable. So why wait? Embrace the future of photography with NowCandid’s Capture & Upload app, and watch your business soar! 🚀🌟

That's it for today's NowCandid 101. Stay tuned for more tips, tricks, and insights to keep your photography business on the cutting edge. Links to view the app store pages for each version of the app can be found below:

Download the App (Windows)

Download the App (Apple iOS)

Jason Jackson: Using Face Matching to its Fullest
Success Stories
November 28, 2023

Jason Jackson: Using Face Matching to its Fullest

6
 minutes read

Welcome to another inspiring success story from the world of NowCandid!

In this feature, we're shining the spotlight on Jason Jackson, a talented photographer based in Texas.

Jason Jackson of TSS Photography

Jason's recent venture at a collegiate ring ceremony using NowCandid's GradPics Now Program and Selfie Check-In Workflow showcases the transformative power of our platform in the realm of event photography.

The Numbers

Jason Jackson's latest Event, a collegiate ring ceremony, has been a resounding success. Utilizing the GradPics Now Program alongside the Selfie Check-In Workflow, he managed to generate an impressive $5000 in sales with 122 participants, all within just two weeks of the Event!

This feat translates to an average of over $39 in sales per participant, all while earning an outstanding 78.8% profit margin as well.

The Power of More Photos

Something that played a part in Jason's success was how many photos he took – well over 2000! For only 122 participants!

Taking a higher number of photos correlates strongly with increased sales, and Jason's recent experience backs up that idea even more.

Jason elaborated, "Our key takeaway: taking more pictures significantly boosts sales. The broader the selection, the more they're inclined to purchase!"

His conclusion is clear – a wider range of images encourages more (and larger) orders, a concept NowCandid's Face Matching technology effortlessly supports by accurately pairing each photo with the right individual, allowing you (the photographer) unlimited freedom to take as many photos as you want.

Multiple poses, family photos, portraits, even shots of your subjects in action! No matter how many photos you take of your subjects, NowCandid's Face Matching has you covered.

Family Photo Station Enhances Sales

Jason's introduction of a family photo station also proved to be a strategic move in maximizing sales. This approach demonstrates how creative thinking and adapting to circumstances can substantially elevate sales performance in Event photography.

"We adapted to rain at the event by moving the family photo station indoors during the morning session," Jason explained. "The decision to retain this setup for the afternoon significantly boosted overall participation."

Embracing Opportunities with NowCandid

Jason Jackson's story is a powerful story of the potential that new innovations in photography sales have brought about. It also exemplifies how leveraging NowCandid's tools and features can transform standard Events into even more lucrative opportunities for photographers.

For more insights and success stories from the world of NowCandid, stay tuned!

Let’s get in touch

If you’re a photographer looking to add NowCandid™ services to your wheelhouse, set up a call with us!

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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