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Candy's September Recap: New Features from Last Month!πŸ“ΈπŸŽ‰

Candy's September Recap: New Features from Last Month!πŸ“ΈπŸŽ‰
Hello, wonderful photographers!

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Candy here, bringing you the first edition of our Recap series! 🌟

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This blog post will cover alllllll of September's new features and changes worth mentioning! But going forward, we will be doing Weekly Recaps to keep you in the loop even faster.

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We've been busy bees these past few weeks, and I can't wait to share all the fantastic new features and improvements we've made to help you shine even brighter. ✨

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Psst... since this is our inaugural recap, we're covering updates from all of September, so grab a comfy seatβ€”it's a bit longer than usual! Going forward, these recaps will be weekly and shorter, but just as sweet. πŸ˜‰

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1. Manual Gallery Assignment & Participant Creation πŸ› οΈ

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We're thrilled to announce that manual gallery assignment and participant creation are now live! This means you can:

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  • β—‹ Assign images to someone's personal gallery manuallyβ€”perfect for those shots where the subject wasn't facing the camera, and face recognition didn't pick them up.
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  • β—‹ Create participants manually, either one at a time or by uploading a spreadsheet.
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  • β—‹ Instantly trigger marketing campaigns to individuals when you assign images to them, ensuring they receive their photos promptly.

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We believe this will greatly enhance your workflow and support needs. Let us know how it helps you during your next event!

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2. Tweaks to the Retail Site for a Smoother Experience πŸ›οΈ

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We've made several improvements to our retail site to enhance the shopping experience for your clients:

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  • β—‹ "Tap image to get started" text now shimmers on the initial gallery screen to guide users who aren't sure what to do next.
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  • β—‹ Package creation improvements make it more intuitive for customers to customize their packages and select photos.
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  • β—‹ Product renders in the cart: The view cart screen now displays product images next to every item, including items within multi-item packages, for increased clarity.
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  • β—‹ Updated header and footer: Clear guidance on when to contact our retail support or reach out to you, the photographer, for assistance.

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These tweaks aim to make the purchasing process as seamless and enjoyable as possible for your clients!

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3. Default Price Levels Are Back! πŸ’°

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Great news! The Default Price Levels from our previous NowCandid system are back and better than ever.

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While you can still create custom offers, these ready-made Price Levels are optimized to help you maximize sales in various situations.

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  • β—‹ Optimized for success: Designed to boost your sales potential.
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  • β—‹ Versatile options: Suitable for a wide range of events and client needs.
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  • β—‹ Easy to access: Gives you good Offer options in a pinch or when entering a new market.

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For a detailed breakdown, click here.

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4. New Image Notifications for Previous Purchasers πŸ›ŽοΈ

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We've improved our marketing system to better serve your clients and help keep those sales up:

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  • β—‹ If someone purchases on Day 1 and is photographed again on Day 2, they will now receive a notification about the new images added to their gallery.
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  • β—‹ Enhances customer engagement: Keeps clients informed and encourages additional purchases.
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  • β—‹ Prevents missed opportunities: Even early buyers stay in the loop for new content.

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This ensures your clients never miss out on their special moments!

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5. Google Pay Added to Express Checkout Options πŸ’³

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We're excited to introduce Google Pay as a new express checkout option!

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Our available payment methods now include:

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  • β—‹ Traditional credit/debit card checkout
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  • β—‹ Apple Pay
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  • β—‹ Google Pay
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  • β—‹ PayPal (and PayPal Pay Later)
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  • β—‹ Venmo

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And guess what? We have one more express checkout option coming soon! Stay tuned. πŸ“’

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6. Capture App Version 4.4 for iOS & Windows πŸ“±πŸ’»

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The latest Capture App Version 4.4 is now available for both iOS and Windows, featuring:

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  • β—‹ Keyboard support for Windows: Windows laptop users can now input phone numbers using the keyboard when using the Tap-A-Face Workflow.
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  • β—‹ Performance improvements: Smoother and faster app experience.
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  • β—‹ sRGB color checking: The app now ensures images are in sRGB format, preventing issues caused by Adobe RGB images.
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  • β—‹ Event Selfie Check-In QR code display: Access the QR code directly from your device when needed.

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Upgrade now to enjoy these enhancements!

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7. Enhanced Folders Report πŸ“Š

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Our Folders Report (which you can find using the Graph button on an Event's Management Page) just got more powerful:

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  • β—‹ Sortable columns: Organize by images, participants, sales, and more.
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  • β—‹ Real-time insights: Works live during events, allowing you to identify your best-performing photographers, mid-event.
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  • β—‹ Actionable data: Mid-event reporting helps you provide immediate feedback to your team to boost performance.
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  • β—‹ Download button: This report is now downloadable via the green button in the screenshot below as well!

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Optimize your event management like never before!

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8. Bulk Visibility Control for Image Folders πŸ“

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We've added a handy button in the Manage Images page, when you have a folder selected:

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  • β—‹ Mark entire folders as visible or invisible with one click.
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  • β—‹ Use cases: Quickly hide a batch of images that need reworking, such as a blurry set.
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  • β—‹ Saves time: Streamlines the process of managing large numbers of images.

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Sometimes, mistakes happen! Now you can use this button to quickly hide images in bulk as you work to correct issues.

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9. Customize "All Event Images" Gallery Settings πŸ–ΌοΈ

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You now have more control over the All Event Images gallery:

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  • β—‹ Override default settings at the Offer level.
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  • β—‹ Options:
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    • Turn off the All Event Images gallery for Face Matching Events.
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    • Turn on the All Event Images gallery for Positive ID Events.
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  • β—‹ Recommendation: We suggest sticking with the defaults, but if you'd like to explore the pros and cons, click here to schedule a chat with us!

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Tailor the gallery experience to suit any event's needs!

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10. Simplified Selfie Check-In πŸ“²

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We've made the Selfie Check-In process even more user-friendly:

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  • β—‹ Only requires a cell number OR email address.
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  • β—‹ Encourages participation: Even though neither field says "optional," most people still provide both.
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  • β—‹ Addresses Fringe Issues: Every now and then, someone doesn't have (or refuses to provide) a cell or email address. This change will account for those individuals!

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Enhances guest engagement and reduces fringe support issues, with no changes on your part!

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11. New Unsubscribe Keyword: "NOPE"! 🚫

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We've introduced a new, fun way for clients to manage their marketing preferences:

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  • "NOPE": Clients can reply with this word to opt out of marketing for a specific event.
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  • Future communications: They will still receive messages for future events unless they opt out again.
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  • Accidental "STOP" replies: If someone replies "STOP" though, they'll need to send "START" to our marketing number to resume receiving texts.

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This gives your clients more control while still keeping communication lines open for future events.

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12. Seasonal Retail Themes: Apple Crumble & Candy Corn πŸ‚πŸŽƒ

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Get into the festive spirit with our new retail site themes:

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  • Apple Crumble:
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    • Autumn colors: Warm and inviting hues.
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    • Falling leaves: Adorable "leaves falling" animation upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout.
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  • Candy Corn:
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    • Halloween vibes: Shades of black and bright orange.
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    • Candy corn confetti: Fun "candy corn toss" animation to celebrate the spooky season upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout.
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    • Haunted Retail Site: A few ghosts frequently fly across your customer's screens as they shop!

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Delight your clients with these charming themes!

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Note: the Leaves &Β Candy Corn only fall across the screen upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout - these GIFs are simply showing it in a loop :)

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Theme: Apple Crumble - Watermarking:Β Off

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Theme:Β Candy Corn - Watermarking:Β Off

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We hope these updates make your experience with NowCandid even more enjoyable and efficient.

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Your success is our top priority, and we're always here to support you. πŸ’–

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As always, if you have any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to reach out. We're all ears! πŸ‘‚

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Until next week, keep capturing those amazing moments!

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Cheers and sparkles,

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Candy 🍬

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Big News: Custom Offer Creator Now Live!
Feature Updates
July 2, 2024

Big News: Custom Offer Creator Now Live!

4
Β minutes read
🌟 Hey there, amazing photographers!

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Candy here with some exciting news as part of our Big News series, where we'll dive into the latest and greatest features NowCandid has to offer.

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Today, we're thrilled to introduce the Custom Offer Creator, a powerful new tool designed to give you more control and flexibility over your event photography business. πŸ“Έβœ¨

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Custom Offer Creator: Tailor-Made for You 🎨

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Gone are the days of relying solely on premade price levels. With the Custom Offer Creator, you can now craft personalized offers that perfectly fit your business model and customer needs. Here’s what you can do:

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  • Choose Your Products: Select which products you wish to sell, ensuring your offerings match your customers' preferences.
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  • Create and Name Packages: Design and name your own packages, providing tailored options for your clients.
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  • Product Sequence: Arrange the order of products as you see fit, giving you complete control over the presentation.
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  • Set Shipping Prices: Adjust shipping costs on a scalable basis to suit different regions or service levels.
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  • Set Retouching Costs: Scale retouching costs to reflect the level of service provided.
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  • Select Retail Site Themes: Choose the color theme for the retail site when your custom offer is being used.

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Simplified Event Creation πŸ“…

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Creating an event remains as straightforward as ever. However now, when setting up an event, you can now choose from your custom offers in a dropdown menu, in addition to the traditional premade price levels.

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Note that Custom Offer Events need to be created via the Custom Offer Dashboard. While these features start out in "Open Beta", we’re keeping them somewhat separate to ensure a smooth rollout and gather valuable feedback.

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New Retail Site Experience 🌐

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Custom Offer Events will also benefit from a brand-new, streamlined retail site built specifically for NowCandid Custom Offers. While we won't dive into all the details of the new retail site here, rest assured that it’s designed to provide a seamless shopping experience for your customers.

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Open Beta: Your Feedback Matters πŸ“

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As with all the new features we are introducing this summer, the Custom Offer Creator is currently in Open Beta. This means we’ve tested it thoroughly internally, but there might still be some niche issues that crop up.

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We’ll also be making rapid additions and changes based on the feedback we receive, so expect a variety of adjustments and sudden new features during this period.

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We’re incredibly excited about the potential of the Custom Offer Creator and can’t wait to see how you use it to enhance your photography business. Remember, your feedback is crucial in helping us refine these tools, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts.

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Stay tuned for more updates in our Big News series! 🌈

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Cheers and sparkles,

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Candy 🍬

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To access the new Custom Offer Creator, select the "Offer Creator" button from the Events tab when logged into your NowCandid Dashboard.

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Big News: NowCandid's Capture App Version 4.0 is Here! 🌟
Feature Updates
June 25, 2024

Big News: NowCandid's Capture App Version 4.0 is Here! 🌟

5
Β minutes read

🌟 Big News: NowCandid Capture & Upload App Version 4.0 is Here! 🌟

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Hey there, amazing photographers! Candy here with some exciting news – the NowCandid Capture &Β Upload App Version 4.0 is live! πŸŽ‰

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This is a big update packed with new features, performance improvements, and UI enhancements to make your photo-taking experience even smoother.

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Test Your Setup πŸ§ͺπŸ“²

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But first things first: it’s crucial to test the new app version on your setup well before your next event. This ensures there are no issues with your particular combination of equipment and settings, and we have time to help troubleshoot any problems that may arise. πŸ“Έβœ¨

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Before diving into the new features, make sure to test the updated app on your usual tablet/phone and camera setup. Doing this well ahead of your next event ensures everything runs smoothly, and you'll have time to address any potential issues. This proactive step is key to a successful and stress-free event. πŸš€
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New Features for both iOS & Windows🌟

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Check out the fantastic new features designed to enhance your user experience:

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  • Dark OLED Theme: This new theme on the info page will help save battery life on OLED devices – up to 42% less power consumption at max brightness!
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  • Advanced Participant Search: Now you can search for participants by email or phone in addition to name.
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  • Custom Offer Positive ID Events: We’ve added app support for new Custom Offer Events.
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  • Toast System: Added a toast system to display error messages and other notifications promptly, without disrupting your workflow with pop-ups.

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Windows and iOS Specific Updates πŸπŸ’»

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Windows:

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  • New Engine: Uses a new engine behind the scenes for better performance.

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iOS:

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These awesome new features, for the foreseeable future, will only be available on iOS (iPhone &Β iPad) and may come to Windows devices as well later on.

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  • Pre-Highlighted Faces: Automatically detect and highlight faces on the app, and Tap-A-Face will use the center of detected faces for accuracy - no more missed taps!
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  • Notifications: The app can now push important notifications to your device, and all notifications auto-dismiss when the app is opened.
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  • Nikon Camera Support: Image review is enabled while tethered if image review is enabled on the camera.
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  • Upload Reminders: Get notified if you still have images left to upload when the app goes into the background of your device.
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  • Enhanced Tap-A-Face: Shows selected face in email/number/name popups, helping ensure the correct face is chosen (so subjects can easily notice if they tapped the wrong face before entering their info).
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  • iOS 18 Support: Full support for the latest iOS version.
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  • UI Improvements: Fixed issues with group photo labels, brought back borders for selected images, and added workflow icons in event dropdowns for more Event Selection clarity.

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Performance Enhancements ⚑️

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Version 4.0 is loaded with behind-the-scenes magic to boost performance and efficiency:

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  • More Efficient: We’ve completely redone a variety of app systems to enhance speed and reliability.
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  • Instant Updates: Header stats and image gallery statuses update even quicker now.
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  • Improved Filtering and UI Interactions: Enjoy much faster image gallery filtering and quicker UI interactions.

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UI Enhancements 🎨

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We’ve made numerous UI improvements to make your experience more enjoyable:

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  • Tap-A-Face UI: Tap-A-Faces are now cyan instead of yellow, and will zoom/scale based on image scroll/zoom for a more intuitive and smooth experience.
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  • Dark Mode Tweaks: Dark dropdowns, input fields, and more cyan text for a sleek look.
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  • Refined Controls: Checkmark & X symbols instead of yes/no for service indicators, updated image gallery UI, and improved secondary/cancel buttons.
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  • Improved Email Input: Email inputs now include space, dot, and @ on the keyboard for easier entry when collecting email addresses via the app.

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Thank you for being incredible users of NowCandid. Your feedback drives these improvements, and we’re excited to see how version 4.0 enhances your photography business. 🌟

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Cheers and sparkles,

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Candy 🍬

Teaser: NowCandid's Game-Changing Updates for Photographers!
Feature Updates
June 21, 2024

Teaser: NowCandid's Game-Changing Updates for Photographers!

10
Β minutes read
At NowCandid, we understand that the success of our platform hinges on the success of our photographers.

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Over the past year, we have invested significant time, energy and resources into revamping our system, tailoring our software and interfaces to meet the specific wants and needs of photographers. Our commitment is to create solutions that are built around the photographer, for the photographer. Here’s a look at the powerful new features and functionalities coming to NowCandid:

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New Updates to Boost Your Business

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1. Custom Offers

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Until now, NowCandid users could only use our premade Offers, which have been very successful - but the limited options have sometimes been restrictive in certain situations.

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Now, we are excited to introduce the ability for photographers to create their own custom Offers.

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This means you can now set your own prices, choose your own product lineup, set your shipping costs, and create your own packages.

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You can even choose from a variety of color schemes, including animated holiday themes, that will change the color palette of the new retail site, Selfie Check-In site, and Scan Card Check-In site.

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Speaking of, the Selfie Check-In site has been overhauled as well! And now will only allow the subject to take a selfie if there is only one face visible in their camera view.

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If you're not sure where to start when building your first offer, instead of building from scratch you can use our recommended premade Offers as templates to get started.

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Also, we have revamped our text & email marketing system for Custom Offer Events! Text marketing is now a bit trendier, and includes emojis to improve click rates, and gallery links for QuicPics will now be delivered from the same phone number as their QuicPics image files. Plus, if a new image is added to a subject's gallery after they make a purchase, they will now receive a text or email notification that new images have been added since their last visit.

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These new features aim to break down significant obstacles NowCandid photographers have faced, and allow for greater flexibility and customization.

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2. Simplified Retail Site with new Features

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When you create a new Event using one of your Custom Offers, it will utilize an all-new, simplified, retail site! The new site has a very clean and simple look, and comes with a variety of cool features:
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  • Cart-Wide Retouching: End customers can order retouching for all items in their cart for one flat price. This incentivizes larger orders, and allows photographers to focus on speedy delivery by skipping pre-upload retouching.
    ‍
  • Third-Party Sign-In: Customers can sign in using Google, Apple, Facebook, or X/Twitter accounts. This provides access to an Event History of all personal galleries they’ve accessed, and an Order History complete with order statuses.
    ‍
  • Product Page Rendering: When viewing the product page, most products will render with the customer's selected image, right there in the product gallery!
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  • More Product Customization: Customers can choose from multiple product styles, and change an art style's primary & accent colors before adding the product to their cart.
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  • ‍AI Background Generation Tools: For images with backgrounds removed, customers can use text prompts to generate unique AI backgrounds tailored to their specifications, or choose from a variety of popular defaults.
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  • Live Face Match Groups: Similar to our popular Group-by-Face feature, this allows faces in a Face Matching Event's gallery to be clicked to view other images in the Event with a matching face. However, this runs live during an Event (not just by triggering it afterwards) on all Tapped or Checked-In faces within the Event.
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  • Retail Header Tweaks: Now includes the Event Name first and foremost, followed by your Business Name! Retail Support contact info will be featured frequently throughout the remainder of the sales process.
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  • More Private Galleries: Personal Gallery links now require both an Event Name and a corresponding randomized sequence unique to that participant. Making each gallery more private than ever before.

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3. App Version 4.0

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Our upcoming app version 4.0 for iOS and Windows is a complete overhaul of version 3.22, including:

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  • Improved UI: A refreshed user interface for a smoother experience.
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  • Dark Mode: A new Dark Theme for the app's UI that also optimizes battery saving on OLED iOS devices.
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  • Pre-Highlighted Faces: Enhanced Face Matching with pre-highlighted faces ensures subjects never miss their face when tapping.
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  • Significant Performance Improvements: Reduced bugs, lag, and improved battery life.

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4. Event Management Improvements

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When managing your new Custom Offer Events (different from traditional NowCandid Events) you'll have access to new Event Management tools and information.

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  • Manage Participants: A new Manage Participants interface so you can access your subjects' personal gallery URL.
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  • Marketing Tracking: NumberΒ of marketing pieces sent out (counting both texts & emails sent).
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  • Recent Orders: A new "recent orders" window.
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  • Sales Chart: A new sales chart tracking sales over the first 30 days from your Event's start date.
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  • Image Uploader: An all-new image-upload tool with a variety of improvements.

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Why NowCandid?

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NowCandid is designed to be incredibly simple to use, with no subscription fees, startup fees, or license fees. We only make money when you do.

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Our platform is built to help you scale your business and brand by being completely white-label, handling customer support for your retail customers, and replacing orders damaged in shippingβ€”all for free.

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This means there's more time for you to focus on booking and shooting, while we handle the rest.

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Ready to take your photography business to the next level? Embrace NowCandid’s new features and watch your business thrive!

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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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.

  • List One
  • List Two
  • List Three
  • List Four
  • List Five

This is a link

This is bold text

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