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Darwin's Quic Tips for Mastering Graduation Photography

Darwin's Quic Tips for Mastering Graduation Photography
Graduation season is a bustling time for photographers.

Capturing the essence of such a monumental event requires not just skill but also the right strategy. At NowCandid, we understand this well, which is why our GradPics Now program is designed to maximize both the quality and efficiency of your graduation photography services.

Here, Darwin, our long-time Photography Specialist with a wealth of experience in graduation events, shares his top tips to help you excel this graduation season.

1. Prioritize Speed Over Extensive Retouching

In the fast-paced environment of graduation ceremonies, the quick delivery of photos can significantly boost your sales. Darwin emphasizes that speed in making images available often trumps the detailed retouching of images in terms of sales impact.

Graduates and families appreciate quick access to their photos to share their special moments. Therefore, focus on capturing the best possible shots in-camera.

2. Stick to SRGB Color Profiles for Retouching

If retouching is necessary, Darwin advises saving images in an SRGB color profile. This ensures that your photos look consistent and vibrant across all viewing platforms, be it digital devices or prints, enhancing the overall appeal of your photos to clients.

3. Use Direct Flash to Enhance Image Quality

Proper lighting is crucial in photography, especially in the varied environments of graduation venues. Using direct flash can help mitigate common lighting issues such as facial shadows, ensuring your subjects are evenly lit and standout.

This simple technique can significantly improve the color and clarity of your photos, making them more appealing to your clients.

4. Be Prepared: Carry Extra Batteries and a Backup Camera

Always be prepared for the unexpected. Darwin recommends carrying extra batteries and a backup camera to all events. This ensures that you can continue shooting uninterrupted, even if your primary camera fails or batteries run out.

Being prepared is key to a smooth operation during busy events like graduations.

Darwin's Impressive Track Record

Darwin brings a vast amount of practical knowledge to the table, having managed the capture of over 35,152 graduation images in just the last two weeks of this season alone. His experience underscores the effectiveness of these tips in real-world settings.

Why Choose GradPics Now?

NowCandid's GradPics Now program is tailored to streamline the graduation photography process. By integrating Darwin's tips and our state-of-the-art technology, photographers can not only enhance their efficiency but also improve their sales potential.

The program supports instant uploading and sorting of images, enabling photographers to focus more on capturing great shots and less on post-event workflows.

Graduation season doesn't have to be overwhelming.

With the right tools and strategies, you can turn this busy time into a highly profitable and fulfilling part of your photography career. Embrace these tips, utilize GradPics Now, and capture the milestones with confidence and efficiency.

Ready to transform your graduation photography approach?

Join the many photographers who have already found success with NowCandid. Learn more about GradPics Now and schedule a session with Darwin to fine-tune your strategy. Let’s make this graduation season your best yet!

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Weekly Recap: Horizontal 3D Plaques, Event Calendar View & PhotoTag LiveLoop Links 📅🌀
Feature Updates
December 12, 2025

Weekly Recap: Horizontal 3D Plaques, Event Calendar View & PhotoTag LiveLoop Links 📅🌀

5
 minutes read
Hey photo friends! 👋

Candy here! This week’s updates are big on visual workflows: more orientation options for our 3D products, a new Calendar view for Events, and PhotoTag-powered LiveLoop™ links for better slideshow control.

Let’s jump in!

🖼️ Big Product Upgrade: Horizontal Orientation for 3D Plaques & Prints

End customers now have more flexibility when ordering these 3D-rendered products:

🎓 Graduation Plaque now supports a new horizontal design

  • • 🔄 Customers can switch orientations during the live 3D render
  • • 🖼️ Updated 2D render support included as well

🪧 Premium Plaque now supports a horizontal design

  • 🔄 Orientation can be switched during the live 3D render

🖨️ Premium Print now supports a horizontal design

  • 🔄 Orientation can be switched during the live 3D render

✍️ Caption preview fix: Premium Print/Plaque now correctly reflect the default “Line 2” in the 3D render before a shopper enters their own text

These updates make it easier to sell premium products even when the “best” shot isn’t a perfect vertical crop.

📅 New Dashboard Event Calendar View

Prefer a more visual way to plan and review your schedule?

🗓️ Event Calendar is now available via the calendar button on the Event List page

👀 Great for spotting what’s coming up at a glance, instead of scanning a long list

🌀 LiveLoop™: PhotoTag Links

LiveLoop™ just got more flexible:

🏷️ PhotoTags now have LiveLoop links

  • • Found in a couple places on the PhotoTag page in the Dashboard
  • • Pulls in new images automatically, just like a normal LiveLoop™

🧾 Cleaner titles & history

  • • LiveLoop page now shows the Event name in the title bar, history, and links
  • • PhotoTag links show as: PhotoTagName – EventName

Perfect for running separate slideshows per team, division, day, or group without juggling multiple Events.

🖥️ Dashboard Improvements

🧹 New “Clear” button in Manage Images select mode (clear selections without re-entering select mode)

📋 PhotoRoster uploads improved:

  • • 📞 Additional phone columns now ignore parentheses (like main phone)
  • • 🔀 Columns can be in any order (matching Event roster upload behavior)

🔗 Fixed Image Details lightbox link for images manually removed on Participant Details

🧾 Positive ID Code PDF sorting updated:

  • • A–Z participants with no PhotoTag
  • • Then PhotoTags A–Z (participants A–Z inside each)
  • • Then blank cards at the end

🛍️ Retail & Check-In Updates

🚫 Invisible Events are now truly inaccessible

  • • If an Event is marked invisible, its retail site + check-in pages now show an “Event is no longer available” screen

🌎 Positive ID check-in phone formatting helper

  • • If an existing registration code has a phone without “+”, we’ll append “+1” to default to US country format (unless it already starts with “+” for another country)

🧩 Fixed a retail site crash when the Statuette Ornament was included in a package

🛡️ iPhone GalleryGuard now loads faster

🛠️ Misc Fixes & Improvements

🖨️ Backprinting updates for existing Events when your business info is updated (previously it was locked to whatever info existed when the Event was created)

✉️ Fixed a strange edge case where email-only participants wouldn’t send if another email in the queue contained “.@”

✅ Improved email validation across all web check-ins

That’s the week!

Between horizontal premium product designs, PhotoTag-level LiveLoops™, and a Calendar view for Events, you’ve got a lot more control over how things look and how you run the day. 💫

Keep creating magic,

Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: Upgraded Grad Plaque, Retail Polish & More🎓✨
Feature Updates
December 5, 2025

Weekly Recap: Upgraded Grad Plaque, Retail Polish & More🎓✨

5
 minutes read
Hey photo friends! 👋


Candy here. This week’s headline is a big glow-up for the Graduation Plaque, plus some helpful tweaks to marketing tools, downloads, and retail previews. Here’s what changed.

🎓 Graduation Plaque: New Look, New Render

The Graduation Plaque just got a major upgrade:

  • 🆕 New physical product with an updated finish and feel
  • 💰 Cost increase of $0.48 to match the upgraded production
  • 🌀 New live 3D render on the store sheet (like the Premium Print/Plaque experience)
  • 🖼️ 2D render on the checkout sheet for performance
  • 🔻 Diamond Press upsell removed (was available on the previous version, may return in the future)

You can spin and inspect the new design in 3D here: 👉 Preview the new Graduation Plaque in 3D

Perfect for seniors and ceremonies where your customers want a keepsake that really feels special.

🔒 Private Image Download Gallery

The Private Image Download Gallery now has a new landing popup.

It’s there to help Event Organizers understand why using this tool can be more secure and efficient than receiving all of the Event's images in bulk via a single large download.

📊 Dashboard Updates

📈 Marketing History chart improvements

  • Chart is now hidden when empty, so no more blank space
  • You can switch between Daily / Weekly / Monthly views

📑 Participant Download spreadsheet upgrades

  • Now includes each participant’s retail gallery URL
  • Handy if you’re doing third-party marketing or need to drop direct links into outside tools or messages

🛍️ Retail Site Improvements

🔘 Photo Button render updated

  • New live render that is larger, cleaner, and has no background
  • Matches the style of other renders
  • Render assets are about 15% smaller (faster loads)

⬇️ Press-and-hold download wording fixed

  • Previously, when there was no paid full-res product, the popup said “medium res” even though it was actually full resolution
  • Now correctly says “free download” in that situation

📸 Press-and-hold download fixed on QuicPortraits

  • Press-and-hold works properly again on QuicPortraits Events

🖼️ Luxe Prints artwork fix

  • Store sheet no longer shows artwork overlays on Luxe Prints (since art isn’t available on that product, yet!)

🧱 3D render cropping fix

  • Horizontal previews for 3D renders on the store sheet now use a center crop, not a full-fit that squished the image in the render, whoops!

🧩 Misc / QuicPics GO

👥 Group image flagging in QuicPics GO!

  • You can now flag images as Group Photos in QuicPics GO! via the Dashboard
  • Works similarly to other non-Quic event programs and keeps group images organized for marketing and gallery behavior

That’s it for this week!

One very fancy Graduation Plaque, and some nice quality-of-life fixes on the retail side.

Keep doing great work,

Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: New Luxe Prints, Faster Candy & Helpful Fixes ✨🖨️
Feature Updates
November 28, 2025

Weekly Recap: New Luxe Prints, Faster Candy & Helpful Fixes ✨🖨️

3
 minutes read
Hey photo friends! 👋


Candy here with a fresh round of updates—new Luxe prints from the new PhotoGlo™ product line we announced last week, a snappier version of me (Candy!) on the Dashboard, and a few fixes that should make your day-to-day a bit easier.

✨ New Luxe Print Products (with 3D Preview!)

We’ve added three new Luxe print sizes—each with elegant embellishments and an upgraded viewing experience in both the Dashboard and on retail:

  • • 🖼️ Luxe 4×6 Print
  • • 🖼️ Luxe 5×7 Print
  • • 🖼️ Luxe 8×10 Print

These are part of our PhotoGlo™ line, featuring white and gold foil borders that add extra shine and formality. They’re a great fit for:

  • • Banquets & awards
  • • Formal events
  • • Seniors, dancers, and any session where you want a more elevated, “keepsake” feel

On the retail site:

  • • 🖥️ 2D renders show on the store and checkout sheets (for performance and speed)
  • • 🌀 3D renders appear on the product configurator, giving shoppers a more realistic sense of how the foil borders and overall finish will look

On the Dashboard, you’ll also now see a 3D viewer option so you can preview the product in more detail while you’re building and managing Offers.

🧠 Candy & Dashboard Improvements

Candy is much faster now

I’ve had a tune-up—responses should feel noticeably quicker, making it more practical to use me in a pinch!

🧾 Candy can look up orders

You can now ask me things like:

“Candy, can you look up order NW12345?”

Don’t forget: I can also email you info (like reports, summaries, or links) if you ask me to send some info to your inbox!

📅 Edit Event end date in the Create Event popup

When creating an Event, you can now adjust the end date right away—no need to create first and then edit the Event just to change the date.

📱 Capture App & Upload Rules

📲 iOS Capture App 4.21.5 (OTA)

  • • Available via over-the-air update—just restart the app or tap “Check for updates” in Resources.
  • • 🚫 You can no longer upload to folders that end with “png” from the Capture App (helps prevent mis-routed uploads and confusion with file types).

🖥️ Web Dashboard upload behavior

  • • 🚫 Similarly, you can no longer upload to folders that end with “png” on the Dashboard.

🧹 Bug Fixes

📆 Marketing Day 45 duplicate emails fixed

  • Some customers were getting multiple Day 45 emails—that’s now resolved.

🧾 Shipping address popup fixed on retail

  • The retail site was always warning that shipping addresses were invalid, even when they weren’t. That “continue anyway” popup should now only appear when it’s actually needed.

✂️ Cutout gallery display fixed

  • “Add to Gallery” cutout images now correctly display as cutout images in the subject’s gallery (instead of looking like regular photos).

That’s the update for this week!

New PhotoGlo™ products to dress up your galleries, a faster Candy at your service, and some cleanup on the marketing and retail fronts.

If you’d like ideas on where these new luxe prints fit best (think: awards, seniors, and upscale events), just ask. 💬

Keep creating great images,

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.

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