When a long-time graduation photography business, which has asked to remain anonymous, decided to switch an event they’d covered for years to NowCandid’s platform, the results were impressive.

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Despite a significant drop in graduates at this ceremony, this studio has outperformed last year’s total sales, thanks to smarter systems, easier check-ins, and a smoother experience for families.

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🎓 The Challenge

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Capturing a graduation is always a high-volume, high-pressure operation. For years, this photography business relied on pre-registration lists and manual image matching. But getting enough students to register ahead of time was always a hurdle—and every missed check-in meant lost revenue.

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With parents and schools expecting a faster, more polished experience, the team knew they needed a better way to deliver.

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✅ The Solution

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This year, they went all in with NowCandid’s smart, automated workflow:

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• • Selfie Check-In™ for faster, more flexible student identification
• • Automated galleries and image matching, cutting down post-event sorting time
• • Mobile-optimized customer galleries with tiered pricing offers
• • Real-time reporting and clearer communication with the school

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And the big win? Selfie Check-In™ now gives graduates up to 60 days after the event to register their photo—capturing stragglers who might otherwise never see their images.

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📊 The Results

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Here’s how the numbers stack up compared to last year:

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• • NUMBER OF GRADUATES:  -10%
  
• • SALES PER PARTICIPANT:  +39%
• • ORDER AVERAGE:  +29%
  

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The graduation's 2025 sales over the past 45 days has already exceeded their 2024 sales over 365 days by 26%.

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Meaning, their total sales are up 26% with plenty of time to increase going forward.

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By giving families more time and an easier path to find their photos, the studio saw higher average order values, better sales per participant, and less manual work for their team—even with fewer students overall.

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💬 What the Studio Noticed

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• • Time savings: Fewer employees needed to manage sign-ups on site.
• • Lower labor costs: Less time chasing registrations, more focus on shooting.
• • Less customer service: Fewer retail support calls, because NowCandid helps with those!
• • Happier schools: Schools loved the modern process and the extra contact info for staying connected with new grads.

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🎯 Their Biggest Wins

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When asked what they’d tell another studio thinking about making the switch, the owner put it simply:

“What are you waiting for? We increased sales, lowered our labor costs, and made the process easier for everyone.”

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They added that the extended Selfie Check-In™ window alone made a huge difference:

“Being able to register students up to 60 days after the event helped us capture sales we would have missed.”

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Would they use this workflow again?

“100%.”

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🚀 Wrap-Up

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This photo business proves that growth isn’t always about shooting more photos or booking bigger crowds. Sometimes, it’s about working smarter—using tools that connect families with their memories faster and easier than ever.

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👉 Ready to see what NowCandid™ can do for your next graduation event? Start here »

Hey there, it’s Candy!

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This week’s update brings smoother retail experiences, friendlier pricing on customer favorites like statuettes, and a full refresh of how background-removed images (BGR) work across the site.

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Let’s dive into what’s new!

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🖼️ BGR x Retail: A More Intuitive, Sellable Experience

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Big changes have landed to make Background Removed (BGR) images shine where it matters... in your customers’ galleries and carts.

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Here’s what changed:

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• ✅ BGR Renders in Personal Gallery Downloads: Pre-rendered BGR images are now included in the downloadable gallery, making products more attractive and support calls less frequent.
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• 🔄 Smarter Image Order in Retail Gallery:
  1. Background 1 pre-renders
  2. Cutouts with "Select a Background" labels
  3. Original Images
  4. Backgrounds 2–4 Pre-Rendered
  5. Group Photos / PhotoTagged images
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• 🛍️ Smarter Package Image Selection:
  • Pre-rendered BGR images now appear during image selection for packages.
  • Ordering of images follows the same flow as above, bringing consistency across the experience.
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• 📱 Mobile Background Step Skipped:
  • Pre-renders act more like real images now, with background selection skipped on Mobile devices to reduce confusion.
  • Background selection still available on Desktop
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• 💡 Visual Cue for BGRs:
  • BGR images now feature a subtle “Select a Background” overlay to help guide customer expectations and improve product engagement.

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🏷️ Product Pricing Updates (Including Lower Statuette Costs!)

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We've made changes to product pricing and shipping rates, with statuettes dropping over 40% in product cost!

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Some costs have gone up slightly, but others went down—here’s a rundown of the biggest changes:

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🧾 Highlights:

• 📉 5×7 Statuette: $12.24 → $6.97 (↓ 43.06%)
• 📉 8×10 Statuette: $17.21 → $9.97 (↓ 42.05%)
• 📈 Travel Mug: $11.09 → $12.19 (↑ 9.92%)
• 📈 16×20 Hanging Metal Print: $66.42 → $71.83 (↑ 8.15%)
• 📉 11×14 Group Print (Shipping): $7.25 → $7.00 (↓ 3.45%)

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More detailed breakdown at the end of the post!

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🧍‍♂️ Live Statuette Previews with Cutout Images

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When a customer selects a BGR image, statuettes & acrylic cutout magnets will now render in real time using their PNG cutout—just like our other dynamically-rendering products!

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No more generic preview. What they see is what they’ll get. 👌

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🎆 New Retail Theme: Pop Rocks (Just in Time for the 4th of July!)

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Get ready to light up your storefront! Our brand-new Pop Rocks retail theme has officially launched—a bold, dark mode layout featuring an eye-catching fireworks background.

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It’s the perfect festive look for Independence Day events, summer festivals, or any celebration that deserves some extra sparkle.

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This theme brings:

• 🌌 A sleek dark interface that makes photos pop
• 🎇 A dynamic fireworks background for an instant party vibe
• 🛍️ The same easy shopping experience with a more celebratory feel

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Photographers can enable Pop Rocks from the Custom Offer Creator under Theme Settings—just in time to make your July events feel a little more explosive. 💥

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📚 Resources Page Reimagined

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The Resources section has been split into five focused pages to remove clutter and confusion:

• Every button is now better labeled with detailed descriptions so you know exactly what it does and why it matters.

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Better clarity = better confidence!

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🖼️ New Product Render Creator Tool

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Found under Marketing Materials (in the new Resources section), this lets you:

• Upload a sample image
• Generate live product previews
• Download and use those previews for your own promotional content

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Perfect for flyers, social posts, or emails. 📣

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👥 Contact Stats Now More Accurate

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Going forward, the system now tracks Participants vs Additional Contacts more accurately in new events. While this doesn’t retroactively change old events, future reports will give you a clearer picture of who engaged with your Event and how.

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📝 Full List of Pricing Changes

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Here’s the full breakdown of this week’s product/shipping adjustments:

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That’s everything for this week!

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The BGR improvements and new marketing tools are sure to make your Events feel sharper, simpler, and more sellable than ever.

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Until next time,

📣 Candy

Let’s be real—sports events can be chaotic.

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You’re out there capturing incredible moments: diving saves, finish line sprints, sideline smiles… and by the time you upload your gallery, it’s packed to the brim with action shots.

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But then comes the big question:‍ How will parents, athletes, and coaches find their photos quickly and easily?

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‍That’s where JerseyJotter™ comes in to save the day—and your gallery.

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💡 What Is JerseyJotter™?

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JerseyJotter™ is NowCandid’s brand-new feature that automatically adds searchable filters to the All Images Gallery of SportsPics Events.

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It does two things:

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🎽 Color Recognition‍

Detects the primary shirt or jersey color worn in each image.

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🔢 Number Recognition‍

Pulls jersey numbers or racing bibs straight from the photo.

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🛠️ Total Control at Your Fingertips

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You choose how JerseyJotter™ works for each event:

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✅ Turn on Color only
✅ Turn on Number only
✅ Or use both for the dream team combo
✅ And yes—you can toggle them off if needed

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It works with both Positive ID and Face Matching Events... just make sure your All Images Gallery is turned on!

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🔍 Why You’ll Love It

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With JerseyJotter™, customers can:

• • Instantly filter photos by jersey number or color
• • Zero in on their athlete without wading through hundreds of lookalikes
• • Enjoy a more personal, efficient shopping experience (when they don't have a personal gallery)

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And for you? Less “Can you help me find #22?” emails. 🎉

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📸 Who’s It For?

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JerseyJotter™ is a game-changer for:

• • Sports leagues
• • School teams
• • Track meets
• • Dance competitions
• • Martial arts tournaments
• • Basically any event where participants wear numbers or uniforms

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⚡ Final Whistle

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We built JerseyJotter™ to help you deliver better All Image galleries. It’s smart, seamless, and designed with real photographers (and real parents) in mind.

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Ready to see it in action? Log into your NowCandid Dashboard and try it out on your next SportsPics Event!

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The NowCandid™ Team
Smarter Tools. Sharper Galleries. Happy Parents.