Set Up a Prepay+ Photo Job

Prepay+ makes sense if you offer more than just one photo in a subject's gallery, as it allows parents to select images for their packages and products. Parents preorder a package or à la carte items. Once the photos are online, they can select either their favorite photos for their order. 

We do not recommend Prepay+ (and neither the regular Prepay) for a dance job where one individual can have multiple access codes (one access code per costume). For this scenario, online proofing would be the better and also more profitable solution. 

Before you can start using Prepay+, please make sure both the regular Prepay feature, as well Prepay+ are enabled in your account. If this is not the case, please reach out to our Customer Care team, and we will be happy to enable it in your account.

In case you haven’t used the regular Prepay feature in the past. We encourage you to watch also these Prepay training videos, in case you plan on using the regular prepay feature for another job where you just take one shot per subject.

Once Prepay+ is activated in your account, your next step is to set up your general Prepay settings correctly, they also apply to Prepay+.

Go to Settings > Online Shop Settings > Prepay Tab

• Protected access: If you check this box, each of your Prepay jobs will require a unique access code, that you will define in your Job Settings. This access codes offers your customers protected access to your Prepay shop. If you don't check this box, customers will be able to access the job instead with the job name that you set up in GotPhoto (e.g. XYZ Highschool Spring 2023). If you handle multiple schools / leagues with very similar names, customers may accidentally select the wrong job, therefore, we recommend using the protected access code. 
• Title: This is the name of your Prepay page. Keep in mind this will also be visible in the browser tab when people visit your site as well as in search results in search engines.
• Primary color: You can set the primary color of your store here. This will adjust the color of the top banner in your shop. It is optional, but we suggest not to use white so that all menus stay visible.
• Test mode: Please make sure test mode is unchecked - if this box is checked, customers are able to place orders without payment. 

Create a new job. 

• Select the tab Photo Jobs, then click Create a New Job, enter the name of the job, your picture day date and select the type of the job.  
• You can scroll down to the Advanced Settings, and check the Prepay box to indicate that this will be a Prepay Job, but know that this is not mandatory:  Once you navigate to the job settings, you will find a second Prepay checkbox under “Important Events”, checking the second one will be mandatory. If you check the Prepay box here, a random Prepay access code will appear under your Prepay job setting, however, you can still overwrite in in your Prepay job settings. 

Here, you can decide how your customers can access their photos.  

For Prepay and Prepay+, it's always Access code for each person, as the system will match the photos to the individual access code. 

Next, you will need to choose a tagging method: For a prepay job, it can be either QR Tagging with list of names if the school/ league has provided you with a roster, or, you select QR Tagging, the system will then automatically create a names list, once parents start placing orders for their children. 

Learn more about uploading a names list here: Upload Student Data into Your Photo Job

The yearbook feature is not available for Prepay+, but will still be available in the proofing shop, after you switch the job to selling. 

As a next step, please set your Price profile. 

Important: The price profile you select under "2 Price Price Profile"  impacts only the proofing phase of the job, while the one selected in the Prepay Settings of the job further below on the Settings page, impacts the Prepay store. This will allow you to have different prices set between the different stages of the job. 

Of course, if you select “Same as job” when you set up your Prepay+ price profile in the job's Prepay settings, the job’s price profile will be applied in the Prepay store. 

Prepay 

Click the checkbox to activate the Prepay section as seen below.

Set the deadline date for the final date of orders taken (The deadline is always set to Midnight EST).

• Ideally, the deadline is set 1 or 2 days before picture day. This gives you enough time to ensure you don't have any duplicates or wrongly entered data on the names list, before you create your QR cards. 
• If you decide to allow parents to order after picture day, keep the following in mind: If you used blank QR cards in a job where you did not get the subjects' data up front, the customer's order will create a new names list entry with an access code, that is different from the one of the blank QR card you used for the shoot. Of course, this can easily be sorted by changing the subject's access code in the gallery to the one that is linked to the order, but, it may add some additional work to your workflow. 

Set a Prepay Access code if you have selected the Protected Access in your General Prepay Settings (https://app.gotphoto.com/config_prepay/settings). This code is unique for each individual of your Prepay / Prepay+jobs.

Q: Is there a way to share a direct link with parents so they don't need to type in the protected access code or job name?

A: Yes, you can add the Prepay access code or job name to your Prepay shop URL. Here are two samples: 

• If the Prepay access code is HHS2024 and the prepay shop URL is https://customersuccessus.gotphoto.com/prepay/login, simply add "/" and the prepay access code: https://customersuccessus.gotphoto.com/prepay/login/HHS2024 and include this link in your customer communications.
• A sample URL if you are using the job name (e.g., Highland Middle School) as the entry requirement: https://customersuccessus.gotphoto.com/prepay/login/Highland%20Middle%20School .The spaces in the job name have been encoded using %20 to ensure the are properly processed by web browsers. 

However, please be aware that you would need to add these links in all notifications for the ordering phase of the job. This also means you would not be able to use the same Prepay communication profile in a different Prepay job. If you handle a lot of Prepay jobs, we would therefore not suggest this workflow.

Prepay Price Profile: 

When you set up your Prepay+ price profile, keep the following in mind: 

• Make sure to offer single-pose packages, as well as multi-pose packages
• As in a proofing job, in the price profile settings (Actions > Settings), you can set the purchase of a package as mandatory; the minimal order value restriction is also supported for the Prepay shop. 
• You can offer the Download All package, also digital multi-pose packages that include multiple downloads, as well as individual download.
• Your Prepay shop supports extracted images, you can therefore add Green Screen backgrounds to your Prepay+ price profile. Another upselling option for your Prepay shop is the product Individual Download With All  Backgrounds, this product is only available for Prepay and Prepay+ jobs.
• Add Upselling downloads to your packages. These download options won't be shown in the Prepay shop, but customers can purchase them later in the matching phase of the job when they select the photos for their order.
• Please know, upselling poses and backgrounds for packages is not supported for Prepay+ at this point.
• When you set up or select your packages for Prepay+, ensure that you restrict the selection of photos for group prints only to group images. If you would keep the selection at "Available For ALL", the customer will only be able to select from individual images. Also, if you populate the order in case the customer did not make any selection, it will populate the individual image. 

  
  

  

   

• Custom fields / Ask parents for…: Choose the necessary additional fields to show to the customer. You can rename the GotPhoto names list column headers such as Group and Teacher, so they match your individual job (e.g.  Group > Grade or Group > Coach).

  
  

  

• NEW: Configurable deadline: If you don't enter anything here, your customers will have 10 days to select their images. This period starts when you switch the job to selling and ends at the end of the ten / custom days. You can define are shorter or longer selecting period. 

• NEW: Upgrade to a bigger package:  Your customers will be able to upgrade from their prepaid package to a package with a higher value during the photo selection period. 

Customers will see that they can pay for the bigger package, which makes it an easy decision for parents to upgrade when they like their kids' photos.

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  • The Prepay+ price profile that you select under your Prepay job settings will be applied here. 
  • You can activate the Upgrade to a bigger package feature even if the job is already in the selection phase. 
  • Customers can only upgrade to a package that is higher priced, if the price is the same, customers won't see those packages as upgrade options. If they change their mind and would like to keep their initial package, they can can switch back to it before confirming their selection. 
  • The upgrade feature does not support personalizable products (i.e. products that allow parents adding personalized text, such as the child's name to the photo). Therefore, parents won't be be offered upgrade packages that include such products. In your prepay settings, a  hint will appear:
     

Job Coupon:  Only set a coupon if you plan to use it in the Proofing phase of your job, as it does not impact your Prepay/ Prepay+ orders. We recommend incorporating discounts in the Prepay phase into the prices set on the Prepay Price Profile. For teachers or coaches, you can utilize custom vouchers, they can be redeemed in your Prepay shop.

2.4 Shipping Settings: If you don't check the box for Batch Shipping, your job will automatically be set to direct shipping. When you select Batch Shipping, you will notice that different to a proofing scenario, you can’t offer both direct and batch shipping in your Prepay shop. The reason is, Prepay works with order collectors, they can either be set to one of the two shipping types. 

Make sure to set your batch transfer settings to Manual Processing, as the Prepay order population is also a manual task. If you need to set a different shipping address, save settings first, then you will see the option to adjust the batch shipping address. 

Please note:  The Advanced Batch Shipping settings will only be applied in the proofing shop and won't apply for Prepay/ Prepay+.

2.4 Archiving: Set an Archiving date, as it will impact the proofing stage following the Prepay phase of the job life. 

Save settings before you continue. 

2.5 Communication Profile

Once Prepay+ is enabled in your account, you will find the Prepay+ communication profile "MUST USE - Prepay+ (With Access Code and Proofing Phase)" in your Communciation Profile Settings. 

You can adjust the wording of each individual notification by clicking Actions > Edit next to each notification.  

This communication profile includes notifications and triggers for the following events:

• Prepay phase :"Before prepay deadline". This email template includes three placeholders for your Prepay shop URL, the Prepay access code, as well as the prepay deadline . Important: If you have not selected the protected access code in your general Prepay settings, and customers need to enter the job name instead, please make sure to adjust the wording and placeholder in all notifications for this trigger, you would instead use the placeholder for the job name. 
• Photo Matching and Proofing phase of the job: "After a job is set to Selling": For this event, we have created two types of notifications: 

1. Emails / Texts that notifies parents who have preordered (customer group Prepay Buyers) that they can now select their images for the orders they have placed. This email includes a placeholder for the page where customers can match their photos to the order they have placed. Here is a sample email:

A "Prepay buyer" is defined as a person who has placed an order that hasn't been populated with photos yet.

Once the order has been populated with photos (either by the parent in the Prepay+ shop, or the photographer in Config), the customer will be considered a "Buyer" and will no longer fall under the "Prepay Buyer" type.

Once your customers click the link, the page will also show them the deadline for selecting their images. Prepay+ customers have  X days to select their images (the amount of days is defined by what you selected in your Prepay job settings). We will go more into the details and customization options later in this guide. 

2. Emails / Texts that notifies only potential buyers who have not yet placed an order that they can now view and order their kids' photos in your proofing shop. This email includes a placeholder that takes them directly to their child's gallery. 

•  We also added notification for the trigger "Archiving Date", those emails will only be sent to potential buyers who haven't placed any order yet. 
•  Our preloaded Prepay+ communication profile also includes notifications for the trigger "Batch shipping deadline". If your job is set to direct shipping, you don't need to delete these notifications, the system won't simply send them out as they won't be triggered. 

5 Switch the job to Prepay

In order to activate the Prepay phase for your job, switch the job to Prepay. Only if you set the job Prepay, customers can place orders in your prepay shop.

Once the Prepay deadline has expired, your customers will see a note in the shop that the prepay phase of the job has ended. 

After changing the job status to Prepay, customers can navigate to your Prepay shop and place orders. The URL of your Prepay shop consists of the URL of your proofing shop plus the suffix "/prepay" e.g. https://customersuccessus.gotphoto.com/prepay 

If you want to check the customer's view in your Prepay shop,you can copy the Prepay access code that you set up in your job, and navigate to your Prepay shop page: On the top of your GotPhoto dashboard, find the link to your Prepay shop under "To your Shop...", here click the sub tab "To prepay shop" 

3.1 Customer Information

In your prepay shop, customers enter the prepay access code of the job they want to purchase for

Next,  parents / guardians enter their name and contact details. The phone number is optional, unless you have set it as mandatory in your Communication Settings.

3.2 Subject information

In the following step, they will be requested to enter their child's data.

If you have uploaded a names list up front, the system will detect the name, even if the data is slightly different (e.g. nickname instead of legal name, middle name missing, wrong grade or teacher), this feature will reduce duplicates in your names list.  Parents will see a pop-up where they can confirm to keep the subject data that is already registered. If this is a new student, or the original name on the names list had a typo, parents can also keep their data entry.  

In addition, parents /guardians can add more children, of course these subjects need to be in the same Prepay job. If they have received another/ several  Prepay access codes, they would need to finalize the order in the first job, afterwards, they will see an option to purchase in a new session for a different event. 

Next, customers click "Confirm and shop products"

3.3 Product selection

Customers can now add products to their cart. 

• If you have uploaded your custom package images, they will be displayed in the shop instead of the sample images shown on the screenshot below. 
• If you have set the package as mandatory in your price profile settings, it will be reflected on top of the à la carte items. 

• In the scenario where they purchase for siblings, once they select the package, the system will require them to select the child they want to order for.
• If the job is a green screen job, customers can view the available backgrounds and select their favorite one.  

3.4 Checkout 

After adding products to the cart, customers navigate to the cart icon, and can review/ adjust the content of their cart. 

Next, they enter the checkout process by hitting the "Proceed to checkout button".

After the checkout process, customers will be prompted to this screen

• View my order will take them to their order overview page

• Order for a different child will log the customer out of the existing session so that they can start a new session and enter an additional Prepay access code. 
• Back to shop will keep the customer logged into the shop, they will be directed back to the product page where they can purchase more products for the child /children they already registered. This will of course create an additional order. 

3.5 View orders 

Under the Prepay Settings of the job, you will now see two additional buttons:

•  View Orders takes you to the prepay order collector for this job. There you can see all orders that have been placed for this prepay job
• After uploading images and activating the access codes, please do not hit the "Populate photos" button before the selection period that you defined in your prepay job settings has ended. In case it already happened, please use the Unpopulate button before you switch the job to planning, so that your customers can select their images. 
• Export prepay orders will create an export of all prepay orders for this job. Once created, you can find the export by clicking List exports

4.1 Names list Check

Before picture day, and ideally after the prepay deadline,  we recommend reviewing the names list in order to eliminate any duplicates or correct any wrong data.

Navigate to the Settings page of the job, click Manage Names and use first the Duplicate trigger, it will find all possible duplicates. If you have duplicates, hit in a second step the Show possible duplicates button, as this will set a filter and only show you the possible duplicates.

Next to each names list entry, you find the option to merge the subject with another duplicate. Follow the steps on the screen in order to merge duplicates into just one entry.

Please note: The subject will afterwards have two access codes on the names list, however, the system will generate only one QR card for the student, the QR code of the entry you kept on the names list. This means, you won't end up with two QR cards for the same student.

4.2 QR Card Creation

Before you generate your QR cards under the QR card tab of the job, you can add additional blank cards for new students or additional staff members/ coaches under the Settings page of the job (optional)

Next, generate and print your QR cards, and take them to the shoot.

4.3 Photo Shoot 

Please follow our Picture Day checklist for a detailed explanation of how to run your Picture Day.

4.4. Photo Upload, Sorting and Access Code Activation (QR Tagging)

After the shoot, upload your photos to the job, sort the galleries into their respective albums, and activate the access codes (QR Tagging). The Review Phase Checklist runs through these steps in detail.

Once everything is set up correctly in Photo Management, every subject has their own gallery under their unique access code, you have also uploaded your group photos (if available), you are ready to switch the job to Selling. 

5.1 Customer Selection

Once the job is switched to selling, two notification types will go out to your customers:

• Notifications for Prepay+ customers that include the link to the matching page for their order.
• Notification for potential buyers of the job with direct login link to proofing shop. 

In this article, we will focus on Prepay+ customers, the link that they receive through their notifications will be valid for the amount of days that you define in your prepay job settings (configurable deadline). 

Is there a way to prolong that period? Yes, assuming you have selected 10 days for the selection phase:  If you would switch the job back to Planning and again to Selling, the 10-day period will start again for the matching page link. However, no additional notification will be triggered and sent out by that adjustment. 

Here's a preview of the customer's Matching page, it shows the name of the job, photo matching deadline, and the button to start the selection process. 

Next, your customer can select the images for their packages and à la carte items. 

They click open Package > select Products 

For a single pose package, the customer then selects the pose for all products of the package: 

This is how the photo selection will appear for multi-pose packages: 

Optionally, they can purchase the upselling downloads that you have added to your package in your price profile before they head to the cart in order to finalize the order

The following screen gives the customer another option to add upselling downloads to their order before they proceed to checkout. 

New: Upgrade to a Bigger Package

If you have ticked the box for Upgrade to a higher package, your customers can now upgrade to a package with a higher order value / more products. 

This short video shows the upgrade option: 

Next, we have two scenarios: 

- The customer added the upselling download(s), or upgraded their package: They can now review and adjust their shipping address before they pay for the additional downloads / the upgrade price.

- If no upselling options were added to the cart: the customer simply clicks "Confirm your selection".

If it was a green screen  job, they will also see the background they selected for the order.  There is currently no option to change the background. This is also something that we are planning on implementing in the near future.

After confirming/paying for the additional downloads, your customer will be steered to this page, where  they can

• Review their order by hitting the View order button
• Place an additional order in your proofing shop via the blue Shop more button.

The Shop more button will automatically log them into the proofing shop.

5.2 Order Collector View and Photo Population after Matching Phase

How do you know if a customer has selected photos for their order? 

• Navigate to the order collector of the job ( Job's settings page > Prepay > Review orders) 
• The Photo Selection column will indicate if they have already finalized the selection process. 

Here is a sample collector, one customer already selected the images for their order, the other customer did not yet proceed their selection. 

After the selection period has ended, hit the Populate Photos button, in order to populate the remaining order(s). The system will automatically select the index image in the subject's gallery that shows the the little star icon (Default selection), unless you select a different image and star it (when you hover over it, it will afterwards say "Your selection".

What happens if a customer only selects a photo for one product of the order, gets distracted, and does not finalize the selection within the selection period? 

You will be able to see their selection in the order collector. However, the collector will indicate that the customer has not selected the images ("No selection"), as they did not finish the process. Once you hit the button Populate photos, the system won't override their selection, the system will simply populate the remaining items with the index image. 

Is is possible to release orders, where the customer has already selected the images the selection period has ended? 

Yes, you can release the populated orders, the system will keep the other orders where customers / you haven't populated the orders and move them into a new order collector. 

What if a customer has accidentally deleted the emails that include the link to the matching phase? 

You can email them the link, which can be found under the Order page  > More Info area>"URL for the customer to select their images (Prepay+)".

Please don't access the matching page yourself in order to test the selection process, as you would otherwise take that option from your customer. Of course, we encourage you to set up a Prepay+ test job where you can test everything thoroughly. 

To sum up the general steps, you need to proceed in the order collector: 

• After the selection period, you will need to populate the orders where customers have not or not fully populated their orders. > Hit Button Populate Orders.

• Next, once every order has been populated, you release the Prepay orders by hitting the button on the top right. It may say
  • Send to lab: Direct shipping is activated for the job, the orders will now be released to your lab
  • Send to Manual Revision: Manual Revision is activated for the job (learn more about Manual Revision here), you can now find the orders under Orders (top menu) > Manual Revision. There you will need to revise and release the orders for production / or to the open batch of the job
  • Send to batch: Batch shipping is activated for the job. Navigate to Orders > Batch Shipping, open the batch for your job, and release the batch to the lab if you have selected the manual transfer in your batch shipping settings. On the top right of the batch overview page, you will find the button Prepare Production.
  • Next, revise the information on the following screen, especially pay attention to the settings below "What should happen with the job now?" before submitting the batch to your lab.

Your job will now remain in a proofing state, until you archive the job. Potential customers who have not placed any order yet, will continue receiving notifications from your communciation profile. 

5.3 General Questions: 

Q: How does the image selection work for siblings? Will parents get mutiple emails and do they need to select the images for their orders seperately? 

As long as the same parent email is attached to both access codes, they will only get one email with a single link to the matching page. There, they can then select the photos for each child's order.