StudioPlus Mail provides state-of-the-art emailing functionality in both Spectra and myStratus. StudioPlus has partnered with SendGrid, the world's largest provider of email infrastructure, to provide a new service that is simple to use and cost effective.

You can use StudioPlus Mail to:

The signup process is built right into Spectra/myStratus. Just go to Maintenance > Preferences > Company Preferences and open the Email page. Check the StudioPlus Mail sending option and then click Sign Up. We will create a SendGrid account for you and you'll be up and running in minutes.

+ StudioPlus Mail overview
+ StudioPlus Mail pricing

You can now use Spectra/myStratus to electronically deliver images and other files to your clients! The software compresses the files into a single zip file and uploads it to your Stratus Drive. You can paste the download link into an email to your client or merge the download information into an HTML email or form letter. For maximum flexibility and automation options, this new feature is incorporated into your session, invoices, production orders, and render profiles.

The Action tab on the ribbon of sessions, invoices, and production orders can be used to deliver files manually...just browse and choose files or a folder.

Consider using render profiles to automate the process.

+ More about electronic delivery

You can now attach documents (e.g., Word docs, PDF files, Excel spreadsheets, etc.) to your clients, sessions, invoices, orders, and tasks! Attach proposals, contracts, event planning guides, handwritten forms, job sheets, and more.

Just open a client (or session, invoice, etc.) and go to the new Attachments tab on the ribbon. Click Attach File, browse to the file you want to attach, and click Open.

You can also add any of a client's attachments to an email message by clicking Attach Attachment on the email ribbon.

+ More about attaching files

There is a brand new Invoice Import Wizard in Spectra and myStratus Desktop. Great for new clients with invoice records in another software, clients who need to import invoices from a 3rd party e-commerce site, or those clients who may need to import a batch of invoices.

Go to the Utilities menu and click Import Invoices to start the wizard.

+ More about importing invoices

The Client Import Wizard can now be used to update existing clients in addition to importing new ones. The software can match up clients by client number, student ID, or a combination of student ID, organization, and graduation year.

This feature is great for school photographers who receive an updated list of students each year. It can also be used to update a batch of client records by exporting them to Excel, making changes, and then importing them back into the software.

+ More about importing clients

We've introduced a valuable new tool you can use to communicate with your staff/studios.

Open the Utilities menu and click Notification Center. Local administrators can use this page to view existing notifications and create new internal notifications for the studio. Enterprise users also have the option the create notifications for one or more studios. Notifications can be marked as urgent, include a visible time range, and include links.

We will also use the new Notification Center as a primary way of communicating important notifications to you, such as:

There is a brand new panel on the home page where each user can see and manage their own notifications.

+ More about the Notification Center

We've added some new features to the Workflow hub to help you find what you're looking for!

+ More about the Workflow hub

Do you base your workflow on a projected delivery date instead of when an order is placed? We've introduced a new method of tracking production orders that works backward from the approximate delivery date (as opposed to the default method of projecting forward from the order date).

We've also included some updates to production statuses:

»	New Non-Standard Statuses - Create non-standard statuses for things that aren't part of your regular workflow, such as "On Hold," "Cancelled," or "Waiting on Client." These statuses will be available to use when needed but will not be added into the production cycle.
»	New Advance Status Option - You'll see a new checkbox when advancing the status of a production order. Check Current Status Not Complete to change the status to "Waiting on Client" or "On Hold" without actually setting the current status as completed.

Finally, we've provided some communication and trigger enhancements to keep your production on track.

+ More about production tracking
+ More about production statuses

Session promotions have been enhanced to include promo codes, active date ranges, and quick searches. A promotion will automatically be shown on the session during the active date range. The session Promotions tab also includes quick searching abilities for studios with a lot of promotions.

+ More about session promotions

We've improved how we deliver software updates to ensure you're using the most current release of the software. We want you to enjoy the best experience possible when using our software! The new method makes it simpler for you to roll-out new updates and upgrades.

+ More about updates and upgrades

The Web Services panel on the home page has a new name and includes some new services.

We've added a couple new tools that make your accounting work simpler!

»	Write-Off Tool - Now writing off an invoice involves less work for you! Just open the invoice and click Write Off Invoice on the File menu. Just enter the amount to write off and the software will create a credit memo and automatically transfer it back to the original invoice.
»	Refund Deposit - It just became much easier to refund a customer deposit! Just open the deposit, click Refund This Deposit on the ribbon, and enter how you want to refund the money. The software will automatically create the refund, a new $0 invoice, and then apply both the original deposit and the refund to it.
»	Percentage Payments - A new payment feature allows you to quickly select a percentage amount, such as 25% of the invoice total.

+ More about writing off an invoice
+ More about refunding deposits

Do you use the word "Session" to describe your jobs? Or maybe you use "Events" or "Tickets." How about your workers? Do you use "Photographer" or is there another term that matches your business better? You can now customize the terminology used throughout the software to better suit your business!

These new options are built into the the Preferences Wizard and can also be found on the General Info page of Company Preferences.

+ More about company preferences

Our clients love their Dashboard reports! You'll now have greater control over how you manage the large number of reports you create.

+ More about Dashboard reports