When you’ve invested time and effort (and no doubt money!) in creating an appealing and recognisable brand for your photography business it’s important that it’s used in all aspects of your client communication; and correctly!

Your website and social media feeds are perhaps the more obvious areas. However, just as much attention needs to be given to the emails that you’re sending to maximise your brand’s impact.

There are various features you can use within Light Blue to make this aspect of your client communication stand out and create a great impression. In this help article we’ll cover a few different areas to give you some ideas; they can be used individually however if you really want to wow your clients combine a few together in your emails!

Overall branding

The first step in creating a great-looking, on-brand email is to add your brand to the Client Portal in Light Blue.

1. Log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Branding” section within “Client Portal settings”. 👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Branding” section.
2. You can then customise the “Standard branding” option showing in the dropdown menu; as you scroll down the page you’ll see there are lots of different options however the main areas to focus on for email design are:
   • Fonts; Body font
   • Header images and alignment
   • Background colours
   • Text styling; Body text colour and Link text colour.

The screenshot below shows how each of these elements come together in the overall design of your email.

⭐️ Top tip: Think carefully about the aspect ratio of the Header image you use; simply adding your logo can sometimes create unexpected results the closer it is to a square. In our example we’ve used a narrow letterbox, 16:3.

Email content

Default settings

1. Head to the “Email” section of Preferences.
2. Enter your “Default Text Size” and choose your “Default Line Height” from the drop-down choices. NB. If required these can be overridden in individual emails or Email Templates.

Formatting

As you’d expect the usual formatting options, such as bold text, bullet points, alignment etc, are also available within Light Blue if you want to emphasise certain points of your email.

Images

It almost goes without saying that adding images to your email will make them stand out more; relevant images will add extra appeal to your email and help build a stronger connection with your client. These could be an image from the wedding venue that your potential client has mentioned in their enquiry, a seasonal family portrait image to tie in with your mini session offer or perhaps a personal brand image showing you at work with your client.

1. Simply click on the image icon in the email to add your images in.
2. Resize as needed; make sure it’s neither too big nor too small! 👉 This guide gives you more details about adding images to your emails.

Hyperlinks

Adding hyperlinks linking to extra information for clients is another way to include more value in the email without running the risk of the email becoming too long and not being read! They could be links to online galleries, FAQs or perhaps a blog post which answers some of their specific questions.

1. Simply highlight the link text in the email.
2. Then click on the link icon in the email to add the URL.

Clickable buttons

Using a clickable button adds another degree of professionalism to your hyperlinks; they’re easily created by adding a hyperlink to an image. You could use these for social media links, perhaps to your online booking calendar or simply if you want to draw attention to a hyperlink.

1. Simply highlight the image in the email.
2. Then click on the link icon in the email to add the URL.

Attachments

Similar to hyperlinks, adding attachments to your emails is great if adding all the detail to the email will simply make it too long! These could be documents such as a “How to prepare for your portrait session” guide or information on how to view their gallery and place their order.

1. Simply click on the “Add attachment…” link at the bottom of the email.
2. Locate your document and attach it to the email. 👉 This guide gives you more details about email attachments.

Email Signature

Adding a signature to your email allows you to include extra contact information, your website or indeed a headshot of yourself; be creative as you like!

1. In the “Email Signatures” section of Preferences, click on “Add Record”.
2. Create your signature. 👉 This guide takes you through all the steps to create your Email Signature in Light Blue.

⭐️ Top tip: If you’re using Light Blue’s built-in email system to send emails rather than your own server do make sure you’re happy with the ‘From’ name that appears in your emails. 👉 This help article shows how you can customise your @lightbluecustomermail.com email address.

Adding other Light Blue features

Scheduling Request

If the ‘Call To Action’ in your email is for your client to book a shoot, perhaps schedule a consultation call or even arrange a time to collect their order it’s an ideal opportunity to include a Scheduling Request in your email. Not only does this create a great impression with your client; the booking process is very straightforward and the booking form is pre-filled with all their information, but it simplifies the process enormously for you!
👉 This help article explains more about Scheduling Requests and how to use them.

Email Templates & Mail Merge Tags

If you find you’re regularly sending a particular email it makes sense to create an Email Template for it. These can then either be used as a starting point tweaked as needed or added as a snippet to an ad-hoc email. They can even be added to Workflows so they’re sent automatically. Adding Mail Merge Tags to your Email Template also allows you to personalise the email; perhaps with the clients’ names or the date of their session.
👉 This help article explains how to create Email Templates and insert Mail Merge Tags.
👉 This one covers how to use Workflows to automatically send emails.
👉 And if you’re lacking inspiration for which Email Templates you could create do read this blog post.
⭐️ Top tip: Light Blue’s “Duplicate Record” is a powerful way to create several variants of a base email; just remember to name them with a description that makes sense to you so you can easily find the one you want when you need to!

Putting it all together

As you’ll have now discovered there are quite a few things you can do within Light Blue to create stand-out emails!

If you’re wanting to use all our suggestions, here’s our recommendation for how to put it all together.

1. Set up your branding in the Light Blue Client Portal.
2. Decide which Email Template/s you want to create.
3. Write the contents concentrating on just the words at this stage.
4. Personalise the email using Mail Merge Tags.
5. Style the email by formatting, adding images, hyperlinks, attachments etc.
6. Send a test email to yourself to check how it looks.
7. Refine as required.
8. Repeat for each Email Template.

And there you have it! Fabulous stand-out emails being sent to your client that are guaranteed to attract attention!

No doubt you’ve spent time and effort (and money!) creating your photography brand. One that appeals to your customers and is instantly recognisable. So wherever and whenever you use this, you want it to be consistent; whether it’s on your website, social media feeds or throughout your client’s journey with you.

Light Blue allows you to add your branding to all the client communication that you manage through the application; from quotes to contracts, emails, forms, and invoices – and everything in-between!

There are a few different areas where your branding needs to be added and this guide walks you through each of these so that your clients always receive great looking, on-brand communication.

The four areas needing to be populated with your branding are:

1. Printed branding (within the desktop app) for quotes, invoices, and receipts.
2. Client portal branding (online through your account) for contracts, forms, questionnaires, online invoicing and overall email design.
3. Contract PDF (also online through your account) for the signed contract PDF sent to your client.
4. Email signature (back within the desktop app) to add to your emails.

This guide details the steps to set up one brand in your Light Blue account; the ‘Standard branding” option. If you have multiple brands across your business, Light Blue gives you the flexibility to tailor your client communication accordingly. Read this guide first to give you an overview of the basic process.

👉 Then head on over to this guide for the steps to set-up multiple brands under the one Light Blue account.

1. Setting up printed branding within the Light Blue desktop app

Printed branding refers to the branding added to documents that are created within the Light Blue app that might be printed out, or which may simply be viewed as a PDF; like your quotes and invoices. The easiest way to imagine what this could look like, is to think of a traditional business letterhead that includes branding, a company address, other contact details and perhaps some legal information.

1. First of all you’ll need to create your letterhead as a PDF. The simplest way to do this is to use Word or Pages to design your letterhead and then use the ‘Export’ option to create your PDF.  Alternatively, you could use an application like Adobe Acrobat or one of a number of free PDF creators available online. NB. Remember to create your PDF in the paper size you generally use; usually A4 or US letter. 
2. This PDF can now be added to Light Blue in the “Printing” section of Preferences in the first tab “Branding”.
3. Click on “Choose PDF …” to upload it. NB. Depending on the size of your header and footer within your PDF, you may need to adjust the different margin options available under the “Margins” tab so that your branding is not overlaid with the document contents.
4. You can also choose the type of font in your printed branding by going to the “Fonts & Sizes” tab. Though do make sure the font you choose is installed on all devices that you use Light Blue on.

⭐️ Top tip: Whilst there is the option to add an individual header and footer to create your printed branding, our recommendation is to use the “Background PDF” option. This creates a better quality file and allows you to be more creative with your letterhead, like adding elements such as a border around the page.

2. Setting up your online client portal branding

With Light Blue’s powerful online client portal you have the opportunity to maximise your clients online and email client experience by customising all the different elements to match your branding. 

1. Log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Branding” section within “Client Portal settings”. 👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Branding” section.
2. You can then customise the “Standard branding” option showing in the dropdown menu; as you scroll down the page you’ll see you have the option to change the fonts, images, colours and the various different styling elements, like fields and buttons, to fit your brand. 

3. Review and refine your design by clicking on both “Preview a sample form” and “Preview a sample contract” until you’re happy with how it all looks.

3. Setting up your contract PDF online 

Whilst your client will see your branding when they view their contract online (assuming of course you’ve followed section II. above!), you must also include your branding in the contract PDF. This is a PDF of their contract sent to them after they’ve signed it.

1. If you’re not already logged in, log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Contract PDF” section within “Client Portal settings”. 👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Contract PDF” section.
2. You can then customise the “Standard branding” option showing in the dropdown menu and upload the PDF letterhead you used in section 1.

⭐️ Top tip: Again whilst there is the option to add an individual header and footer to create your contract PDF, our recommendation is to use the “PDF letterhead” option as explained above. This creates a better quality file and allows you to be more creative with your letterhead, like adding elements such as a border around the page.

3. Review how it looks by clicking on “Preview a sample PDF” and amend your margins as required.

4. Creating your email signature within the Light Blue desktop app

The final step in creating consistent branding across all your client communication is to add your email signature to the emails sent from Light Blue.

1. Go to the “Email Signatures” section of Preferences.
2. Either amend the ‘Example Signature’ already showing there or add another signature by clicking “Add Record”. You can include any details you like within your signature; business name, contact details, website links, or an image, though you can’t include any mail-merge tags.

3. Then go to the “Email” section of Preferences
4. Make sure that the “Default Branding” is set to “Standard Branding” and the “Default Signature” is the email signature you’ve just sent up.

5. Preview your email branding by sending a test email and making adjustments as necessary. Remember you may need to go back to section 2 to fine-tune it.

And there you have it! Beautiful branding set-up across all elements of Light Blue so your clients get a fabulous experience with all your communications! 

👉 Do you have more than one brand in your business? Learn how to set up different brands in this help article.

If you’ve invested time and effort (and no doubt a lot of money!) in creating different brands for different areas of your business, you want to be able to use them in all your client communications; including those done through Light Blue.

The great news is that this is very straight forward to do. And the extra bonus is that there’s no limits as to how many brands you can have within your Light Blue account!

Before we start with the specifics of this guide, there’s a couple of things you do need to check.

• Is your main brand set-up within the Light Blue? 👉 If not, this guide shows you how.
• Do you have different shoot types set up for your different brands? 👉 If not, head on over to this guide.

Once both those things are done we’re ready to add your different brands into Light Blue.

Similar to when we set up your main brand, there are the four main areas needing to be populated:

1. Printed branding (within the desktop app) for quotes, invoices, and receipts.
2. Client portal branding (online through your account) for contracts, forms, questionnaires, online invoicing and overall email design.
3. Contract PDF (also online through your account) for the signed contract PDF sent to your client.
4. Email signature (back within the desktop app) to add to your emails.

The key difference however is that when we’re in the desktop app, quite a bit of the brand customisation is set up in the Shoot Type, so making sure you have these in place before we start is pretty key!

1. Setting up printed branding within the Light Blue desktop app

Printed branding refers to the branding added to documents that are created within the Light Blue app that might be printed out, or which may simply be viewed as a PDF. The easiest way to imagine what this could look like, is to think of a traditional business letterhead that includes branding, a company address, other contact details and perhaps some legal information.

1. First of all, you need to create your letterhead as a PDF. The simplest way to do this is to use Word or Pages to design your letterhead and then use the ‘Export’ option to create your PDF.  Alternatively, you could use an application like Adobe Acrobat or one of a number of free PDF creators available online. NB. Remember to create your PDF in the paper size you generally use; usually A4 or US letter. 
2. This PDF can now be added to Light Blue through Preferences; click on the “Shoot Types” section.
3. Choose the Shoot Type for the brand you’re working on.
4. In the “Printing” tab and click on “Choose PDF …” to upload it. NB. Depending on the size of your header and footer within your PDF, you may need to adjust the different margin options (lower down the tab) so that your branding is not overlaid with the document contents.

⭐️ Top tip: Whilst there is the option to add an individual header and footer to create your printed branding, our recommendation is to use the “Background PDF” option. This creates a better quality file and allows you to be more creative with your letterhead, like adding elements such as a border around the page.

2. Setting up your online Client portal branding

With Light Blue’s powerful online client portal you have the opportunity to maximise your clients online and email experience by customising all the different elements to match the individual brands within your business.

1. Log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Branding” section within “Client Portal settings”. 👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Branding” section.
2. With the “Standard branding” option showing in the drop-down menu, click on the “Create a new brand based on this one” button.

3. This creates a duplicate brand which you can rename accordingly and, as you did with your initial brand, you can scroll down the page to see the different customisation options.

4. Review and refine your design by clicking on both “Preview a sample form” and “Preview a sample contract” until you’re happy with how it all looks.

3. Setting up your Contract PDF online 

Whilst your client will see your branding when they view their contract online (assuming of course you’ve followed section 2!), you must also include your branding in the contract PDF. This is a PDF of their contract sent to them after they’ve signed it.

1. If you’re not already logged in, log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Contract PDF” section within “Client Portal settings”. 👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Contract PDF” section.
2. From the drop-down menu, choose the brand you’re working on.
3. Rename the brand and business appropriately.
4. Upload the PDF letterhead you used in section 1.

⭐️ Top tip: Again whilst there is the option to add an individual header and footer to create your contract PDF, our recommendation is to use the “PDF letterhead” option as explained above. This creates a better quality file and allows you to be more creative with your letterhead, like adding elements such as a border around the page.

5. Review how it looks by clicking on “Preview a sample PDF” and amend your margins as required.

3. Creating your email signature within the Light Blue desktop app

Now we want to create a new email signature for the brand you’re working on.

1. Email signatures are added through Preferences; click on the “Email Signatures” section.
2. Add another signature by clicking “Add Record” and then add the new details.
3. Or if it’s very similar to one already created you could “Duplicate Record” and amend that. Remember you can include any details you like within your signature; business name, contact details, website links, or an image, though you can’t include any mail-merge tags.
4. Preview your email branding by sending a test email and making adjustments as necessary. Remember you may need to back to section 2 to fine-tune it.

4. Adding all the elements to the shoot type

Now all the different elements of your new brand are created the final step is to make sure they’re all added to the Shoot Type associated with this brand.

1. In Preferences, go back to the ”Shoot Types” section.
2. Choose the Shoot Type you’re working on and the “Email & Client Portal” tab.
3. Choose the correct entries from each of the drop-down menus.

And there you have it! Beautiful branding set-up across all elements of Light Blue for this area of your business so your clients get a fabulous experience with all your communications! 

All you now need to do is repeat these steps for each area of your business with different branding!

These preferences allow you to change the margins for those templates to control where the information appears.

Printing with branding

Invoices, quotes and receipts are the typical examples of documents that can be printed (or saved as PDF) with your branding using our built in templates.

Below is a screenshot of a branded invoice, which has been annotated to show the different margin settings.

Printing without branding

Several reports and documents can be printed from Light Blue which do not include your branding.

It’s important to ensure that your photography brand is reflected across all areas of your business and any printed/PDF communication you have with your client is no exception to this. Whether it’s a quote, invoice or receipt you want their design to reflect and be consistent with your brand.

To learn more about how to do this watch the video below; though if you prefer to learn by words and pictures, have a read of the help article instead!

🎥 And once you’ve set up your printed/PDF branding watch our video about setting up your online branding in your Light Blue Client Portal.

Setting up your printed branding in the Light Blue desktop app

Printed branding refers to the branding added to documents that are created within the Light Blue app that might be printed out, or which may simply be viewed as a PDF; like your quotes and invoices. The easiest way to imagine what this could look like is to think of a traditional business letterhead that includes branding, a company address, other contact details and perhaps some legal information.

1. First of all you’ll need to create your letterhead as a PDF. The simplest way to do this is to use Word or Pages to design your letterhead and then use the ‘Export’ option to create your PDF.  Alternatively, you could use an application like Adobe Acrobat or one of a number of free PDF creators available online. NB. Remember to create your PDF in the paper size you generally use; usually A4 or US letter. 
2. This PDF can now be added to Light Blue in the Printing section of Preferences in the “Branding” tab.
3. Click on “Choose PDF …” to upload your PDF. NB. Depending on the size of your header and footer within your PDF, you may need to adjust the different margin options available under the “Margins” tab so that your branding is not overlaid with the document contents. ⭐️ Top tip: Whilst there is the option to add an individual header and footer to create your printed branding, our recommendation is to use the “Background PDF” option. This creates a better quality file and allows you to be more creative with your letterhead, like adding elements such as a border around the page.
4. You can also choose the type of font in your printed branding by going to the “Fonts & Sizes” tab. Though do make sure the font you choose is installed on all devices that you use Light Blue on.

👉 This help article covers all the steps to fully set up your branding in Light Blue; both printed as explained above and online.

Adding multiple brands

It’s very easy to add a second (or even a third or more!) brand to the Light Blue desktop app if you have different branding for different areas of your business. Though do make sure you have different Shoot Types set up for each of your brands before starting these steps. 👉 If not, head. on over to this help article to learn how to do so.

1. In Preferences, click on “Shoot Types” in the “Business Setup” category.
2. Choose the Shoot Type for the brand you’re working on and the “Printing” tab.
3. Click on “Choose PDF …” and upload your PDF. NB. As before, depending on the size of your header and footer within your PDF, you may need to adjust the different margin options (lower down the tab) so that your branding is not overlaid with the document contents. And again we’d recommend using the “Background PDF” option.

👉 This help article covers all the steps to fully set up multiple brands in Light Blue; both printed as explained above and online.

It’s important to ensure that your photography brand is reflected across all areas of your business and any online communication you have with your client through Light Blue’s Client Portal is no exception to this. Whether it’s a contract, form, questionnaire, online invoice or email you want their design to reflect and be consistent with your brand.

To learn more about how to do this watch the video below; though if you prefer to learn by words and pictures, have a read of the help article instead!

🎥 And once you’ve set up your Client Portal branding watch our video about setting up your printed branding in the Light Blue desktop app.

Adding your branding to online documents and emails

1. To add your branding to contracts, forms, questionnaires, online invoices and emails, log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Branding” section within “Client Portal settings”. 👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Branding” section.
2. You can then customise the “Standard branding” option showing in the dropdown menu; as you scroll down the page you’ll see you have the option to change the fonts, images, colours and the various different styling elements, like fields and buttons, to fit your brand.  

3. Review and refine your design by clicking on both “Preview a sample form” and “Preview a sample contract” until you’re happy with how it all looks.

Adding your branding to Contract PDF’s

Whilst your client will see your branding when they view their contract online (assuming of course you’ve followed the section above!), you must also include your branding in the contract PDF. This is a PDF of their contract sent to them after they’ve signed it. The easiest way to imagine what this could look like is to think of a traditional business letterhead that includes branding, a company address, other contact details and perhaps some legal information.

1. First of all you’ll need to create your letterhead as a PDF. The simplest way to do this is to use Word or Pages to design your letterhead and then use the ‘Export’ option to create your PDF.  Alternatively, you could use an application like Adobe Acrobat or one of a number of free PDF creators available online. NB. Remember to create your PDF in the paper size you generally use; usually A4 or US letter. 
2. If you’re not already logged in, log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Contract PDF” section within “Client Portal settings”.👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Contract PDF” section.
3. You can then customise the “Standard branding” option showing in the dropdown menu and upload the PDF letterhead you’ve just created. ⭐️ Top tip: Whilst there is the option to add an individual header and footer to create your contract PDF, our recommendation is to use the “PDF letterhead” option. This creates a better quality file and allows you to be more creative with your letterhead, like adding elements such as a border around the page.

4. Review how it looks by clicking on “Preview a sample PDF” and amend your margins as required.

👉 This help article covers all the steps to fully set up your branding in Light Blue; both online as explained above and printed.

Adding multiple brands

Once you’ve added one brand to your Client Portal it’s very easy to add a second (or even a third or more!) if you have different branding for different areas of your business. Though do make sure you have different Shoot Types set up for each of your brands before starting these steps. 👉 If not, head. on over to this help article to learn how to do so.

1. If you’re not already logged in, log into your online account through the “My Account” tab you can see top right on our website and head to the “Branding” section within “Client Portal settings”. 👉 Follow this link to take you to the login page and then directly to the “Branding” section.
2. With the “Standard branding” option showing in the drop-down menu, click on the “Create a new brand based on this one” button.

3. This creates a duplicate brand which you can rename accordingly and, as you did with your initial brand, you can scroll down the page to see the different customisation options making sure you review and refine your design by clicking on both “Preview a sample form” and “Preview a sample contract” until you’re happy with how it all looks.

4. You also need to update the Contract PDF for each brand, so go the “Contract PDF” section within “Client Portal settings” and from the drop-down menu, choose the brand you’re working on.
5. Rename the brand and business appropriately.
6. Upload the PDF letterhead for the brand you’re working on making sure you review how it looks by clicking on “Preview a sample PDF” and amend your margins as required.

7. The final step in the process is to now add this brand to the applicable Shoot Type back in the Light Blue desktop app; in Preferences, click on “Shoot Types” in the “Business Setup” category.
8. Choose the Shoot Type you’re working on and the “Email & Client Portal” tab.
9. Choose the correct entries from each of the drop-down menus.

👉 This help article covers all the steps to fully set up multiple brands in Light Blue; both online as explained above and printed.