Blog
How Making Tax Digital affects Light Blue and UK businesses
13/12/2018
Making Tax Digital (MTD) is part of the UK government’s plan to make the country’s tax system more efficient. It’s something that we’ve been keeping a close eye on for a while, and it will (probably) start to come into effect in 2019. You only need to pay attention to MTD in 2019 if you are […]
Read MoreLight Blue 8 public beta
10/12/2018
After lots of hard work here at Light Blue HQ, we’re very excited to announce that we’re launching a public beta of Light Blue 8 this week. Light Blue 8 is a major upgrade to our desktop app. We’ve added new automation features and made lots of improvements to Light Blue’s email and text messaging features, […]
Read MoreScheduled maintenance
07/12/2018
We’re going to be carrying out some scheduled maintenance work on our servers this weekend, which is going to require some unavoidable downtime. We’re carrying out this work at 06:00 GMT on Saturday to minimise any disruption. We expect our servers to be offline for roughly 10 minutes. Because Light Blue’s desktop and mobile apps can […]
Read MoreAutomatic text message credit top-ups
26/11/2018
Light Blue’s text messaging feature is popular with photographers all over the world. It allows you to stay in touch with clients, and to massively cut down on no-shows that cause your business to lose money and frustration for you! You can find out more about our text messaging service in this blog post. We’re […]
Read MoreThe Societies' Trade Awards 2018
19/11/2018
It’s that time of year again when The Societies of Photographers open voting in their trade awards so that photographers can choose their preferred trade suppliers in a wide range of categories. We work hard to develop our indispensable business management software to help keep photographers organised & productive. We’d really appreciate your vote for […]
Read MoreMeet Light Blue at the SWPP Roadshow in Coventry
12/11/2018
On Thursday 22nd November we’ll be attending The Societies of Photographers Roadshow in Coventry. It’s free to enter if you register in advance, here: https://thesocieties.net/events/coventry/ Free Tradeshow There’s a free trade show from 09:30, which is a great opportunity to meet a wide range of trade suppliers, including Light Blue! Free Masterclasses Christina Lauder FSWPP Master […]
Read MoreFarmers' Market
12/09/2018
We’re excited to announce that we’ve been nominated for an award for Best Software for Photographers in the Farmers’ Market awards. There’s a variety of other categories to vote in, with many worthy nominees, too. We’d be truly grateful if you could spare a moment to cast a vote: Vote for Light Blue as ‘Best […]
Read MoreCompatibility with macOS Mojave and iOS 12
11/09/2018
In the very near future, Apple are going to release macOS Mojave and iOS 12. Because many of our customers like to upgrade their Macs, iPhones, and iPads as soon as new operating systems become available, we’ve been testing the latest versions of our apps with both new operating systems. Light Blue 7 and the latest version of […]
Read MoreTeen portraits - The Next Big Thing in Portraiture in the UK - Christina Lauder
01/08/2018
Leicestershire family portrait photographer Christina Lauder is originally from Toronto, Canada. She moved to the UK 20 years ago for a job transfer in software consulting & eventually found herself starting a new career as a portrait photographer, something she’d wanted to do since she was a child. I’ve had the chance to try pretty much […]
Read MoreLight Blue 7.1.3
26/07/2018
We’ve released Light Blue 7.1.3, which is another free update to everyone who subscribes to our online services or has bought Light Blue 7. When you’re publishing a contract or form but not sending an email to your client, you can now open the contract or form in your browser as well as copying its […]
Read MoreLight Blue for iOS, version 4.0
25/07/2018
This update brings more of the desktop version of Light Blue’s features over to iOS, including lots of the features that we added in Light Blue 7: • Light Blue’s optional password protection feature now works on iOS, and if you have a device that supports Face ID or Touch ID you can use that […]
Read MoreUsing scheduling tools to allow your customers to book shoots online with Light Blue's API
11/07/2018
Photographers all over the world are using Light Blue’s powerful forms to streamline their workflows, using them to feed new enquiries straight from their website into Light Blue. They’re really easy to set up and embed in your website, and you can also our forms as part of your online booking process. Light Blue also […]
Read MoreAOP membership offer for Light Blue customers
05/07/2018
The Association of Photographers has always been an excellent source of information, advice, and support for professional photographers. I remember how Helen and I devoured their excellent Beyond The Lens when we started our photography businesses, and the AOP have continued to be at the forefront of representing photographers on a variety of issues. We’ve […]
Read MoreSending text messages with Light Blue
30/05/2018
Light Blue allows you to send text messages to your clients, which is great for appointment reminders and marketing. There are two different ways of sending text messages from Light Blue: Via our dedicated number service, which is available in most countries. Or, if you’re based in the UK, Ireland, or Australia, you can send […]
Read MoreLight Blue 7.1.2
29/05/2018
We’ve released Light Blue 7.1.2, which is another free update to everyone who subscribes to our online services or has bought Light Blue 7. Like all of our minor updates, Light Blue 7.1.2 includes a variety of feature updates and bug fixes. We’ve also added a bigger feature that will help photographers who are keen […]
Read MoreImporting Light Blue contract templates issued by third parties
24/05/2018
Light Blue’s online contract signing service is one of the most popular features of our online services. It’s really easy to publish contracts for your clients to sign quickly. You need to set up at least one contract template which contains your terms and conditions in order to send contracts to your clients. We don’t […]
Read MoreFinding and deleting old personal data from Light Blue
24/05/2018
One of the tools that we added in Light Blue 7.1 is a housekeeping command that makes it easier to find old records that you might want to delete from Light Blue. For example, if the introduction of the GDPR means that you no longer want to keep any personal information about your clients any […]
Read MoreAsking your clients to opt into your mailing list
22/05/2018
New Mailing List Opt-In Form With Light Blue 7.1.2, you can now send your clients to a special form that allows them to opt in to your mailing list. Each of your contact records has a special URL that identifies them, and you can get that URL in two different ways: If you only want […]
Read MoreLight Blue and the GDPR
02/05/2018
You’ve almost certainly heard about the EU’s new data protection and privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR requires businesses to follow strict guidelines when they’re using personal data. It comes into effect on 25 May, and affects all businesses in the EU. It also applies to businesses in other countries outside the EU […]
Read MoreGDPR: what you need to know
02/05/2018
We take the security of your personal data, and your clients’ personal data, seriously. That’s why we’ve been working hard to prepare this document for you to help you prepare for upcoming changes in privacy law, when the GDPR comes into force on 25 May. If you’re already complying with the current data protection laws […]
Read MoreGDPR: advice on securing the devices you use Light Blue on
02/05/2018
The introduction of GDPR is a good opportunity to make sure that you’re following best practices when it comes to securing the data that you use to run your business. Light Blue Software takes extensive precautions to secure every aspect of the online services that we offer, but because Light Blue stores a copy of […]
Read MoreLight Blue 7.1 release notes
02/05/2018
Light Blue 7.1 adds new features to Light Blue 7, and is a free update for everyone who’s subscribed to our online services or is already using Light Blue 7. GDPR-related changes GDPR is an update to the data protection laws throughout the EU. Light Blue Software already complies with GDPR, and we’re adding some […]
Read MoreScheduled downtime this weekend
27/03/2018
We’re going to be carrying out some essential maintenance to our servers over the Easter weekend, and this will cause a short amount of downtime for our online services on the morning of Sunday 1 April (and, no, this isn’t an April Fool). Because Light Blue is desktop software that you can use offline, most […]
Read MoreLight Blue 7.0.4
22/03/2018
We’ve just released Light Blue 7.0.4, which is a free minor update for everyone who’s using Light Blue 7. It includes the following changes: Added a ‘Remove Resources From Shoots’ command to the Housekeeping menu. Updated some of our French translations. The ‘Mark Found Shoots As Completed’ command in the Housekeeping menu can now be […]
Read More