Each year, thousands of schools across the United States and Canada rely on GradImages to capture memories for almost two million graduates.  We are honored to be the most trusted name in commencement photography.

At commencement, offering close-up photographs is a great way to provide additional photo options to your graduates and their families.

In this article, we will explore why using a reader list to announce graduate names as they cross the stage is not a best practice for commencement ceremonies.

A ceremony portrait is a posed photograph taken of each graduate during commencement. Typically, these images are taken as graduates approach or depart the stage.

Pre-registration is a quick step that your graduates should be encouraged to take before commencement.  By completing a short online form, graduates (and family members) can provide their own email address directly to GradImages, which ensures timely delivery of their photo proofs after the ceremony.  This can be done by visiting:

With graduates and their families, there’s an inherent expectation that photo proofs from their graduation ceremony will be available online almost immediately after the ceremony. After all, with today’s technology, we live in a world of near-instant gratification.

In the context of commencement ceremonies, the terms "graduates" and "participants" are often used interchangeably, but can have different meanings. And in discussions with your vendors and providers, clarifying which term is being used is key.

Each year, GradImages takes cap & gown pictures at hundreds of events across North America. If you’re a graduating senior who will be attending your school’s upcoming grad fair, here’s what you can expect in the way of our portrait services.

The ability to quickly send commencement photos to your graduates and their families requires accurate, up-to-date address information.  The best way to ensure that is to have graduates fill out their own address cards before the ceremony.