Category Archives: Quick Tips

Quick Tips – Print Preview Issues

A couple of quick tips for beginners using the Print Preview screen in their booth.

This post has been written for Breeze Booth (DSLR+Windows) aka DSLR Remote Pro, but also applies to Webcam Photobooth.

  • New users sometimes ask why the print preview shows a photo or strip in the wrong orientation, while the printed output is fine.
  • Another issue which occurs with the print preview is that the print covers all or part of the buttons.

Print Preview in wrong rotation

This is most often seen with DNP 4×6 media after running the Photobooth Setup Wizard:

Breeze DSLR Remote Pro Print Preview screenshot with double strip in wrong rotation
Breeze Print Preview double strip before fixing (Breeze DSLR Remote Pro)
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro Print Preview screenshot showing incorrect rotation
Breeze Print Preview single photo before fixing (Breeze DSLR Remote Pro)

Why does this happen?

DNP printers swap portrait and landcape when you print 4×6 inch (100 x 150 mm) prints.

This has no effect on the physical prints, but makes Print Preview screens look strange.

How to fix:

  1. Open the Print Layout Editor
  2. Click on Printer Setup
  3. Swap Orientation from Portrait to Landscape ( or Landscape to Portrait)
  4. Click on Preset Layouts
  5. Select your chosen layout – here Double Strip of 4
  6. Check Print Layout
  7. Check Print Preview

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The next most common issue reported for in print previews is that the print partly covers the buttons.

Print Preview image overlaps the touchscreen buttons

Breeze DSLR Remote Pro Print Preview screenshot with print partly covering buttons
Breeze DSLR Remote Pro Print Preview screenshot with print partly covering buttons

This problem usually happens when buttons are placed at the bottom of the screen and the print is in portrait (vertical).

How to fix:

Open the touchscreen actions window for confirm_printing screen and reduce the size of the print preview image:

Adjusting the print preview images in the Touchscreen actions window

If you are new to touchscreen actions, read the tutorial here

Open confirm_printing.jpg in touchscreen actions, and click on Print preview area

Drag and drop the Print Preview area until the buttons are no longer hidden:

Touchscreen action print area no longer covers buttons

Save your changes as you leave the touchscreen actions window,  and run a session to check everything works as expected.

Remember to close DSLR Remote Pro when you finish, to save your changes.

 

© Breeze Systems 2023

Adding time limits to events in DSLR Remote Pro

We’ve had a lot of interest in adding time limits to events in DSLR Remote Pro 3.19, so I have added a tutorial to the website explaining how to use this new feature.

Find Time Limited Events here

Thanks for reading,

Sue

© Breeze Systems Ltd 2023

Adding a quick consent screen to your booth

Did you know that there are several ways to add a simple consent screen or disclaimer to DLSR Remote Pro?

Data is usally collected using a survey. However there are simpler ways to ensure guests agree to disclaimers or terms and conditions at the start.  This post runs  through three alternatives:

  • Add a disclaimer to the Welcome/standby screen
  • Add a disclaimer to the Ready screen (with optional link to detailed T&C)
  • Use a profile menu screen for the disclaimer

Note: All three methods provide a gate guests pass by answering one question. In the worked examples I use But first.. May we share your photos online. Replace this  with any question which suits your purpose.

When you need guests to answer several questions, record or analyze their responses, use a survey instead.

Use the welcome/standby screen

To query consent at the standby screen,:

  • Check Auto standby in Advanced settings
  • Add a suitable  graphic called welcome.jpg to the PhotoboothImages folder
  • Add the touchscreen action to switch from standby to your Ready screen

Check Auto standby

Auto standby returns the booth to the Welcome screen instead of the Ready screen at the end of each session.

Start DSLR Remote Pro and click on Advanced Settings. Check Auto standby and save your changes.

Checking Auto standby in Breeze DSLR Remote Pro

Add your welcome.jpg

Make your graphic a jpg image which is the same size as your screen (in pixels). Call the graphic requesting consent to use the photos welcome.jpg and add it to your PhotoboothImages folder.

To attract attention, you can also animate the screen.  How to animate screens.

Add the touchscreen action

Add the touchscreen action Switch from standby to ready  to welcome.jpg

Using touch screen actions

Use the Ready screen ready.jpg

You can ask the same question on the ready screen instead of the standby screen.

You can also link from the ready screen to Information pages providing detailed term and conditions.

Guests clicking Yes! starts the countdown. Guests choosing No are returned to the standby screen. Guests clicking Maybe are shown information screen(s).

In the example above, ready.jpg is white with  Yes, No and Maybe buttons. (Maybe is optional and links to information screens.)

ready_overlay.png provides the question text on a transparent background so that it shows in front of the live view.

Make sure both ready.jpg and ready_overlay.jpg are the same size in pixels as the screen.

You may prefer to switch off live view in the ready screen by checking Disable live view in ready screen in Live View Settings.

Add the touchscreen actions

You need to add three touchscreen actions to the ready screen.

  1. Add action Photo start to the Yes! button
  2. Add action Switch from ready screen to standby to the No button
  3. Add action Photo info open to the Maybe button
Adding touchscreen actions to Breeze DSLR Remote Pro ready screen

Learn how to add information screens here

Use a profile menu

This option may be preferred by advanced users comfortable with profiles. If you are not familiar with profiles, use  one of the approaches above.

Build a menu profile asking May we share your photos… ?

Use

  • Yes/accept to take the guest to the ready screen of a second profile.
  • No/reject returns the guest to standby using the Switch from ready to standby action
  • Maybe takes the guest to information screen(s) as above

Before you leave…

Check everything works and save your changes before you finish.

More about guest consent

Collecting data and recording consent

Create custom surveys to collect guest data and record consent.

Survey data can be analysed, displayed in prints, and used to separate images into different folders.

Information screens

To add a detailed GDPR compliant privacy statement, terms and conditions or any other information screen(s) to your booth use DSLR Remote Pro Information screens.

Coming soon

Watch out for DSLR Remote Pro 3.19, which will introduce a new way to create simple surveys.

© Breeze Systems May 2023

Breeze Photographer Mode – Shoot tethered with instant sharing

Breeze Booth (iPad+iPhone)’s new Photographer Mode for tethered shooting is proving a huge hit with event photographers.

To find out how to use the app to shoot tethered, see the new tutorial here.

Sue

© Breeze Systems 2023

Breeze software for 360 booths

A quick note about using Breeze with 360 booths.

Truth is you don’t need a special app to run a 360 booth. You need a great photo booth app with video capture, slow motion, video FX and a way to start the session ….. like Breeze.

We recommend using Breeze Booth (iPad+iPhone) for 360 booths with an iPhone running 2022 iPhone SE, iPhone 14 or iPhone 13.

Use the high quality rear camera to shoot your videos, and either share them directly from Breeze Booth, or from a Windows tablet running Breeze Kiosk.

Video FX & Built in AI background removal

Use Breeze Booth for iPad’s powerful AI background removal and video effects.

  • locally processed AI background removal or blurring, with live view 
  • awesome slow motion
  • fabulous video FX

Find more examples of video effects here

Breeze for iPad Auto Start

Auto Start detects when a 360 degree spinner starts spinning – automatically starts the countdown and captures the video.

Auto Start detects when a 360 degree spinner starts spinning, automatically starts the countdown and captures the video (Breeze Booth for iPad 3.3)

Sharing your videos

Videos can be shared directly from Booth (iPad+ iPhone), or a sharing station running Breeze Kiosk.

To share from the iPhone screen set up email and/or SMS sharing as standard for the app.
To share from Kiosk use a local network to wirelessly connect the iPhone to a Windows tablet running Breeze Kiosk.

Connecting the app with Kiosk

To connect the iPhone and Kiosk tablet together you need to set up a local network.

  • Switch on Personal Hotspot on the iPhone, and Allow Others to join. This creates a your network ( no wifi or mobile signal needed) Set a Wi-Fi password in the iPhone to prevent others accessing the network
  • Alternatively set up your network with a MiFi or 4G modem router. These can provide a local wi-fi network as well as connecting to a mobile data network

Breeze Kiosk is fully customizable Windows app for guests to display, print and share photos, videos and GIFs from your event.

* Kiosk https://www.breezesys.com/solutions/breeze-kiosk/ is a separate Purchase.

Have a great week,

Sue

© Breeze Systems 2023

 

Adding a hidden exit to your booth

How do I add a secret button to exit the booth?

It’s important that guests cannot exit your photo booth screens, but you need a controlled way out.

When the booth has a keyboard attached just hit the Escape key from the Breeze Ready screen.

To exit using the touch screen, you need a hidden button. Ideally combine this with password protection.

Adding the secret button and password

This page explains how to add a hidden exit to both DSLR Remote Pro and Webcam Photobooth. Add the exit command to your touch screen settings.

Getting to the touchscreen settings in DSLR Remote Pro

Accessing touch screen settings  (1) and adding your password (6) (DSLR Remote Pro 3.15.2)

Getting to the touchscreen settings in Webcam Photobooth

Accessing touch screen settings  (1) and adding your password (6) (Webcam Photobooth)

(1) Start the program and go to the touch screen settings for your Ready screen. There will be a short pause before you see the next screen:

Adding an Exit button to the Ready screen (DSLR Remote Pro 3.15.2)

Right click anywhere on this screen to show the current screen and add new actions.

Actions make something happen when the screen is touched in a particular area. This screen already has actions to start the booth and switch between color and black & white. We are going to add a new action to exit the Ready screen.

(2) Select Add Action

(3) Choose the action Exit Full screen photobooth from the drop down list

(4) Drag and drop the action to a convenient location. Use an empty corner of your screen for hidden buttons. Guests won’t see them but you and your staff will find them easily.

(5) Right click again and choose Exit

6) Add a password in case a guest guesses the location of your button, or touches it by mistake.

Remember to save your changes as you leave each screen.

What this looks like in practice

Your Ready screen looks exactly the same, there is no clue that the button exists:

Ready screen with no sign of hidden exit (Breeze DSLR Remote Pro 3.15.2)
The same screen showing the location of the hidden exit

Anyone finding the secret button the can’t exit the booth  without knowing the exit password I added at (6) .

To exit the booth you also need to know the exit password (Breeze DSLR Remote Pro 3.15.2)

Adding other actions to your screens

Touch screen actions are powerful tools which give Breeze programs enormous flexibility. Use them to access the reprint selection screen, an information or T&C screen, add choices using profiles and much more.

Guests often ask for an extra print after their session has finished. DSLR Remote Pro includes options to display a reprint selection screen. Link to this screen using the Display Reprint Selection Screen action

© Breeze Systems 2020

Tethered Shooting at Santa’s Grotto

Did you know Santa’s elves are enthusiastic users of Breeze Hotfolder? We know  Santa’s especially busy, because they needed several more copies this year.

The latest Breeze tutorial takes you through adding seasonal overlays and backgrounds to your prints when you shoot tethered this holiday season. This tutorial explains how to

  • add overlay and/or background to the photos before printing
  • automatically switch between portrait and landscape print layouts
  • choose from automatic printing or saving print layouts to print later

Fins the tutorial here

Sue

© Breeze Systems December 2019

Speedier MP4 creation with Multi-Camera 2.1

Did you know that Breeze Multi-Camera v2.1 introduced an option for the Multi-Camera Animator to use Microsoft MediaWriter instead of ffmpeg to create MP4 videos?

  • Microsoft MediaWriter libraries are much faster
  • ffmpeg libraries are more flexible and still appropriate for some applications

For more information see the online manual

Try for yourself

Multi-Camera 2.1 is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased Multi-Camera (previously called DSLR Remote Pro Multi-Camera) after 28th November 2017. Customers with older licenses need to buy an upgrade license to use this release.

New to Multi-Camera? Just download a copy of the program and try it for free. You can run the program with up to 4 cameras for 2 weeks on the fully functional evaluation license.

Download Multi-Camera                Buy Multi-Camera

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Do share it with others who may find it useful.

© Breeze Systems 2019

Adding guest names to prints with DSLR Remote Pro

Several of you want to include guests names on DSLR Remote Pro prints. This post shows you how.

You can either start from an existing design, or run the setup wizard to create something completely new. You then need to

  1. Create a keyboard where guests are prompted to type in their names
  2. Choose whether to enter names before or after taking the photos
  3. Add a caption to your print layout showing the name

Updates 21 August 2019

  • Reprint note: Fast reprint runs off a copy of the original print layout (with the data guests have already entered )
  • Post updated to correct error adding guest details after taking photos.

Create the keyboard where guests enter their names

Go to Advanced Settings and select the Touchscreen Settings screen

On this screen, click the Test Keyboard button, then choose Message keyboard from the dropdown menu

The Touchscreen Settings screen is accessed from Advanced Settings as here (DSLR Remote Pro 3.14.1)

Hold down the Shift and Ctrl keys and left click your mouse.

This will save five files to your photo booth images folder: message_keyboard.xml, message_keyboard_lowercase.tif, message_keyboard_lowercase_pressed.tif, message_keyboard_uppercase.tif, message_keyboard_uppercase_pressed.tif

PhotoboothImages folder highlighting the 4 tif files you need to delete and the xml file you need to rename

Go to your PhotoboothImages folder and

  • delete these 4 tif files
  • rename message_keyboard.xml as keyboard.xml 

My PhotoboothImages folder then looks like this:

PhotoboothImages folder after deleting and renaming files

Now open keyboard.xml in a text editor such as Microsoft Notepad (which comes free with Windows 10) and change the wording of the prompt from Please enter your message to Please enter your name (or whatever text you prefer).

Original keyboard.xml prompt
Original prompt text in keyboard.xml
Revised prompt text in keyboard.xml

Save your changes and close the text editor.

The edited version of keyboard.xml will build a touchscreen keyboard looking like this:

Keyboard screen for guests to type in their name. (The new prompt has been highlighted)

Advanced users: may wish to make other changes to the xml to customize this screen. See Collecting both guest names and a message below for an example.

Choose whether guests enter their names before or after taking the photos

You can control whether guests type in their names before or after taking the photos. Just select Email input at start of sequence  or Email input after taking photos on the Touchscreen settings screen as below

Use the drop down menu to choose whether guests type in their names before or after taking the photos (DSLR Remote Pro 3.14.1 Touchscreen settings screen)

Extra screen when collecting guest data after taking photos

If you choose to collect the information after the photos are taken, you need to add an extra screen to your PhotoboothImages folder called keyboard_input_ok.jpg. This will be displayed for a short time after guests enter their data and hit OK.

You can create this screen by taking a copy of a blank screen such as taking.jpg and renaming the copy.

Showing keyboard_input_ok.jpg screen in PhotoboothImages folder

So far we have created a screen for guests to enter their names. Now we need to adapt your print layout to add these names.

Add a caption to your print layout which displays these names on the print

Open the Print Layout Editor and right click anywhere on the print. Select Add caption

Right click anywhere on the print to add your caption ( DSLR Remote Pro 3.14.1 Print Layout Editor)

To display the guests names, your caption must include the token {user1_data}. Adjust the font, color, position and angle of the caption as usual:

Caption text including the token {user1_data}

When you run the booth the name(s) guests enter will replace {user1_data}

In this example the guests type Josie & Pete

 

… and their names are included in the print

You can combine these dynamic captions with the signing and drawing screen, including the ability for guests to choose the picture frame

Guests can add also stamps, emoji &/or frames, as well as draw or sign on prints (DSLR Remote Pro 3.14.1)

Learn more

I have shown you how to add each guest’s name to prints. Taking this a bit further

Collecting both guest names and a message

Thanks to Caroline & Josh www.giggleandriot.com for allowing us to use these lovely examples

To collect more information such as a message make these changes to keyboard.xml:

  1. Make room to collect a second data item
  2. Add a second prompt and data field, 
  3. Change the background color of the screen.
  4. To display the extra information on the print add a caption including {user2_data} to the print layout
Here I have edited keyboard.xml to (1) Make room to collect a second data item (2) Add a second prompt and data field, and (3) change the background color of the screen. To display the extra data on the print add a caption including {user2_data} to the print layout

Useful links

Try for yourself

Download DSLR Remote Pro       Buy DSLR Remote Pro

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Do share the post with others who may find it useful.

© Breeze Systems 2019