All posts by Sue Breeze

Hotfolder 1.8 adds Gallery Uploader

Breeze Hotfolder Prints 1.8 (released on Monday) includes a new Gallery Uploader, and the ability to add logos to prints.

What is Breeze Hotfolder?

Hotfolder is a  suite of invaluable tools for event photographers and photo booth operators. From tools that help format images, to specialist hashtag monitors and image uploaders, each tool is designed to save the user time and stress when it comes to managing a large batch of images.

Hotfolder monitors a folder for incoming images (JPEG and PNG), then automatically formats them for printing, saving and/or emailing. Images can be sourced from a tethered camera, a cloud drive (Dropbox etc), shared network folder or a folder on your PC.

New Gallery Uploader

Icon for Gallery Uploader Breeze Hotfolder 1.4
Icon for the new Gallery Uploader

Realtime uploading of photos, GIFs and videos to online sharing galleries

*Photobooth Online Gallerie’s German site

Add logos to print layouts

Logos provide a quick and easy way to add graphics to prints without using an image editor such as Photoshop. PNG and JPEG logos can be imported,  moved,  resized and rotated just like photos in the print layout.

For a quick video tour of the Print Layout Editor look here.  NB To find Hotfolder’s Print layout editor start the program, go to Preferences, then select Custom Layout Settings.

Shows Preferences screen in Breeze Hotfolder 1.8, with button linking to Print Layout Editor highlighted
Breeze Hotfolder 1.8 Preferences window showing link to Print Layout Editor

New tokens

  • {dateLess8h} prints today’s date less 8 hours
  • {captionNoURL} is used for extracting Twitter captions without the trailing URL

Why ‘date less 8 hours’? Use this token when events run past midnight, but you don’t want the images created after midnight to be stored under a different date. 

SmugMug Uploader improvements

  • Improved handling of login access tokens 
  • New option to save settings to file

Try for yourself

Hotfolder Prints 1.8 is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased Hotfolder after 9th September 2018. Customers with older licenses need to buy an upgrade license to use this release.

Download Hotfolder 1.8               Buy Hotfolder

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

Partner information

The ability to upload to and download from third party applications such as SmugMug, Twitter and Instagram is subject to each third party concerned continuing to allow such interactions.

These features are tested before they are released but may cease to function or be removed without notice if the third party concerned no longer allows such interaction, or changes the method/protocol required.

© 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

 

New in DSLR Remote Pro 3.14

DSLR Remote Pro 3.14 introduces a choice of frame after photos are taken, support for the latest Canon camera, and sharing counters.

New in this release

  • Guests choose frame for their own print in the drawing/signing screen
  • Counters for the total number of emails, texts and tweets
  • Print logos are now placed on top of overlays
  • Support for new Canon EOS 250D/EOS 200D II/Rebel SL3 camera
  • Fix for reliability issue playing videos in photo booth mode caused by recent Windows updates.

Note: DSLR Remote Pro 3.14.1 (published on 31 July) fixes an issue which could cause logos not to be displayed in the print layout editor.

Guests choose their own print frame

Offer your guests a choice of print frames on the signing/drawing screen*.

Guests choose from a selection of print frames on the signing/drawing screen (DSLR Remote Pro 3.14)

Social sharing totals

Display Sharing totals by selecting Preferences then Photo Booth Event Info ( DSLR Remote Pro 3.14)

DSLR Remote Pro now counts the total number of emails, texts and tweets sent from the booth.

You can reset these counters between events. More details

Print logos placed over the print overlay

You have been able to add logos to your prints without using Photoshop® or other image editors since v3.12. Many of you asked us to place these logos over the print overlay – so we have made this change in v3.14

png and jpg logos added in the Print Layout Editor are now displayed in front of the print overlay (DSLR Remote Pro 3.14)

Support for new camera

DSLR Remote Pro supports almost all Canon DSLR cameras, plus the mirrorless M50 and EOS RP.

DSLR Remote Pro 3.14  adds support for the new EOS 250D/Rebel SL3/EOS 200D II/EOS Kiss X10.

*Enabling guest print frames

Enable signing and drawing on prints in the usual way.  (Select Advanced Settings, then Output Options Settings. Check the box marked Sign or draw on photos before printing, and OK as you leave.)

Enabling the signing/drawing on prints screen. Guests can choose a frame as well as drawing on the print and adding custom stamps/emoji (DSLR Remote Pro 3.14)

More details here

Your frames should be png images the same size in pixels as the print layout. Place them in the PhotoBoothImages folder for the event. The name of each frame must start frame_ as below:

I also customised the icons to the left of this screen by placing my own images in the PhotoBoothImages folder. You can customise all these icons in the same way. Make this screen your own.

Try DSLR Remote Pro 3.14 for yourself

DSLR Remote Pro 3.14 is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased DSLR Remote Pro after 24th July 2018. Customers with older licenses need to buy an upgrade license to use this release.

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

Breeze Booth 1.0.3 released

Breeze Booth 1.0.3 was released on July 17th. What’s new?

  • Send text messages and emails with multiple attachments directly from the App
  • New camera controls for contrast, vibrance and saturation
  • Simple touch screen controls let guests zoom in/out and make images brighter or darker.
  • Logo overlay for animated GIFs.

Simpler sharing straight from the App

Share photos and GIFs directly from the Breeze Booth App by text (uses Twilio) or email.

Corporate clients will love having total control over email content and appearance. Email addresses and cell phone numbers are also hidden from later guests.

Emails can include multiple attachments – so you can share any combination of animated GIF/MP4, individual images and the print layout.

Breeze Booth 1.0.3 email with both individual images and slideshow GIF  attached (courtesy of Photo Booth Guys)

Selecting email attachments for Breeze Booth ( Event Editor 1.3 screenshot)

(You no longer need to run Hub to send emails with both multiple attachments, or send SMS texts with Twilio.)

FYI Breeze Booth can also text using the standard iOS Message app if your iPad has a SIM card.

Improved camera control

Contrast, vibrance and saturation

We’ve added three new slider controls for contrast, vibrance and saturation.

Breeze Booth 1.0.3 camera controls highlighting sliders for Contrast, Saturation and Vibrance
Breeze Booth 1.0.3 camera controls include Contrast, Saturation and Vibrance

Saturation adjusts the strength of the colors, and vibrance adjusts the saturation while keeping pleasing skin tones. Use contrast to change the difference between light and dark colors.

Guest controlled zoom and brightness

Let your guests adjust zoom and exposure compensation (brightness) while protecting the full range of camera controls. Breeze Booth 1.0.3 adds touch screen actions to the ready and menu screens for both exposure compensation and digital zoom settings .

New branding overlay for GIFs

Quikcly add a branding overlay to burst and slideshow GIFs by simply including the png overlay in the screens folder. Call the overlay gif_logo_overlay.png for burst GIFs and slideshow_gif_logo_overlay.png for slideshow GIFs.

How do I upgrade to this release?

Breeze Booth 1.0.3, Breeze Booth Event Editor v1.3 and Breeze Hub v1.0 were released on 17th July and are free upgrades for all Breeze Booth customers.

Download Breeze Booth from the App Store

Download the Windows based companion apps Event Editor and Hub here

Can I try this for free?

Yes! Download and try Breeze Booth and companion Apps Event Editor and Breeze Hub free of charge. You don’t even need to buy a license to create your own events. Just download and install Breeze Booth Event Editor 1.3 onto a Windows PC. 

* Devices must run iOS 12. At time of writing (July 2019) Breeze Booth supports iPad Pro 11 and iPhone X series and well as iPads with 4:3 screens and iPhones with 16:9 screens

How to buy a Breeze Booth subscription

Breeze Booth subscriptions cost just US $49 /month or US $440 /per year. Open an account at breezebooth.net before you buy a subscription.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Please share it with others

 

© Breeze Systems July 2019

Breeze Kiosk 1.5.2 released

Breeze Kiosk 1.5.2 is a minor update that adds the ability to sort images by timestamp.
This release also

  • Improves the sorting of images by filename when scanning subfolders
  • Adds a new {uid} token to extract a UID in the form ABC12345 or ABCDE123 from filenames
  • Fixes  an issue with the total prints. emails, texts and tweets counters not being updated

This release is a free upgrade for all registered users who bought a Kiosk license on or after 25th June, 2018.

Customers with older Kiosk licenses need to buy an upgrade to use this release.

New to Kiosk – learn more and download a free trial

BreezeBrowser Pro 1.11 released

What’s new in BreezeBrowser Pro 1.11?

This release adds

  • Full size previews from Nikon Z6 and Z7 raw files
  • Higher resolution previews of Canon CR3 raw files
  • Focus point overlay display for Canon EOS R, EOS RP, EOS M50 and Canon EOS 250D/Rebel SL3

BreezeBrowser Pro 1.11 is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased a BreezeBrowser Pro license after 4th December 2017

Customers with older BreezeBrowser Pro licenses need to buy an upgrade to use this release.

Learn more and download BreezeBrowser Pro 1.11 to try for yourself

Breeze Systems June 2019

Quick tips : Error copying to C:\Program Files\(x86)\…

Several people have asked why they can’t copy their backgrounds, logos, print layouts etc into their PhotoboothImages folder recently – they see an error similar to this:

Error copying to C:|Program Files (x86)\Breezesys…

This error happens because Windows 10, 8 and 7 all protect the Program Files (x86) folders from accidental or malicious damage to applications.

Please do not try to use C:\Program Files (x86)\Breezesys\DSLR Remote Pro\PhotoboothImages\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Breezesys\Webcam Photobooth\PhotoboothImages\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Breezesys\Hotfolder Prints\PhotoboothImages\ for your PhotoBoothImages folder.


Instead place your PhotoboothImages folder in your Documents folder  C:\Users\yourname\Documents\PhotoboothImages

Setting the locations of your PhotoBoothImages folder

DSLR Remote Pro

Location of PhotoBoothImages folder DSLR Remote Pro 3.13

Webcam Photobooth

Location of PhotoBoothImages folder Webcam Photobooth 2.4

Hotfolder Prints

Te equivalent to a PhotoBoothImages folder where you place print layouts and backgrounds etc in Hotfolder Prints is here:

Location of folder containing print layouts etc Hotfolder Prints 1.7

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

Breeze Systems 2019

Breeze Kiosk 1.5.1 released


Breeze Kiosk 1.5.1 is the latest release of our flexible sharing software for corporate and social events.

 Kiosk runs on a low powered Windows tablet running Windows 10, 8  or 7. Use it to share and print images from all Breeze photo booth programs DSLR Remote Pro, Webcam Photobooth and Breeze Booth for iPad.

You can also use Kiosk with still (JPEG) and animated (GIF, MP4 or MOV) images captured by third party software.

What’s new in Kiosk 1.5.1?

Social sharing counters

Collect stats on emails, texts and tweets sent from each Kiosk as well as the number of prints.

Breeze Kiosk 1.5.1 Photo Event INfor screen shows number of emails, texts, tweets and prints from the kiosk at an event
Breeze Kiosk 1.5.1 includes new counters for the number of emails, texts, tweets and prints from the kiosk at an event

Flexible printing

  • Print up to 3 different print sizes
  • Control several printers
Print up to 3 different sizes of print on the same or different printers with Breeze Kiosk 1.5.1

Choose up to 3 different printer settings. In the screenshot above the default printer (1) is a Mitsubishi CP70D printing 4″ x 6″ layouts. Prints prefixed square (2) are printed square on the same CP70D printer. Single 2″x 6″ strips are displayed in Kiosk as single strips, but printed (3)  as double strips on 4″x6″media.

This feature can also be used to print to 3 different printers.

Slideshow plays full video before advancing

New option to play videos at least once when running a slideshow i.e. don’t advance the slideshow until the video has played from start to finish at least once.

Performance improvements

Performance improvements for swiping images when running on Microsoft Surface Go

Fixes

  • Fixed glitch with the selected thumbnail changing when new images are added with the “Display newest images first” option selected
  • Fixed issue which caused the wrong photo to being printed if a new photo was added while the print confirmation screen was displayed
  • Fixed issue setting the initial values of check boxes in keyboards

This release is a free upgrade for all registered users who bought a Kiosk license on or after 30th May, 2018.

Customers with older Kiosk licenses need to buy an upgrade to use this release.

New to Kiosk – learn more and download a free trial

Note: This post was updated on 3rd June 2019 to add details of the new social sharing counter.

 

Breeze Systems 2019

Downloader Pro 2.6 released

Downloader Pro 2.6 adds support for downloading directly from the Canon EOS RP, Canon EOS 250D/Rebel SL3 and Canon PowerShot SX70HS. This release adds support for Canon CR3 format raw files in the Adobe DNG converter plug-in and fixes an issue with registering for Windows AutoPlay when installing Downloader Pro.

Downloader Pro minimises the time spent downloading and organising images on your PC, and is often partnered with BreezeBrowser Pro.

Downloader Pro runs on PCs running Windows 10, 8 or 7, and will run as a free trial for up to 30 days.

Download, Try, Buy

You can find details, download and purchase links on the Breeze website here

This release is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased a license within the last 18 months. Users with older licenses need to buy an upgrade license to use this release.

Breeze Systems 27th May, 2019

Creating events from scratch: Breeze Booth Event Editor 1.2

Breeze Booth features the most flexible and powerful interface designer of any iPad software on the market. Use the unique drag and drop Event Editor to create totally custom experiences, complex multi menu systems and engaging data surveys.

Note: Event Editor 1.3 was released on 17th July, and can be downloaded here

Sounds fantastic! Where do I start?

Start by running the new Event Creator in Event Editor 1.2. You can create custom working designs in just three simple steps.

This post runs through

  • downloading and installing Event Editor 1.2
  • creating events from scratch with the Creator
  • cloning existing events
  • transferring events to iOS 12 devices (iPads and iPhones)

Downloading and installing Event Editor 1.2

Create and edit events using Breeze Booth’s powerful Event Editor on any Windows PC running Windows 10, 8, or 7

Download Breeze Booth’s new Event Editor here

Already designed your own events?

When you download Event Editor 1.2, you will also download the latest release of Breeze Hub and the five sample events provided with Breeze Booth. That’s great for beginners.

If you already have event designs you want to keep, we suggest unchecking the box Copy sample events to your Documents folder so that no changes are made to your events folder.

Uncheck Copy sample events … if you don’t want your existing events folder changed

Create your first event

Open the Event Editor and select Create event..

Three step Event creator creates working events for any iPad or iPhone *  using the new Chameleon theme designed by Wilkes Booth Co:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Once the Creator has built a new event you can transfer it to your devices or use the Event Editor to make further changes.

Cloning existing events

You don’t need to build all your events from scratch. Save yourself time and effort by right clicking on an existing event to clone it:

You can also import complete Breeze Booth events created elsewhere using the Import Event… button.

Right click on any event to clone it (Breeze Booth Event Editor 1.2)

Cloning the sample events

You are welcome to use the sample events we provide with Breeze Booth at live events. To make these events your own, clone them and edit the cloned copy of the event. (You will then have an easy way to start again from the original event.)

Transferring your new event to your iPads and iPhones

Once your design is complete you need to transfer it to your iPads and iPhones.

The simplest way to transfer events to your devices uses Dropbox .  Advanced users may prefer to transfer events via your own website

Take it further

This post scratches the surface of what you can achieve with Breeze Booth. Take a look at the Props and Filters and Surveys sample events for more ideas.

Go ahead – make it yours, make it your clients. Breeze Booth can be re-skinned to make it look like your very own photo booth software. Deploy remote and unattended iPads without fear of clients knowing what software you use. Learn more in the Breeze Booth help files

Summary

We have learned how to use the Creator to build events from scratch, and how to clone these and other events. I have linked to a separate post Syncing Events with Dropbox which demonstrates the simplest way to transfer your events to iPads or iPhones.

Is there a free trial?

You don’t need to buy a license to create events for Breeze Booth . Just download and install Breeze Booth Event Editor 1.2 onto a Windows PC. You can try out Breeze Booth and companion Apps Event Editor and Breeze Hub free of charge.

* Devices must run iOS 12. At time of writing (May 2019) Breeze Booth supports iPad Pro 11 and iPhone X series and well as iPads with 4:3 screens and iPhones with 16:9 screens

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

Sue

Breeze Systems 2019