All posts by Sue Breeze

Breeze Booth, Breeze Booth Event Editor, Breeze Booth for iPad, Breeze Hub, Breeze Kiosk, DSLR Remote Pro, Hotfolder Prints, Multi-Camera, Video tutorial, Webcam Photobooth

Breeze Tokens – your new best friend

Powerful, surprisingly simple, logical.  In this video tutorial Steve  introduces Breeze tokens and explains how they can be your new best friend.

Steve takes you through how to

  • Make life easier for your staff setting up events
  • Make life simpler – automate folder naming for different events
  • Collect data about guest choices for corporate clients
  • Group images by team name, zip code or other attribute chosen by your client
  • Automatically group images into different folders based on response to survey questions
  •  GDPR/ privacy  – split images into different folders based on guest consent
  • GDPR/privacy  – label images to show whether guests consent to using them for different uses

This tutorial focuses on DSLR Remote Pro  3.11.1 . Breeze tokens can also be used in Breeze Booth for iPad, DSLR Remote Pro Multi-Camera, Hotfolder Prints, Breeze Kiosk and Webcam Photobooth.

The following notes are intended as a quick reference to some of the details in the video.

Some of the Breeze DSLR Remote Pro tokens used in this tutorial

Event tokens are special tokens which can be shared between different Breeze programs running on the same PC. They include the event name {eventName} , and several print counters.

Note: Tokens are case sensitive.

Print layouts

Tokens can be used to print information like today’s date less 8 hours {dateLess8h}) without editing the print layout each time it is used.

Why ‘date less 8 hours’? Use when events run past midnight, but you don’t want the images created after midnight to be stored under a different date. If your booths are always fast asleep before midnight you can use  %d or %L token instead

Print template names

{printTemplateName} can be used in the folder path for images captured at an event.

Combining tokens with profiles

{photoboothSubdir} can be used to sort images into folders based on guest choices

Tokens for data collection surveys

DSLR Remote Pro surveys can have multiple screens each with multiple questions

{survey1_text1} stores the text a guest enters in response to the first question on the first survey screen

Information screens containing detailed information such as a Privacy Statement ot Terms and Conditions can also be added in DSLR Remote Pro 3.11.1 and later releases.

Tokens for check box surveys

Example of a checkbox survey used to obtained consent to specific uses of images taken in a booth. Breeze DSLR Remote Pro 3.11.1

In this example {survey1_chkbox1} will contain the value 1 if the first box (live feed) is checked, or 0 if it is not checked.

{survey1_chkbox2} will contain the value 1 if the second box (use for advertising) is checked, or 0 if it is not checked.

Check box surveys can also have multiple questions over several screens.

Friendly names for folders and images based on check box surveys

Example of separating images into two folders – one for images where guests have agreed that they are shared in a live feed, the other for images where guests have declined this.
Tokens can be included in the pathname for the follder where images are stored during an event. In this example images are separated into two download folders based on the guest’s answer to the live feed question in the survey. (DSLR Remote Pro 3.11.1)
DSLR Remote Pro creates the folders and stores images in appropriate folders as they are created

Take this further

Download DSLR Remote Pro

For a full list of tokens see the help files for each program:

Print counters : DSLR Remote Pro 3.11 introduces tokens for accessing the print counters : {printQuotaUsed},{printCounterEvent} and {printCounterLocal}. Print counters can be used to automate a photo booth with a fixed print quota e.g. by loading a “share only” profile when the print quota has been used.. They can also be displayed in print captions.

Breeze Booth, DSLR Remote Pro, Getting started, Webcam Photobooth

Getting started: choosing a computer for your photo booth

February 2022: The information in this post has been replaced by a website page here

November 2021: Updated post to confirm support for Windows 11 as well as Windows 10 and Windows 8.

Breeze software is very efficient. DSLR Remote Pro aka Breeze Booth ( Windows+DSLR) and Webcam Photobooth both run on low powered Windows computers running Windows 11, 10 and 8. The programs may run more quickly and print faster on a more powerful machine.

Breeze software is incredibly flexible. You can use it in many ways to produce and share photos, animated GIFs, slow motion and other videos. Some operators demand lightening fast results, others offer a more leisurely service. This short post is intended to  help you choose  the right computer to power your photo booth.

  • A budget laptop with an i3 processor and at least 4GB RAM should be fine for still photos. If you are planning to capture and playback boomerang GIFs, HD video, use AI background removal or green screen you may need a more powerful computer.
  • Touchscreens are flexible and an easy way to offer guests choices, share images and collect data. Laptops with built in touchscreens are popular, but not essential.  Other ways to control the booth include contactless operation, buttons, coin operation, a wireless presenter and remote sensors.
  • Most photo booths need two USB 2.0 or 3.0 ports to connect the camera and printer. You can use a USB hub to increase the number of ports.

Background Removal, Green screen and burst GIFS

A more powerful PC will process background removal, green screen images and animated GIFs more quickly. A low powered PC is likely to take longer to produce the same result. Processing speed is affected by many other factors including the size of the image, background, overlay and print. Individual operators have different views about how fast their booth needs to work.

Try before you buy

If possible try the software either on the computer you plan to use, or a machine with a similar spec. You can download and try out DSLR Remote Pro and Webcam Photobooth for up to two weeks before buying the licenses.

Breeze Booth for iPad

This post covers our Windows based Breeze Booth software, DSLR Remote Pro and Webcam Photobooth. Find out more about Breeze Booth for iPad

Which DSLR camera is best?

Learn more here

Breeze Booth for iPad

Breeze Booth for iPad beta Build 14

What’s new in Breeze Booth for iPad beta (build 14)

Update June 2020:The beta program was closed once Breeze Booth for iPad was released. Getting started with Breeze Booth for iPad

Note:

This blog post was written for an early version of Breeze Booth for iPad and has been replaced by Breeze Booth for iPad (Beta) Build 20 – Try it today 

 

© Breeze Systems 2018

Breeze Kiosk, Getting started

How to add consent checkboxes to Breeze Kiosk

The introduction of GDPR has focussed interest on the ability to obtain specific, granular consent from guests. Breeze Kiosk is ready to help.

Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4 allows you to present up to 10 consent boxes to guests when they email, or text images, upload them to Facebook or Twitter. Each check box can be opt-in or pre-checked, optional or mandatory.

Note: You can also add consent boxes to the sharing screens for DSLR Remote Pro and Webcam Photobooth.  You can also survey guests in DSLR Remote Pro, record consent for sharing and display privacy information before the images are taken.

Great – so how do I add a consent box?

Start Breeze Kiosk and select (1)Settings

(2)Select the folder you want Breeze Kiosk to watch for images

(3) Check the appropriate boxes to say whether you want to display still images(JPEG), animated GIFs and/or MP4and movies

(4) You will need to select a folder where the screen images used by Breeze Kiosk are stored.

(5) Check boxes to tell the program which print and sharing options you want to offer guests.

In this post I will show you how to add a consent check boxes when guests email photos.

(6) Go to the email server settings screen

Breeze Kiosk email server settings screen
Set Breeze Kiosk to log email addresses entered in a csv file

(If this is the first time you have sent emails from Breeze Kiosk on this computer, you will need to set up the settings for your email server)

(7)Check the box to log email addresses to a file, and tell the program what this file is called/where to find it.

If you need to send  emails offline check the offline mode box at (8) before pressing OK.

Now we need to copy (or create your own) XML file and put in into the folder which holds your screen images. Don’t panic if you have never seen XML before! There are some examples you can copy in the program help files .  All we need to do is make a few simple tweaks.

Copy and paste this text from the Breeze Kiosk help file into a text editor such as Microsoft Notepad (which comes free with Windows 10)

Example XML for email keyboard Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4
Defining the guest consent text and checkbox for emailed images. Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4 (a_

(9) This checkbox has value 0 (zero) for opt-in consent. For pre-checked consent change the value to 1

(10) The text for this check box has been highlighted in green. Change this to the wording you need.

(11) When you finish your changes, select File to save them. You need to call the file email_keyboard.xml and save it in the folderyou chose for your screen images. [As (4) above]

email_keyboard.xml is saved in the screens folder

While I am here, how do I change the background color of the email screen?

Breeze Kiosk email screen XML
XML for email screen with white background and custom pre-checked consent box Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4

(12) To change the color of the background screen and of the text of your prompts (13), you need to add the text highlighted in green to your XML.

<background_color>0xFFFFFF</background_color>
<key_text_color>0x000000</key_text_color>

0xFFFFFF is the HEX notation for RGB  white.  0x000000 is the HEX notation for RGB black. Hint: If you haven’t come across HEX notation for RGB colors before, use Photoshop or google RGB color checker to identify the color you want to use.

Now when my guest selects the email icon they see this white screen:

Email keyboard for Breeze Kiosk with pre-checked consent
Email keyboard with custom consent Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4

How to I add two or more check boxes?

You need to add these three lines for the second check box

Example xml for email keyboard with two check boxes Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4

The second check box is opt-in, so the prompt value is 0 (zero). I have also changed the Y coordinate of the check box to place it below the first box. The final result is here:

Email screen with two check boxes for consent Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4
This Email screen has two check boxes Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4

Want to know more?

How to add mandatory check boxes and other tips

What else can I do with Breeze Kiosk?

Adding consent check boxes and user surveys to DSLR Remote Pro before the images are taken

Adding consent boxes to DSLR Remote Pro sharing screens

Adding consent boxes to Webcam Photobooth sharing screens

How to get your hands on it

Download Breeze Kiosk and try it for yourself for up to 14 days before buying a license.

Download and try Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4

Buy full license   Buy upgrade license

Breeze Booth for iPad, Breeze Kiosk, Getting started, Screens

Introducing Breeze Kiosk – our flexible sharing software

Have you tried Breeze Kiosk recently? This post outlines ways you can use our flexible and economical sharing software at corporate and social events.

Breeze Kiosk runs on Windows. You can use it to share and print images from Breeze photo booth programs DSLR Remote Pro, Webcam Photobooth and Breeze Booth for iPad.

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

How can I use Breeze Kiosk?

  • Run one or multiple image sharing stations at events
  • Display still images, animated GIFs and movies on a low powered Windows tablet/PC
  • Improve guest throughput by moving print and sharing options away from booth
  • Update display with new images as they are created
  • Use tokens to identify the folder being monitored (includes date and time tokens, event name/strings shared with DSLR Remote Pro)
  • Allow guests to browse, share and print images at their leisure
  • Offer immediate sharing via social media, email & cell phone
  • Offer offline sharing via email and cell phone
  • Collect guest data
  • Print high quality images quickly
  • Generate interest with slideshow while kiosk idle
  • Display promotional material during slideshow

Display

  • Brand and customize the display for corporate and themed events (including sharing & print options, background, buttons, keyboard, scrollbar, images)
  • Support for both still (JPEG) and animated (GIF, MP4 or MOV) images
  • Automatic refresh with new images from photo booth or another source
  • Suitable for white label events
  • Operator can delete & remove images
Screen shot from Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4
Breeze Kiosk adapted for a themed event. Custom background, icons, scroll bar & text color (Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4)

Sharing

  • Support for still images, animated GIFs and movies
  • Immediate sharing to email, cell phone, Facebook & Twitter (Internet access needed)
  • Delayed sharing to email +/or cell phone (useful when no, slow or unreliable Internet access)

guests at a party looking at cell phone

Sharing options include

  • Capture of email address, cell phone number, Facebook and Twitter names
  • Opt-in, pre-checked, optional or mandatory  consent to Terms & Conditions
  • Shared images can have different format to those displayed
  • Privacy mode – access limited to own images
  • Custom messages
Breeze Kiosk email entry screen with check box for guest consent. Consent can be recorded in a csv file against the image and email address entered.

Printing

  • Guests browse and print images
  • Print friendly versions of animated GIFs

Print options include

  • Pay to print
  • Email collection
  • Opt-in checkbox for agreement to terms & conditions before sharing/printing
  • Privacy mode – access limited to own images
  • Print counter

 

Slideshow

  • Supports still images, animated GIFs and movies
  • Automatically updated with new images
  • Branding and customization

Slideshow options include

  • Operator controlled removal of unwanted images
  • Choice of transitions
  • Still adverts
  • Animated GIF and movie-based adverts
Showing how to add advertisments in Breeze Kiosk.
A selection of adverts may be displayed during the slideshow. These can be still images, movies or animated GIFs. Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4

What’s new in Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4?

Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4 introduced the following enhancements:

  • New “auto bleed” option when printing
  • Animated GIF and movie (MP4) adverts displayed in slideshow mode  as well as JPEG still images
  • New option to save XML copies of emails and texts

What will Breeze Kiosk cost?

Each Breeze Kiosk license costs just US $150 for a lifetime license & one year’s free upgrades. For this great price you can run one kiosk and have a second backup/office copy of the program.

If you buy Breeze Kiosk at the same time as DSLR Remote Pro or Hotfolder Prints it costs just US $100 .

Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4 is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased a license on or after 15th April 2017. Customers with an older Breeze Kiosk license can buy an upgrade license for just US $75 to use this release.

Prices quoted are correct at 25th May 2018, and are valid for online sales from our website. They exclude any tax due.

How to get your hands on it

Download Breeze Kiosk and try it for yourself for up to 14 days before buying a license.

Download and try Breeze Kiosk 1.4.4

Buy full license   Buy upgrade license

 

 

Breeze Booth, DSLR Remote Pro, Getting started, Misc

Which camera is best for my photo booth?

We are often asked which camera is best for a photo booth. Canon cameras have very good live view quality, an important attribute for photo booths. The models below are not the only cameras you can use. Many older Canon DSLR cameras work very well. You can find a button linking to a list of the cameras you can use with Breeze DLSR Remote Pro here.

At the time of writing* (September 2021) we believe the ultimate photo booth cameras are ….. the mirrorless Canon  EOS M50 Mark II and EOS M50 . For photo booth use there is no practical difference bewtween the two.

The standard kit lens ( EF-M 15-45mm STM ) has a flexible 15-45 mm zoom. For a super slim booth, try the EF-M 22mm STM lens

Best: Canon EOS M50 Mark II and EOS M50

Update: February 2019 Canon have released firmware version 1.0.2 for the M50 which fixes the issues with triggering external flash. The new firmware can be downloaded fromCanon’s UK site 

A big thank you to Caroline Winata of Giggle and Riot Funbooth  for sharing this example of slow motion video (EOS M50 with DSLR Remote Pro 3.10)

  • 120FPS Slow motion video with no additional processing
  •  Similar performance to the Canon EOS 200D/Rebel SL2 including Canon’s excellent dual pixel auto focus in live view.
  • Suitable for video with external microphone socket.
  • Compact, slim and light; the M50 will fit in a smaller housing than Canon’s DSLR cameras.

July 2018 This post has been updated to include cameras supported in DSLR Remote Pro 3.11.2 ie the  Canon EOS 1500D (aka Canon EOS 2000D/Rebel T7/EOS Kiss X90) and Canon EOS 3000D (aka Canon EOS 4000D).

The photo below shows the different sizes of the EOS M50, EOS 200D/Rebel SL2 and new EOS 2000D/1500D/Rebel T7:

Photos of Canon EOS M50, 200D and 2000D with kit and pancake style lenses
[top to bottom] EOS M50 with EF-M 22mm STM lens, EOS M50 with standard kit lens EF-M 15-45mm STM , EOS 200D/Rebel SL2 with 24mm pancake lens, EOS 2000D/1500D/Rebel T7with 18-55mm kit lens

Disadvantages

  • Access for external power is underneath the camera instead of at the side.
Photo of Canon EOS M50 showing power cable attached to base of camera
The external power cord connection for the M50 is on the camera base
  • Update February 2019

Canon have released firmware version 1.0.2 for the M50 which fixes the issues with triggering external flash. The new firmware can be downloaded from the Canon UK site (There was a bug in the original firmware of the Canon EOS M50 which meant that triggering an external flash or studio strobe via the hotshoe could be unreliable. We reported this bug to Canon, who have fixed it.)

Good for video: 200D/Rebel SL2, 850D/Rebel T8i/Kiss X 10i

These cameras do everything the M50 can do except slow motion video. They are larger and heavier than the M50.

  • Excellent auto focus in live view
  • Suitable for video & have an external microphone socket

Budget: 1300D/T6

Good for still photos and boomerang and slideshow animated GIFs. Slightly higher resolution live view than 200D or 800D.

Disadvantages

  • No external microphone socket so not a good choice for video including sound.
  • Power zoom is not supported.
  • Old model becoming difficult to source new
  • Autofocus less reliable

Canon 2000D/1500D/Rebel T7

(Updated 25 February 2020)

The 2000D/T7 is an update of the popular Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 with a higher resolution 24 mega pixel sensor. Unfortunately Canon initially removed the center contact on the hotshoe. This means early versions of this camera cannot trigger most external flashes or studio strobes so is not recommended for photo booth use.

Tuesday 25th February. Canon announced at Photo Booth Expo that the EOS Rebel T7/2000D camera has been  updated to add a center contact (X sync) on the hotshoe, making this a great budget choice for photo booth users. More details.

Canon EOS 4000D/3000D

Similar to the Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 with the same 18 mega pixel sensor but cheaper build quality (plastic lens mount, fewer buttons, no remote release socket and no cable access for external power). This camera has no center contact on the hotshoe. This means the camera cannot trigger most external flashes or studio strobes so is not recommended for photo booth use.

Web cameras & iPad booths

This post does not cover booths powered by web cameras or the built-in cameras provided with iPads, laptops and tablets. Breeze Booth (iPad + iPhone) uses either the device’s built in camera or Canon EOS DSLR cameras, some mirrorless and PowerShot models. Breeze Webcam Photobooth software will run a booth with either a webcam or built in camera in a Windows 11, 10 or 8 PC or laptop.

*This post has been updated in November 2021.  As new cameras are introduced this post will inevitably become outdated.

© Breeze Systems 2021

Breeze Booth, DSLR Remote Pro, News, Video tutorial

New in DSLR Remote Pro 3.10: Slow Motion Video & Mirrorless Camera Support

Breeze are proud to announce the release of DSLR Remote Pro 3.10 today.

Breeze 3.10.mov

Highlights

  • 120FPS Slow motion video with no additional processing
  • Support for small new mirrorless camera: Canon EOS M50
  • Support for new DSLR cameras: Canon  EOS 2000D/Rebel T7 and EOS 4000D
  • Touchscreen designer: Set photo , print and sharing preview areas
  • Process individual images for sharing (includes resizing, sharpening and new overlay)
  • Limit number of prints per session
  • Custom messages when print counter reaches limit

More

  • New keyboard shortcuts to accept, retake and abort previews
  • New option to save XML copies of emails and texts
  • Privacy information added to the “Sharing Photos” section
  • Fixed an issue when using transparent green screen backgrounds with Instagram style filters or B&W styles
  • Fixed an issue with the full screen live view setting when the camera and screen are in portrait orientation

New cameras

Canon EOS M50

Image of Canon EOS M50 camera
Canon’s new mirrorless M50 camera has great potential for photo booths

Smaller, lighter and slimmer than conventional DSLRs, this is the first model which can capture high quality slow motion video in a photo booth with no addional post processing.

Video is captured at 120 fps without sound and is saved at 30 fps resulting in high quality play back at 1/4 normal speed.

Canon EOS 200D/Rebel T7

Update of the Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 and virtually identical but with a higher resolution 24 mega pixel sensor.

Canon EOS 4000D

Very similar to a Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 with the same 18 mega pixel sensor but with cheaper build quality (plastic lens mount, fewer buttons, no remote release socket and no cable access for external power).

DSLR Remote Pro 3.10 is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased a license on or after May 1st, 2017.

Download  DSLR Remote Pro 3.10       Buy your own license

 

© Breeze Systems Ltd 2018. Breeze Systems is not responsible for the content of external sites.

 

 

 

 

 

Breeze Booth, DSLR Remote Pro, Video tutorial

Smart Use of Breeze Shortcuts

Steve explains how to create event specific versions of Breeze DSLR Remote Pro on your desktop (Facebook Live video 24th April 2018)

This video shows Breeze DSLR Remote Pro 3.9.1

 “Inverted commas” aka quotation marks aka double quotes

The path of the settings file should be enclosed in inverted commas  e.g. “C:\Program Files (x86)\BreezeSys\DSLR Remote Pro\DSlrRemote.exe” “C:\profiles\settings.xml”
If your path contains spaces and is not contained within inverted commas it won’t work.

Want to learn more?

Join the Breeze Booth Facebook user group to watch Steve’s Facebook Live videos

Find out more about shortcuts in the program help files

Download DSLR Remote Pro to try for yourself

 

News

Introducing the new Breeze Brand ambassador…

Leave a comment

We are thrilled to announce that Steve Bliesner is joining Breeze as Brand Ambassador. He has been using Breeze since 2011 . We can’t think of anyone better to spread the word about our software and how to best to use it.

Steve is known to many of you from Facebook groups,  his innovative photo booth businesses Wilkes, The Lab and Photobooth Guys; and his presentations at Photo Booth Expo and PBPI. If you haven’t come across him already you are in for a treat…

Sue & Chris April 2018