Uploading to social networking and photo sharing sites

Users can upload photos to their personal Facebook page directly from the photo booth if it has an internet connection and either a touchscreen or a keyboard to enter their Facebook login information. The simplest way to set this up is to use the photobooth setup wizard and then adjust the settings if required. After running the photobooth setup wizard the Facebook settings can editing using the dialog below. This dialog can be opened by opening the "Photobooth Settings" dialog (File->Photobooth Settings... or Ctrl+S) then opening the "Output Settings" dialog clicking on the "Settings..." button to the right of the output options and then clicking on the Facebook upload "Settings..." button.

The album name setting specifies the name of the album that will be created on the user's Facebook page. Tokens for the date and time can be included in album name and will be replaced with the date or time the photos were taken when they are uploaded e.g.

%L will be replaced with the long date representation for your computer's locale e.g. Wednesday, June 08, 2015

%l will be replaced with the long date and time representation for your computer's locale e.g. Wednesday, June 08, 2015 20:23:56

Please note: It is no longer possible to specify the album or photo description when uploading photos to Facebook. This option was removed in DSLR Remote Pro for Windows v3.3 to comply with current Facebook policy: Facebook Platform Policy 2.3. This states that an app can only populate the user message with content manually entered by the user. The user can enter a message by using the keyboard.xml file to add prompt3 when the touchscreen keyboard is asking the user to their Facebook username (prompt1) and password (prompt2). Only the text entered by the user will be used for the photo description. Please see the "Touchscreen Keyboard" section for information on customizing the touchscreen keyboard.

The photo that is uploaded to the user's Facebook page is based on the JPEG copy of the printed output. You can crop, resize and rotate the image before uploading it to Facebook.

To crop the image first check the "Crop image:" checkbox and then specify the left offset and top offset in pixels for the top left corner of the cropped image. Then specify the width and height of the image in pixels. For example if the photobooth is setup to print a double strip of 4 images on 6"x4" paper you may wish to crop the image uploaded to Facebook so that only a single strip is sent. If the printer is set to a resolution of 300 dpi the image will be 1200 pixels wide (4" x 300 dpi) by 1800 pixles high (6" x 300 DPI) and so to crop it into a single strip you need to set left=0, top=0, width=600 and height=1800.

You can also specify a maximum size for the image being uploaded using the "Max width (pixels):" and "Max height (pixels):" settings. The JPEG copy of the printed output will be resized so that it is no bigger than these settings before it is uploaded to Facebook. Keeping these values relatively small, e.g. 500 x 500 pixels, will reduce the time it takes to upload the file.

Depending on you printer page settings the JPEG copy of the printed output may not be saved in the correct orientation. If this is the case it can be rotated using the "Image rotation:" dropdown list. If you are also using print preview (the "Confirm before printing" option in the the "Photobooth Settings" dialog) this can be set to "Same as print preview" and it will use the same rotation settings as the print preview.

Please note that the image is cropped first, then resized and finally rotated before being uploaded to Facebook.

Select the "Log uploads to file:" checkbox to log Facebook uploads to a CSV file. Then either type in the filename of the log file in the editbox or click on the "..." to open a file browser. The log file contains a line for each Facebook upload attempt containing the following comma separated values: the date in the format YYYYMMDD, the time in the format HHMMSS, the Facebook username prefixed with FACEBOOK_USERNAME: and with @ characters replaced by _ , the status (1=success, 0=failure) and the filename of the image file e.g.

20140114,174842,FACEBOOK_USERNAME:test_gmail.com,1,C:\Users\Chris\Documents\PhotoboothImages\2014-01-14\prints\140114_174826.jpg

Please note: The log file only contains the date/time, username, filename and whether the upload was successful. The user's password is NOT recorded and therefore the log file cannot be used to upload photos to Facebook after the event.

When the photobooth is run and the photos have been taken the print preview screen will be displayed first (if "Confirm before printing" is selected) and then when the user selects "Print" the sharing screen (share.jpg) will be displayed. If the user selects "Cancel" in the print preview screen the sharing screen won't be displayed and the booth will return to the ready screen (ready.jpg). If the "Confirm before printing" option is not selected the sharing screen will be displayed after taking the photos.

When the sharing screen (share.jpg) the user has the option to upload the photo to Facebook by touching the Facebook button on the touchscreen or by typing F if they are using a normal keyboard. The sharing screen can be exited by touching the "Cancel" button on the touchscreen or by typing X or Esc on a normal keyboard. The sharing screen will also exit automatically if the user does nothing and the screen timeout occurs. The sharing screen timeout can be specified in the "Output Settings" dialog.

When the user selects Facebook upload the touchscreen keyboard will be displayed allowing them to enter their Facebook user name and password. The user can enter their user name and password by tapping on the touchscreen keyboard or by typing them in using a normal keyboard. The user can then either tap on the "Cancel" button (or type Esc) to cancel the upload or tap on the "Upload photo" button (or press the keyboard Enter key) to start the upload. The touchscreen keyboard will cancel automatically if the user doesn't tap the touchscreen or type anything and the keyboard timeout occurs. The keyboard timeout can be specified in the "Touchscreen Settings" dialog which can be displayed from the "Photobooth Settings" dialog.

When the user has entered their Facebook user name and password and selected "Upload photo" the Facebook login screen (fb_login.jpg) will be displayed together with a small web browser window showing the Facebook login page. The user must tap the "Ok" button or press the Enter key on the keyboard to login to Facebook. If this is the first time the user has uploaded a photo they will need to authorize the PhotoBoothUploader app by tapping the "Ok" button (or pressing the Enter key on the keyboard) when the next two Facebook screens are displayed. If the user decides not to authorize the PhotoBoothUploader app by tapping the "Cancel" button the upload will be aborted and the login failure screen (fb_login_failure.jpg) will be displayed for a few seconds and then the screen will return to the sharing screen.

After the user has logged in and authorized the PhotoBoothUploader app the upload will start and the Facebook upload screen (fb_upload.jpg) will be displayed. If the upload is successful the Facebook success screen (fb_success.jpg) will be displayed for a few seconds and then the screen will return to the sharing screen. If there is an error (e.g. the internet connection was lost) the Facebook error screen (fb_error.jpg) will be displayed for a few seconds and then the screen will return to the sharing screen.

If there is a timeout waiting for the user to login and authorize the PhotoBoothUploader app the upload will be aborted and the timeout screen (fb_timeout.jpg) will be displayed for a few seconds and then the screen will return to the sharing screen.

The sharing screen can also be displayed from the ready screen using the keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+S or the "Display sharing screen" touchscreen action.

If you have problems with the Windows Taskbar appearing when uploading photos to Facebook you can run the HideWindowsTaskbar.exe utility to hide the Windows taskbar. HideWindowsTaskbar.exe will automatically hide the Windows taskbar when PSRemote is running in full screen photobooth mode. HideWindowsTaskbar.exe can be found in the PSRemote installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\BreezeSys\ PSRemote on 64-bit Windows).

Please note: The user's Facebook username and password are private and are not saved by the photobooth software.

Users can email photos directly from the photo booth if it has an internet connection and either a touchscreen or a keyboard to enter their email address. The simplest way to set this up is to use the photobooth setup wizard and then adjust the settings if required. After running the photobooth setup wizard the email settings can editing using the dialog below. This dialog can be opened by opening the "Photobooth Settings" dialog (File->Photobooth Settings... or Ctrl+S) then opening the "Output Settings" dialog clicking on the "Settings..." button to the right of the output options and then clicking on the email photo "Settings..." button.

The body text of the message can be specified in plain text or in HTML format to provide more control over its appearance. When using the HTML format the token {image} represents the URL of the photo to be emailed and can be used with HTML <img> tag e.g. <img src="{image}">.

Tokens for the date and time can be included in the email subject and message text fields and will be replaced with the date or time the photos were taken when they are uploaded e.g.

%L will be replaced with the long date representation for your computer's locale e.g. Wednesday, January 08, 2014

%l will be replaced with the long date and time representation for your computer's locale e.g. Wednesday, January 08, 2014 20:23:56

{sharingMessage} is replaced with contents of the second text entry field (if defined) in the touchscreen keyboard used for entering the user's email address. This allows the user to enter an optional message when emailing photos.

The photo that is emailed is based on the JPEG copy of the printed output. You can crop, resize and rotate the image before it is emailed to the user.

To crop the image first check the "Crop image:" checkbox and then specify the left offset and top offset in pixels for the top left corner of the cropped image. Then specify the width and height of the image in pixels. For example if the photobooth is setup to print a double strip of 4 images on 6"x4" paper you may wish to crop the image so that only a single strip is emailed to the user. If the printer is set to a resolution of 300 dpi the image will be 1200 pixels wide (4" x 300 dpi) by 1800 pixles high (6" x 300 DPI) and so to crop it into a single strip you need to set left=0, top=0, width=600 and height=1800.

You can also specify a maximum size for the image being uploaded using the "Max width (pixels):" and "Max height (pixels):" settings. The JPEG copy of the printed output will be resized so that it is no bigger than these settings before it is emailed. Keeping these values relatively small, e.g. 500 x 500 pixels, will reduce the time it takes to send the email.

Please note that the image is cropped first, then resized and finally rotated before being emailed to the user.

The email server settings also need to be setup so that the program can email the photos. The "Email Server Settings" dialog can be opened by selecting "Email Server Settings..." from the File menu or by clicking on the "Email server settings..." button in the "Output Settings" dialog. The "Email Server Settings" dialog shown below will be displayed:

To send an email you need to specify the host name and port number of your email server. Most email servers also require a username and a password to prevent unauthorized users from sending spam emails. For additional security select the "Use SSL for secure email" option to send the email using SSL. The port number should normally be set to 587 when using SSL secure email or 25 otherwise (please check the port numbers used by your ISP). Google's free GMail service is a convenient way to send emails and can be set up using the settings shown above and replacing yourname@gmail.com with your GMail email address and entering your password. Set the "Email addr:" to the sender's email address. Most ISPs require the sender's email address to the be the same as that of the email account specified by the username and password.

Please note: If you are using GMail to send emails you need to go to your Google account settings and set the "Access for less secure apps" option to "Turn on" otherwise GMail will refuse to send the email.

The settings can be verified by sending a test email by entering the destination email address and then clicking on the "Send test email to:" button. The email status and any error messages will be displayed in the status area at the bottom of the dialog.

Select the "Log email addresses to file:" checkbox to log the email addresses to a CSV file. Then either type in the filename of the log file in the editbox or click on the "..." to open a file browser. The log file contains a line for each email containing the following comma separated values: the date in the format YYYYMMDD, the time in the format HHMMSS, the email address, the status (1=success, 0=failure) and the filename of the image file e.g.

20140114,174842,test@gmail.com,1,C:\Users\Chris\Documents\PhotoboothImages\2014-01-14\prints\140114_174826.jpg

When the sharing screen (share.jpg) the user has the option to email the photo by touching the email button on the touchscreen or by typing E if they are using a normal keyboard. The sharing screen can be exited by touching the "Cancel" button on the touchscreen or by typing X or Esc on a normal keyboard. The sharing screen will also exit automatically if the user does nothing and the screen timeout occurs. The sharing screen timeout can be specified in the "Output Settings" dialog.

When the user selects email photo the touchscreen keyboard will be displayed allowing them to enter the email address. The user can enter the email address by tapping on the touchscreen keyboard or by typing it in using a normal keyboard. The user can then either tap on the "Cancel" button (or type Esc) to cancel the email or tap on the "Send email" button (or press the keyboard Enter key) to start the upload. The touchscreen keyboard will cancel automatically if the user doesn't tap the touchscreen or type anything and the keyboard timeout occurs. The keyboard timeout can be specified in the "Touchscreen Settings" dialog which can be displayed from the "Photobooth Settings" dialog.

When the user has entered their email address and selected "Send email" the email upload screen (email_photo.jpg) will be displayed and the photo will be emailed. If the email is successful the email success screen (email_success.jpg) will be displayed for a few seconds and then the screen will return to the sharing screen. If there is an error (e.g. the internet connection was lost) the email error screen (email_error.jpg) will be displayed together with an error message in the bottom right hand corner. After a few seconds the screen will return to the sharing screen.

The sharing screen can also be displayed from the ready screen using the keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+S or the "Display sharing screen" touchscreen action.

If no internet connection is available at an event you can save user's email addresses and send the emails later when an internet connection is available. To do this you need to enable "Email photo" in the "Sharing" section of the "Output Settings" dialog and also select the "Offline mode" option. You also need to select the "Log email addresses to file" in the "Email Server Settings" dialog - this will save the user's email address together with the filename of their photos.

The emails can be sent when an internet connection is available by selecting "Send emails..." from the "File" menu in the main window. When you select this you will be asked the log file to read (this defaults to the email log file specified in the "Email Server Settings"). The "Unsent Emails" dialog will be displayed listing the date/time, email address and photo for unsent emails found in the log file. Select the emails you wish to send and then press the "Send" button to send them.

Please note: There is no offline option for Facebook uploads because users need to enter both their username and password to allow uploading to their Facebook account and no system should ever keep a record of users' passwords.

The Facebook upload and email photo options are designed to be used with a touchscreen, but can also be operated using a normal keyboard. Please note that if you give users access to a keyboard you need to prevent them from causing problems by exiting out of the photobooth program (e.g. by typing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, Ctrl+tab or pressing the Windows key). One way to do this is to take a basic USB keyboard and either wedge or glue the Ctrl, Alt, Win etc. keys so that they can't be pressed.

The following keys can be used to navigate the print preview, sharing and Facebook login screens:

Type Enter to start logging in to Facebook after entering the username and password

Type Enter to login to Facebook and Enter again to authorize the PhotoBoothUploader app

There are a number of free tools for automatically uploading photos to your personal or business Facebook page or to other social networking or photo sharing sites:

Dropbox - Dropbox is a free service for synchronizing files across multiple computers and devices. When a file is copied into the Dropbox folder on your computer it is automatically uploaded to online storage in the Cloud. If a photo is copied to a subfolder in the Photos Dropbox folder it will automatically create an online gallery which can be viewed using a web browser.
Dropbox comes with 2 GB of free online storage which can be increased for a monthly fee. Please visit the Dropbox website for more details.

IFTTT + Dropbox/Box/Google Drive- IFFT (If This Then That) is a free web based automation tool that works in conjunction with free online storage services such as Dropbox, Box and Google Drive. It uses "recipes" to perform actions when files are added to your online storage. It can link to many services including Facebook (to access your personal Facebook page), Facebook pages (to access a business Facebook page), Flickr, YouTube and Twitter. The recipes are run every 15 minutes and can upload a maximum of 15 photos each update.
Please visit the IFTTT website for more details

Wappwolf + Dropbox/Box/Google Drive - Wappwolf offers a similar service to IFFT and can also to many services including Facebook (to access your personal Facebook page), Facebook pages (to access a business Facebook page), Flickr, Picassa/Google+ Upload, YouTube and Twitter.
Please visit the Wappwolf website for more details

All of the above services work by monitoring a folder on you PC and automatically uploading the photos to the Cloud or directly to a Facebook album. The output options in PSRemote can be used to automatically crop and resize the prints from the photobooth and copy the image to the folder being monitored for uploading to the Cloud and/or Facebook. The output settings dialog can be displayed by setting the output option in the photobooth settings to "Print and save JPEG copy" or "JPEG copy only" and pressing the "Settings..." button:

Select the "Copy JPEG to folder:" option and enter the name of the folder where the JPEG copy of the printed output should be copied to. This should be the folder that is being monitored by your the online storage service. The JPEG copy of the printed output is formatted for sending to a printer and may be larger than you want for uploading to Facebook. For example a typical double strip of 4 images printed at 300 DPI on 4"x6" paper will be 1200 x 1800 pixels in size and will show two strips of 4 photos side by side. You may want to limit the size for faster uploading and viewing on guests' cell phones etc. and to crop the image so that it only shows a single strip of 4 photos. You can do this using the "Crop image before copying" and "Resize image before copying" options as shown below:

Please take a look at our Hotfolder Prints software if you need more control over how the photos are formatted before being uploaded to Facebook and other social networking sites. Hotfolder Prints allows you to create a completely new layout optimized for uploading (e.g. formatting on a 452x440 pixel page to look great in Facebook's timeline) and to add logos or other information that doesn't appear in the printed strips. Hotfolder Prints can also email photos to users (using the email address entered using the touchscreen keyboard) and run a slideshow which is automatically updated as new photos are taken.

The free IFTTT and Wapwolf web automation tools can be used in conjunction with the following free Cloud based online storage services:

Please note the information above was correct at the time of writing but may have changed since. Please check the relevant websites for the latest information about the various services described on this page.