Before guests arrive
Starting the booth
When the app is open, guests see the welcome screen — the app's logo, an event title, and a background image or video. Nothing needs to be plugged in or clicked by you for the booth to be ready.
1Guests start themselves
A guest simply taps anywhere on the welcome screen to begin a session. There's no button to hunt for — the whole screen is the start button.
2The small icons in the corners
A few small icons sit quietly on the welcome and camera screens. Guests rarely notice them, but you'll use them constantly:
Gear icon
Opens admin settings
Picture-frame icon
Opens the photo gallery slideshow, if it's turned on
Lock icon
Locks the screen so guests can't wander into settings
Expand icon
Switches the app to full screen and back
Tip
Put the booth into full screen before you open it to guests — tap the expand icon once. It hides the Windows taskbar and keeps curious hands away from the desktop.
Capturing the moment
Running a session
Once a guest taps to start, the app walks them through picking a mode (if more than one is turned on), a countdown, and the capture itself. You generally don't need to touch anything during this part.
Choosing a mode
If your event offers more than one type of capture, guests see a screen titled ✨ Choose Your Experience ✨ with a card for each option that's turned on:
PHOTO
A single high-quality still
ANIMATED GIF
A short looping animation
VIDEO
A short recorded clip
BOOMERANG
A clip that plays forward, then reverse
If only one mode is turned on for the event, the app skips this screen entirely and goes straight to the camera.
Starting the countdown
The guest sees the live camera preview with a 👆 TAP TO START button. Tapping it kicks off a countdown with on-screen prompts like Get ready!, and for multi-photo sessions, a counter such as Photo 2 of 4. After each capture, a checkmark and Photo captured! confirm it worked.
For Video mode, guests see a pulsing RECORDING indicator and a Stop Recording button. For Boomerang, a progress bar shows Capturing boomerang….
Tip
If your event uses filters or a "pick your look" style step, guests will see that choice screen right before the countdown starts — that's expected, not a glitch.
After the shot
Reviewing photos
After capture, guests land on a review screen where they can look at what they took, flip through multiple shots, and decide what to do next.
- A filmstrip of thumbnails lets them tap through each photo if more than one was taken.
- If a print layout with multiple photo slots is set up, they'll see a Select Templates panel with a plus/minus counter for how many of each layout to print.
- A ♻️ Don't Print button skips printing without deleting anything — useful if a guest wants a redo or just wants to share digitally.
- If a return-to-start timer is on, a small badge counts down, e.g. Returning to start in 12s — so don't worry if the screen resets on its own after a guest walks away.
Getting photos to guests
Emailing, texting & QR codes
Tapping 📤 Share from the review screen opens a menu with whichever sharing methods are turned on for the event.
Email
Guest types their address into a field labeled Email Address and taps Send. A green ✅ Email sent successfully! message confirms it went out.
Text message
Guest enters a mobile number and must check a consent box before Send becomes available — this is a legal requirement for text marketing, not a bug. If they leave it unchecked, the app will prompt them to agree first.
QR code
A scannable code appears on screen with the note Link expires in 24 hours. Guests scan it with their own phone camera and the download starts automatically — no app or account needed on their end.
Note
If a guest says a text or email never arrived, check the Wi-Fi/internet connection at the booth first — sharing needs an active internet connection, unlike printing, which works offline.
Handing out prints
Printing
The print screen lets a guest choose a layout and how many copies before sending the job to the printer.
- Guest taps one or more layout thumbnails on the left — a checkmark badge shows what's selected.
- They use the plus/minus stepper to set quantity, up to the max per session your event allows.
- Tapping the big PRINT button sends it to the printer right away.
If your event has face-counting turned on, the app suggests a copy count based on how many people it sees in the shot — guests can still change it manually.
Between guests
Locking the screen
When you step away — refilling paper, helping a guest, taking a break — lock the screen so no one can wander into settings or interrupt a session.
1To lock
Tap the lock icon once, in the bottom-right corner of the welcome or camera screen.
2To unlock
Press and hold the same bottom-right corner for about 3 seconds.
Important
Once locked, the lock icon disappears from view — but it's still exactly where it was. There's nothing to see, so remember the spot: bottom-right corner. Press and hold there for three seconds to unlock, even though no icon is showing.
While locked, the gear (admin), gallery, and full-screen icons are hidden too, so guests only ever see the photo experience itself.
Behind the scenes
Getting into admin settings
Tap the gear icon on the welcome or camera screen. If an admin PIN has been set up for this booth, you'll land on an Admin Access screen with a number pad — enter the PIN and tap Unlock. Getting it wrong just shakes the screen and lets you try again; nothing locks you out.
Don't have the PIN? Ask whoever set up the booth (see the Booth Settings section in the setup guide).
If something goes wrong
Camera won't connect
If the live camera feed disappears, a Camera Connection Issue screen appears in its place, with the problem in plain language.
- Check the camera is powered on.
- Check the USB cable is firmly plugged in at both ends.
- Try unplugging and reconnecting the camera's USB cable.
- Make sure no other program (like the camera manufacturer's own app) is also using the camera.
Once fixed, tap 🔄 Retry Connection. If it still won't come back, tap ← Return to Welcome and try again from the start screen — the app will also try to reconnect on its own a few times in the background.
If something goes wrong
Printer trouble
If the printer configured for the booth isn't responding, admin settings will show a message like "[printer name] is not currently detected. Connect the printer and click Refresh." Check the printer is powered on, has paper and ink/dye, and is connected — then refresh. This message lives in the setup side of the app (Printing settings), so you may need to briefly unlock admin access to check it.
If something goes wrong
Storage warning
If the computer is running low on space to save photos, you'll see an orange banner such as "Low disk space — 4 GB remaining. Free up space to avoid losing photos." Let whoever manages the booth's computer know so old event files can be archived or deleted — the booth will keep working, but photos could stop saving if it runs out completely.
Getting in
Opening admin settings
Admin settings are reached by tapping the gear icon on the guest-facing screens — there's no separate app to open.
If you've set an Admin PIN (recommended for any booth guests can reach), you'll be asked to enter it on an Admin Access screen before the settings open. This keeps curious guests out while still letting your staff in quickly.
Tip
Set the PIN under Booth Settings → Security. Pick something your event staff can remember but a guest can't guess — a 4 to 6 digit code works well.
Getting in
The dashboard
The first screen you land on after logging in gives you a snapshot of how the booth is currently configured, at a glance:
- Photos per session and the countdown timer length
- Which capture modes are active (Photo, GIF, Boomerang, Video)
- Which sharing options are on (Printing, Email, QR, Text)
- Welcome screen, sound effects, and voice-over status
- Booth status: camera, gallery, and event mode
From here you can also reach Reset to Defaults if settings need a clean slate, and Exit Admin to return to the guest screen.
Setting up an event
Creating an event
Everything guest-facing — branding, capture experience, sharing — is configured per event, using the Events tab and its setup wizard.
1Start a new event
From the Events tab, tap + New Event. A five-step wizard opens:
STEP 1
Event Info — name, date, venue, hashtag
STEP 2
Branding — logo, colors, welcome screen look
STEP 3
Experience — sounds, countdown, on-screen prompts
STEP 4
Sharing — email/text/QR, message wording
STEP 5
Review — confirm everything before saving
2Make it the live event
From the events list, tap Set Active on the event you want guests to experience right now. Only one event is live on the booth at a time. From the same list you can also duplicate a past event as a starting point, export its photos to USB, or view its analytics.
Tip
Duplicating a recent similar event and adjusting the name/date is usually faster than building a new one from scratch.
Setting up an event
Booth settings
These are the settings that apply to the machine itself, no matter which event is running — found under Booth Settings in the sidebar.
Booth Settings sections
| Section | What it controls |
|---|
| Identity | Company name shown in the app |
| Camera | Which camera is connected — Canon, Nikon, or a plain webcam — and where captured photos get saved on this computer |
| Timeouts | How long the booth sits idle before resetting, the review-screen countdown, and a low-disk-space warning threshold |
| Security | The admin PIN and how long an admin session stays unlocked before re-asking for it |
| Language | English, Español, or Français for the guest-facing screens |
Switching the camera source (say, from Canon to a webcam) takes effect the next time the live view opens — no restart needed.
Setting up an event
Photo strip designs
Under Photo Strips, you can build and manage the printed/shared layouts — 2×6 strips, 4×6 prints, and other sizes — using a drag-and-drop editor.
- Tap the "＋" button to start a new design and choose a size (2×6 strip, or 4×6 portrait/landscape).
- Drag photo slots, text, and logo overlays directly onto the layout.
- Star a design as a favorite so it's easy to find later.
- Import a previously saved design file if one was shared with you.
Whatever designs you build here are what guests choose between on the review and print screens during a session.
Sharing & printing
Email, text & galleries
Under Share Settings, turn each delivery method on or off and configure how it behaves. A checklist at the top lets you enable Email, Text, and QR independently.
Email
Fill in your outgoing mail server details (server address, port, sender name and address), then use Test Connection to confirm it works before an event starts.
Text messages
No separate account or API key is needed — texting is included with your license. Choose whether to send a plain text link (cheaper) or a picture message, and customize the message wording guests receive.
QR codes
A single on/off switch. When enabled, guests can scan a code to download their photo directly to their phone — no email or number required.
Online galleries
Under the My Galleries tab, you can brand the online gallery guests land on (logo, colors, welcome text), decide whether guests can upload their own photos, choose if the gallery is public, password-protected, or unlisted, and grab an embed link or QR code to share it after the event.
Sharing & printing
Printer setup
Under Printing, connect and test the physical printer.
- Choose your printer from the Select Printer dropdown — tap the refresh icon if it doesn't show up right away.
- First time setting up? Use the Run Setup Wizard banner to walk through it step by step.
- Under Per-Size Queue Assignment, match each print size (2×6, 4×6, etc.) to the correct printer queue — this matters most if more than one printer is connected.
- Send a Test Print before opening to guests, every time.
Tip
For 2×6 strips, the "Apply 2-inch Cut" option tells the printer to automatically slice a 4×6 sheet into two strips — turn it on if your printer supports it, so you don't have to cut prints by hand.
Account
License activation
Found under License in the sidebar. A status banner at the top shows License Active or Not Activated.
To activate, enter the email address on your SNF Booth account and the API key provided with your purchase, then tap Activate. Once active, this screen also shows your activation date and a Machine ID — have that number ready if you ever contact support.
Moving the software to a new computer? Tap Deactivate on This Machine first, then activate on the new one with the same email and key.
Account
Getting more help
The admin panel has its own built-in Help panel — look for the help button at the bottom of the sidebar for quick-reference tips on the same topics covered here, right inside the app.
For anything this guide doesn't cover, contact support at support@snfbooth.com and include your Machine ID from the License screen — it helps support find your setup quickly.
