Photo mosaic
After each photo session the photo booth prints a tile: the guest's photo with the part of a large motif that belongs to its field laid over it semi-transparently, plus the field's coordinate, such as “F12”. The guest sticks the tile onto a prepared board with a grid. The fuller the board, the clearer the motif becomes – the couple, a logo or lettering. It is set up under admin area "Photo mosaic". Everything in this chapter belongs to the event; only the printer for the tiles belongs to the device.
The area has seven menu entries: Occupancy (the status during the party), Mosaic (switching on and checklist), Motif & grid, Tile, Board (print template), Flow and View & reprint.
Printed or digital only#
Under "Mosaic", the kind of mosaic is "Printed" by default: every guest gets a tile and sticks it onto the board. With "Digital only" the mosaic grows only on screen – on the extra screen or projector, on the tablet, behind the "Mosaic" button and in the slideshow. It needs neither printer nor board: print template, test tile, coordinate on the tile and reprinting are dropped, and "Print remaining fields" becomes "Fill remaining fields". At the end there is the final image and the web page to pass on. This suits clients who want the mosaic but do not want to pay for a board. In the preparation, the board and the mosaic printer are then not needed.
Preparation#
- Choose the motif under admin area "Photo mosaic" > "Motif & grid". Bold shapes, large lettering and clear contrasts work best; fine details get lost in the grid.
- Plan the size. The planning aid suggests a grid that fills up with the expected number of sessions. One tile per session fills a board more slowly than expected: 200 sessions make about 14 × 14 fields, so with 5 cm tiles a board of 70 × 70 cm. For larger walls, choose "One per shot" under "Flow". The tile format sits next to it (see below).
- Have the board printed. Under admin area "Photo mosaic" > "Board (print template)" the print file is available as a PDF at a scale of 1:1: the grid with coordinates, the motif very faint and, if desired, a title in the margin. The file goes to the print shop unchanged – scaled, the tiles no longer fit the fields. Fix grid and tile size beforehand.
- Set up the mosaic printer under admin area "Device" > "Printer" > "Printers & roles", card "Mosaic printer". A label printer with die-cut labels in tile size works best; the photo printer also works – the tile is then placed at its real size with crop marks, and with 4 × 6 tiles it fills the whole photo. **"Print test tile"** under "Tile" lets you check size and colours on a real label.
- Switch it on under "Mosaic". The checklist shows what is still missing.
The tile#
| Tile format | Suits … |
|---|---|
| Square 5 × 5 cm or 2 × 2 inches | a label printer with die-cut stickers. |
| 4 × 6 inches portrait or landscape | the photo printer: every tile is a whole photo, no cutting. The board gets large – 100 sessions make about 1 × 1.5 m. |
| Custom format | other labels. Enter the size of the label, not the printable area of the printer. |
By default the tile shows one shot of the session. With "The finished layout" under "Tile" it is the guest print itself – such as the regular 4 × 6 photo with frame and logo, blended and labelled. There is then one tile per session. The tile format should match the layout, otherwise it is cropped; the motif comes out most clearly with a layout made of one borderless picture. Whether the guest also gets a regular print is decided by photo printing as usual.
| Blend | Suits when … |
|---|---|
| Tint (default) | almost always: the whole picture is clear even at medium strength, faces stay recognisable. |
| Overlay | the motif is very light or kept in soft colours. |
| Soft light | the motif has strong contrast and the photos should stay vivid. |
Before blending, each photo is matched to its part of the motif in brightness and colour. The motif therefore shows clearly even at low strength, 40 by default. Small grids with fewer than 20 columns need more strength than large ones. By default the coordinate is small in the corner; large along the bottom is easier to read but covers more of the photo. A narrow margin of 1 mm forgives crooked sticking.
The board#
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Faint motif in the background | 18 % by default. Free fields do not look like gaps and guests find their field more easily. 0 % prints the grid only. |
| Coordinates | In every field, only on the edge like a city map, or both. |
| Grid lines | Dark, white or none. |
| Margin | Carries the edge labels (from 8 mm) and the title (from 12 mm). |
| Bleed | Added all around for trimming; the print shop specifies the value, usually 3 mm. |
Below the preview, the final size is shown with and without bleed. Aluminium composite (Dibond) or foam board is common; stickers hold better on matte surfaces than on glossy ones.
Guests' choice#
"Flow" > "Guests' choice" sets what guests decide themselves after the shot. A short step with the photo then appears before the end screen:
- Crop: If photo and tile have different formats – such as a 3:2 photo on a square tile – a frame shows what goes on the tile. Dragging moves it, its corners or two fingers resize it; next to it is the tile as it will be printed. On by default.
- Participation: "Every photo goes into the mosaic" (default), "Guests can decline" – then "Not me" is offered – or "Guests agree first".
- Time to decide: This long without a touch, then the default applies: with "Guests agree first" no mosaic, otherwise into the mosaic with the crop as set. 20 seconds by default.
Printing starts only after the answer. Photos of guests who declined are not used to fill the remaining fields either; with "Guests agree first" only photos with consent. If the photo fits the tile completely and every photo goes into the mosaic, the step is skipped. The privacy notice describes the mosaic and this choice by itself.
During the party#
Each guest gets the free field that best matches their photo in colour and brightness – a photo with a bright background, for example, rather a bright part of the motif. This makes the motif clear without blending the photos more strongly. With "From the centre outwards" the choice is made among the next fields from the inside, with "Row by row" within the current row.
The end screen shows the field in large type and marks it on a small map of the board. If a guest repeats their session, they keep their field. Once the board is full, no more tiles are printed; guests get their photo as usual. Tiles do not count as prints and not against the print limit.
Admin area "Photo mosaic" > "Occupancy" shows how many fields are taken and when the board will be full at the current pace. Clicking a field on the board – or entering its coordinate in the search field – shows its tile and what can be done with it:
- Reprint tile: when a guest has lost or misplaced their tile. The same tile is printed as the first time.
- Free field: deletes the field's tile; the next tile may land here again.
- Lock field: a free field receives no tile – for instance because a mount sits there. "Remove lock" frees it again.
- Print remaining tile: fills a single free field right away.
- Change crop: move and zoom the frame on the photo; next to it is the tile as it will be. "Save and reprint" prints it again right away.
- Take photo out of the mosaic: when a guest no longer wants to be in the mosaic. Every field with a photo from their session becomes free – remaining fields too – and their photos no longer go into the mosaic. Remove tiles already stuck on the board.
View for the guests#
Under "View & reprint" the mosaic becomes a picture for the guests: on the start screen of the photo booth via the "Mosaic" button next to "Gallery", on an extra screen (content "Photo mosaic"), on a tablet on the network (the same address as the gallery on an external device, just with /mosaik instead of /galerie) and in the slideshow, by default after every 8 photos. The view follows every new tile by itself; on the extra screen every new tile appears large for a few seconds. Under "Access" the "Mosaic" button sits on the start screen, in the header bar of the gallery – at the photo booth and on the external gallery device – or in both places; opened from the gallery, the view leads back there.
On the tablet, tapping a field – or entering its coordinate in the search field – shows the tile. With "Allow every tile to be reprinted once" switched on (default), a guest reprints their lost tile there, every field exactly once – also from the gallery of the photo booth: for a shot with a tile, "Reprint mosaic tile …" appears next to "Print". The reprint does not count against the print limit; under "Occupancy" it stays unlimited.
Finishing up#
If fields remain free, "Print remaining fields" under "Occupancy" fills every free field and prints the tiles – depending on the choice under "Flow" with matching guest photos or with the motif only. With guest photos, shots that are not yet in any tile come first, such as the other pictures of a collage, then the least used ones – each time the one that best matches the field. Two identical photos are never placed side by side as long as there are enough different ones. Locked fields stay free.
On a large board this takes a while. A bar below shows how many tiles are done and estimates the remaining time. "Download final image" and "Download as web page" are only available afterwards – otherwise tiles would be missing. While a file is being created, its button says "Creating …".
"Download final image" delivers the mosaic as one image, free fields showing the motif – for the couple, the company or a photo book. "Download as web page (ZIP)" packs it as a page to browse: double-click to open it in the browser, zoom in and look at every tile, no internet needed; the final image is included. "Reset occupancy" frees all fields and deletes the tiles; afterwards grid and order can be changed again. The settings remain.