Pictures online for guests
Most parties want more than prints — guests want their pictures on their phone. There are three ways to get them there, and they can be combined freely. This chapter explains how they fit together; they are switched on afterwards in the first event.
Three ways onto the phone#
| Way | What the guest gets | Where they find it | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web photo album QR | All pictures of the party | QR code on the start screen, optionally also in the printed layout | Cloud account |
| Single image QR | Exactly their own picture | QR code on the end screen, in the gallery and optionally on the printout | Cloud account |
| Their picture in the inbox | Entering their own address at the photo booth | Mail access |
All three need an internet connection at the photo booth. If it drops, nothing is lost: uploads and emails wait in the outbox and go out as soon as the network is back.
One folder per event#
Every event uploads its pictures into its own folder at the cloud service, named after the event's identifier. Both QR codes point into this folder — just to a different depth:
| Web photo album QR | Single image QR | |
|---|---|---|
| Leads to | the whole folder of the party | one single picture |
| How many | one per event | one per picture |
| Shown | permanently on the start screen | on the end screen after the shot and in the gallery next to the picture |
| Whoever scans it sees | all pictures, including those of other guests | only this one picture |
| Valid | as long as the folder is shared | until the validity period ends, 24 hours by default |
| Set under | "QR codes" > "Web Photo Album QR Code" | "QR codes" > "Single Image Download via QR Code" |
As a rule of thumb: the album code is the notice board for everyone, the single image code is the print to take home.
The album link: automatic or by hand#
Behind the web photo album QR there is an address. It comes about in one of two ways — set under "QR codes" > "Web Photo Album QR Code" > "QR code URL" and in the event assistant under "Where should the QR code lead?".
Automatic — the normal case#
The photo booth asks the cloud service for the share link of the event folder and puts it into the QR code. As a result:
- Every event gets its own address by itself — including a copy, an event created from a preset and an imported event package.
- If the event's identifier is changed, the link follows.
- The link is fetched when the event assistant is finished, when the section is saved and when the event is loaded, if it is still missing. This needs an internet connection once; until then the QR code stays hidden and the section shows the badge "Check".
Where the code leads depends on the upload target:
| Upload target | The QR code leads to |
|---|---|
| RAWCaptureBooth self-hosted server | the event's album page; the access code is part of the link |
| Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud, pCloud | the shared event folder in the provider's view |
| FTP server | the event folder under the stored root address |
| Export to target folder | nowhere — a folder on the computer has no album |
By hand — "Set QR code URL manually"#
The address is made up of "Base URL" and "Parameter" and goes into the QR code exactly as it is. The photo booth does not check what lies behind it and never touches it when the event changes.
This makes sense in three cases:
- The album lives somewhere else than the uploaded pictures, for example on your own website or a page of the customer.
- A short address of your own with a redirect, such as
photos.example.com/wedding. Where it redirects to can still be changed after printing. - The code is printed in advance, for example on invitations or place cards, before the event even exists on the photo booth.
Which way fits#
| Situation | Way |
|---|---|
| Album at the cloud service or on the self-hosted server, every party with its own album | Automatic |
| QR code is already printed on invitations before the party | By hand, with a redirect |
| Album on a page that has nothing to do with the upload target | By hand |
| Upload target "Export to target folder" | By hand or not at all |
Setting up in four steps#
- Connect the cloud account — once per photo booth under admin area "Access & accounts" > "Cloud account". Signing in runs through the browser; details under Access and accounts.
- Enter the mail access, if guests should receive their pictures by email — under "Access & accounts" > "Mail access (SMTP)", then "Send Test Email".
- Switch it on in the event — in the event assistant, step "Gallery & online sharing": "Provide pictures online (cloud upload)", the upload behaviour, "Show the web photo album QR code on the start screen" with the target "Automatically to this event's folder at …" and "Offer single image download via QR code". Later this is found under "Cloud & mail" and "QR codes".
- Check with a phone — take a test shot, scan the album code on the start screen and the single image code on the end screen. Only when both show the right picture is the setup done.
When something is wrong#
| Observation | Cause |
|---|---|
| Album QR missing although switched on | No address yet: no network during setup, the example address of the factory defaults or an upload target without an album. The "Web Photo Album QR Code" section then shows "Check" and names the reason |
| Album stays empty | Cloud upload off, the jobs are still in the outbox, or the upload mode asks the guests and nobody has released a picture yet |
| Album shows pictures of another party | A custom address from a copy or a preset was not adjusted |
| Single image QR does not appear | Cloud upload off, privacy-by-default or offline mode active — or the picture is not uploaded yet; the code appears once it is up |
| Single image link no longer works | The validity period has expired |
All settings in detail are described under QR codes, Web photo album and Cloud and e-mail.