Designing the start screen

The settings under "Adjust the start screen" arrange the start screen along a fixed pattern: logo at the top, title and subtitle below, then the buttons. For most events that is enough.

To place individual elements freely, open the editor — the button "Open screen editor" sits in the block "Free arrangement" in "Adjust the start screen". All screens with an editor are also collected under "Screen editor" (see Screen editor).

The layout#

Moving elements#

A click selects an element, dragging moves it. Several elements can be selected in four ways: click with Ctrl or shift held, drag a frame on an empty spot of the stage, switch on the Multi-select button in the header (each click then adds or removes, also on a touchscreen) or select everything with Ctrl+A. Selected elements travel together; Esc or a click on an empty spot clears the selection.

With several elements selected, a bar floats above them with align, distribute, line up and group — the same tools as under Tools in the sidebar, just closer to the action.

The selected element carries four handles in its corners and a round handle below it:

The arrow keys move by one pixel, with shift by ten. Position, size and rotation are also available as numbers in the properties.

Arranging things straight#

While dragging, an element snaps to the edges and centres of the others; a guide shows which one. The gaps to the nearest neighbours are shown as numbers in pixels as well. If a gap comes close to an existing one — the one between two other buttons, for example —, it snaps to exactly that, and both gaps are highlighted. The Alt key suspends snapping when a place lies exactly between two snap points; the gaps then remain as a display.

Dragging a corner or an edge snaps the dragged sides to edges and centres too, and a width or height close to that of another element becomes exactly that — so two buttons get the same size even if they are not side by side. Width and height are shown at the element while dragging, equal sizes are highlighted on both elements. The same applies to the frame of a group.

Groups#

Elements that belong together — logo and title, for example — can be grouped: select several and press Group (or Ctrl+G). After that a click on a member selects the whole group, and it moves as one. Align, distribute and line up treat it as one piece.

A double-click on a member or a click in the element list selects it on its own, the Group 1 tag in the list selects the whole group again. Ungroup (Ctrl+Shift+G) dissolves it. Groups are saved with the stage but only act in the editor — on the photo booth nobody sees what is grouped.

The anchor point#

Every element has an anchor point: the point of the element that is placed on the stored position.

That sounds like a detail, but it decides whether an arrangement holds in every language. A title with the anchor "top centre" stays centred even when the Polish text turns out considerably wider. With the anchor "top left" the left edge would stay put and the text would push out of the centre to the right.

Colouring texts#

Title and subtitle can have their own text colour. Without the tick "Own", the general text colour from Appearance applies — and a later change there then still reaches the element.

Over a background image, legibility usually matters more than the colour. White stays hard to read on a bright sky, however white it is; a shadow or outline solves that regardless of what happens to lie behind it.

Own elements#

Besides the existing elements, own ones can be added. They depend on no setting and therefore carry their own switch "Show on the start screen".

Copying own elements#

Ctrl+C copies the selected own elements, Ctrl+V pastes them, Ctrl+D duplicates them, Del deletes them; the properties also have a "Duplicate" button for this. The clipboard works across screens: a sponsor logo from the start screen can be carried over to the final screen this way.

Own texts and the languages#

An own text first appears the same in every language. That is usually right: names, dates and hashtags are not translated.

If the text is a sentence that should be translated, a version can be added under "Versions per language". An empty field means "take the base text" — so it only needs filling where something different really belongs.

Own images#

Images are reduced to 1600 pixels on their longest edge when uploaded. That is enough for any screen and keeps the setup and the event export small.

Preview in another language#

Under "Preview language" the editor shows the screen in another guest language. This makes it possible to check whether a longer text — in Polish or French, for example — still fits its place and whether the anchor point is chosen well. The choice is not saved.

Taking over the arrangement from the partner screen#

Two pairs of screens have the same elements: "Info Screen before first capture" and "Info Screen before next captures", as well as "Usage & privacy notice" and "Custom notice screen". Their editor offers a button under "Take over arrangement" that fetches position, size, own elements and labels from the other screen of the pair — as saved there. "Undo" takes it back; it takes effect with "Save".

Switching elements on and off#

Many elements in the list have a switch in front of them. It changes the same setting as the admin area — for the logo, for example, "Show logo" under "Customize Start Screen". There is no second switch that could contradict the first.

The preview shows the change at once. It only takes effect with "Save"; "Undo" takes it back.

Anything that has to be set up first — printer, e-mail sending, cloud, buzzer — stays in the admin area. The properties of an element lead there via "To the setting".

Changing labels#

Elements with text have a field "Label" in their properties. A double-click on the element opens the same field directly on the stage; Enter applies, Esc discards.

An empty field means: the supplied text in the guest's language. The exception are title and subtitle of the start screen — empty makes the element disappear, as in the admin area. "Reset everything" takes back all texts of the screen - the own labels and the texts with their own setting, the latter to the factory text. The switches stay as they are.

Elements that do not appear right now#

Not every element is always visible: the gallery button only appears with the gallery switched on, the language selection only with more than one guest language, the buzzer hint only with a buzzer set up.

Such elements are shown faded in the list, marked "not visible". A click on one names the reason in its properties and leads via "To the setting" to the setting that switches it on.

Resetting#

After resetting, the settings under "Adjust the start screen" decide again where everything sits.

The arrangement belongs to the event#

It travels along with copies and exports, like branding and layouts. A different event has its own arrangement — or none, and therefore the familiar one.