Software – Made in Germany!
Several years in the photo booth rental business brought together every requirement from real operations, especially direct customer feedback. RAWCaptureBooth combines that experience in a stable, flexible, touch-optimized application that supports events of any size.
Video
Explained in a few minutes: what RAWCaptureBooth actually is, how the software came about and what idea is behind it.
Thank you
RAWCaptureBooth has grown enormously through feedback from real events - in features, in comfort and in everyday reliability. A sincere thank you to everyone who tests, reports and contributes ideas.
RAWCaptureBooth is still a very young project. A lot has recently changed under the hood so the software stays maintainable in the long run. Every release goes through intensive testing - but testing it completely is impossible: the number of possible setting combinations is now in the order of 10227. So it cannot be ruled out that a bug slips through unnoticed.
This is exactly where your feedback helps most: if something looks odd to you, a short note is welcome. A short message is enough - every report makes the next release better.
RAWCaptureBooth is built for photo booth operators who want to set up events quickly, guide guests clearly through the workflow and deliver images reliably - printed, by email, by QR code or through the cloud.
Many features are designed to reduce on-site work: set up events faster, prepare matching cloud and QR sharing options, monitor printers, keep consumables visible and resend jobs later if the connection drops. A fully prepared event can be exported or handed over to a second photo booth through the cloud, so the second booth starts with the same layouts and settings. And the slideshow can show sponsor or company images between the guest photos - advertising space you can sell to the host.
Already bought templates for other photo booth software? No need to redesign: RAWCaptureBooth imports common dslrBooth/LumaBooth-format templates (e.g. from shops such as Templatesbooth.com) directly as a ZIP. Placeholders, texts including font, colour and shadow, and the design graphic as an overlay are carried over and stay fully editable in the layout editor.
Full compatibility with every template cannot be guaranteed; please observe the licence terms of the respective template vendor. All product names mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners; no business relationship exists.
All of the following images are taken straight from the software - first the flow your guests see, then the admin area where everything is configured.
RAWCaptureBooth comes with several AI models for AI portraits. You decide what matters more at the event: a short wait for guests or a picture with more detail. Both models cost around 4 euro cents per image with the image model provider (as of October 2026). Both AI portraits were created from the same original photo in the same style.
RAWCaptureBooth grows from practical event use. Feedback from photo booth operators regularly flows into development - from cloud workflows and QR sharing to printing, layouts, privacy and ease of use.
Special thanks go to the developers of digiCamControl. Without their work and openness, RAWCaptureBooth's broad camera support would never have come about.
Try it yourself
Four features to play with - right here in your browser, just as they run on the photo booth. Images and texts come straight from the software.
Pick a group, tap a style and drag the slider. Every style comes with its own sample image, so guests see what to expect while choosing. “Surprise me” lets the booth draw a style at random.
The person shown is not real but generated with AI. In the software, the sample images can also be created from your own photo. How long a portrait takes and what it costs is explained above under AI portraits: fast or with more detail.
The booth draws a small challenge and guests act it out in the photo - challenges nobody has done yet come first. Templates for weddings, birthdays and company parties are included, as are your own challenges and place cards with a QR code.
Template Wedding · Task 1
Re-create the couple’s first kiss.
Real challenges from the templates in the software.
In the manual: Photo challengesAfter every session the booth decides whether it wins - with a fixed quota spread over the evening, a fixed chance, every n-th session or its own rhythm per prize. The win appears on the final screen with confetti, optionally with a prize code and a printed voucher.
Photo prize draw
Every photo is a ticket
No prize this time - next photo, next chance.
You won!
Prize code
In this demo roughly every third photo wins; the prizes are examples.
In the manual: Prize drawFor trade fairs, bars and street festivals: every capture mode has its own price - an AI portrait may cost more than a photo. Payment runs through Stripe, via QR code also by phone, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
What would you like to do?
For trying it out: prices and credit are examples, nothing is charged here.
For photo booth operators
The software is not only about taking good images. It is designed to simplify the full event workflow: predictable costs, flexible delivery options, less manual follow-up and clear privacy choices.
Predictable software costs without monthly license fees - especially useful when operating multiple photo booths.
Self-hosted server, your own Nextcloud, your own web space over FTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, pCloud and folder export cover different customer and privacy requirements.
Guests can download only their own image without automatically getting access to the full event album.
Immediate output for guests while keeping room for later editing, customer requests or high-quality galleries.
The booth can keep running when event Wi-Fi is unreliable. Emails and uploads can be sent later through the outbox.
Many features are based on actual operator feedback and are implemented with daily event work in mind.
Hardware expansion
LightControl V2 controls softbox lights, shutter lights and other additional devices directly via RAWCaptureBooth. Additional light sources only switch on when they are really needed - completely automatically.
Leaving lights permanently on or using temporary motion detectors is a thing of the past.
With the LightControl V2 Temp variant, temperature monitoring of the photo booth is possible in addition to light control. When a critical temperature value is reached, automatic shutdown of the photo booth and alarm notifications can be triggered.
Optionally, the hot shoe input can also be connected to the camera's hot shoe for perfect timing of the signal/trigger lights.
Do it yourself
A small radio module turns a party buzzer or any push button into a wireless trigger for the photo booth. One press fires the camera, and RAWCaptureBooth shows the battery level.
No on/off switch needed: the buzzer goes to sleep on its own when idle and wakes up with the next press. The photo booth tells several buzzers apart automatically.
The building guide is currently available in German only.
On site · Optional add-on
A free start center for the photo booth station: it welcomes the end customer and guides them step by step to the running photo booth. It is not required for operation.
The Cockpit starts with the operating system. The wizard connects the Wi-Fi, checks the internet connection and lets the customer choose whether RAWCaptureBooth starts with or without online features such as email sending and cloud upload.
Welcome, network, connection test, operating mode, start - the end customer never has to search through Windows.
Behind a PIN: remote maintenance, on-screen keyboard, PC restart and the settings of the station.
Remotely · Part of RAWCaptureBooth
Every photo booth reports its state to the management portal - no add-on required. The browser shows whether a booth is running, how busy it is and how much has already been printed.
From there it can also be controlled without being on site. Reported are state, counters and errors - no images.
All photo booths on one page - even while they are at the rental customer.
Remote administration is part of RAWCaptureBooth. Set up in a few steps: enable remote access in the RAWCaptureBooth admin area, copy the setup code and paste it into the portal.
In the browser · No photo booth, no account
The same layout editor as in the photo booth also runs in the browser - without installation and without an account. Couples, corporate clients or agencies can design their layout themselves before the event.
The finished layout comes to you as a ZIP file; on the photo booth, "Import layout" reads it in. It arrives exactly as it was designed online.
The editor stores layouts only in the browser, not on a server. "Export layout" saves the current state as a file, "Import layout" opens it again to continue.
Instead of sending drafts back and forth, the customer designs the layout. You check it on the photo booth and adjust it if needed.
Your own gallery & management
Guests want their pictures online the same evening, customers ask for an album, and nobody wants to hand over photos on a USB stick at the end of the night. That is what the extended solution is for: your own gallery with event management and a management portal - on storage that belongs to you, with no cloud subscription and no fee per event.
Live demo
A demo server shows both sides for real: the gallery your guests get, and the admin area behind it. Access codes for the sample events and the login details are printed on the pages themselves - nothing is saved.
Sounds like a server room? It is not one. An ordinary web hosting package is enough, the kind millions of websites run on, for a few euros a month. A setup assistant does the rest: enter the credentials, press the button, and after about five minutes everything is running. No command line, no specialist knowledge, no machine humming away at home.
The host - the wedding couple or the company - gets an access of their own: view the images, remove a single shot if something should not stay online, and keep an eye on the booth. It turns "where do our pictures actually end up?" into an answer that wins bookings.
It simply does not come from RAWCaptureBooth but cheaply from a host - STRATO has been tested and is recommended. As soon as the web space is activated, the setup assistant turns it into your own gallery in about five minutes. It handles upload, database and configuration, and no server knowledge is required.
Your own photo booth cloud: packages, event numbers and the full process
And for the tech-minded: on your own Linux server with Docker it runs just as happily. The matching Portainer stack or Docker Compose stack comes with it, of course.
The self-hosted web server is included with an active licence. The setup assistant is available right in the download section, the Docker stack after a short message.
Download the setup assistant
Free companion tool
Out of the box, Windows is not built for continuous operation inside a photo booth: the screen turns off, an update reboots the machine, notifications pop over the application and an edge swipe gesture pulls guests out of the interface. The Photo Booth Setup Tool clears exactly these pitfalls in a few clicks.
FST is portable, needs no installation and is free for everyone - just run it, apply the optimisations you want and the booth is ready. Every optimisation can be toggled individually and reverted at any time, so the machine returns to normal use without leftovers.
Introductory prices
Both license variants include future updates as well as telephone and email support.
RAWCaptureBooth is sold as a one-time purchase license without monthly subscription fees. More about affordable photo booth software without subscription.
| License | Price (incl. VAT) | Scope of services |
|---|---|---|
| 1PC license | 79 euros | Unlimited full version, future updates, phone and email support |
| 3PC license | 149 euros | Unlimited full version, future updates, phone and email support |
| Product | Price (incl. VAT) |
|---|---|
| LightControl V2 Mini | 28 euros |
| LightControl V2 | 35 euros |
| LightControl V2 Temp | 40 euros |
All prices quoted include statutory sales tax.
The licenses are sold through the payment provider CopeCart. The license key is sent automatically by email right after the purchase.
Ordering a LightControl controller works by email.
The following downloads are available for 64-bit systems.
All packages include multilingual EULAs, third-party licenses, and an automatically activated 14-day trial license for the RAWCaptureBooth software.
Before downloading, take a look at the system requirements.
Note: Downloads are now provided as release builds. You can find the current introductory prices in the "Prices & Availability" section.
The software is currently not digitally signed. Because of that, Windows may show a warning during installation and antivirus tools may occasionally flag the file as a false positive.
Background: RAWCaptureBooth was only released recently and is still in its early startup phase. To avoid the ongoing cost of a code-signing certificate for now, digital signing has deliberately been postponed. It will be added later, once the ongoing costs are justified.
A version of the software has also already been submitted to Avast/AVG, ESET, and Microsoft so their systems can review the file and better account for possible false positives. Further information is available on request.
RAWCaptureBooth can be installed as a standalone photo booth software. The installation of the cockpit and the AI service is not strictly required.
For remote monitoring and remote control, create a free account at https://portal.rawcapturebooth.app/ and add your photo booth.
Allows the use of AI background removals as an alternative to green screen
This software is additionally required for this functionality in RAWCaptureBooth.
If you do not want to use AI background removal, this software is not needed.
The software includes all AI models, so that no internet connection is required for operation later.
Around 1.5 GB of memory is used in addition while cutting out the person. Processing time per image depends on the processor: the faster the CPU, the sooner the cut-out is ready.
Attention: Only compatible with 64-bit Windows systems!
Cockpit is the start center on site: it guides the end customer from the Wi-Fi connection through the connection test and the choice of operating mode to the start of the photo booth.
It is required neither for operation nor for remote administration.
Sets up the gallery, web album, single-image QR and event management on your own web space: enter the access details, press the button - the assistant handles upload, database and configuration in about five minutes.
All it needs is a web hosting package with PHP, a MySQL database and FTP access (tested and recommended: STRATO). Operation is included with an active RAWCaptureBooth licence.
The Photo Booth Setup Tool optimises Windows for photo booth operation in just a few clicks: power and standby settings, notifications, edge swipe gestures, captive portal detection, update restarts, startup repair after power loss and more - each optimisation can be toggled and reverted individually.
Portable, no installation required - just run and optimise (administrator rights required).
For help via remote access, only after arranging it with support:
1. Download and run the file, confirm the Windows prompt with “Yes”.
2. Pass on the ID shown by phone or e-mail.
3. Allow the incoming connection with “Accept”.
Nothing is installed and the connection can be ended at any time. Do not rename the file, its name contains the server details.
Turns a party buzzer or any push button into a wireless trigger for the photo booth: one press fires the camera, and RAWCaptureBooth shows the battery level. No on/off switch needed, the buzzer goes to sleep on its own when idle.
The guide covers two variants: a party buzzer with sound and light (some soldering on the buzzer board) or a simple push button such as a mushroom button (no extra components). Both use the same firmware, and the photo booth tells several buzzers apart automatically.
The photo booth PC needs a Bluetooth adapter (Bluetooth Low Energy). The guide is currently available in German only.
RAWCaptureBooth runs on ordinary Windows hardware. Capture, layout, printing and gallery work completely offline - an internet connection is only needed for licence checks, cloud upload, e-mail delivery, the web photo album and AI portraits.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit in each case | Windows 11, 64-bit |
| Processor | 64-bit processor with two cores | Four cores |
| Memory | 4 GB | 8 GB - needed when live view, GIF/boomerang and AI portraits come together. The AI service for background removal takes around 1.5 GB more while it is calculating |
| Disk space | 2 GB for the program, plus room for the captures | SSD with 20 GB free - one evening of captures quickly fills several gigabytes |
| Screen | Touchscreen, portrait or landscape, 1280 × 800 or higher | Full HD touchscreen |
| Ports | One free USB port for the camera | Several USB ports for printer, buzzer and lighting |
| Rights | Administrator rights for the installation | A dedicated Windows user account for photo booth operation |
| Runtimes | Microsoft WebView2 Runtime and .NET Framework - already present on current Windows installations | – |
Since version 3.3.0 RAWCaptureBooth is released as a 64-bit build only. On 32-bit Windows, version 3.2.0 keeps running but no longer receives new features - upgrade to 64-bit.
RAWCaptureBooth supports a variety of DSLRs, DSLMs and webcams. The cameras are controlled directly by the software - without additional software.
Note: The camera driver lists limitations for the EOS 40D – feedback from real events is especially welcome here.
Note: Using Nikon D3000-series cameras is not recommended because these cameras do not provide reliable live view and image transfer.
Nikon models that do not support LiveView / live preview:
Note: The camera must be set to USB mode "PC Remote" on the camera body, otherwise it only shows up as a mass storage device and cannot be controlled.
All listed models can be controlled over a USB connection – autofocus, shutter release and exposure settings, and a live image on all but the models below.
Sony models without a live image over USB – a limit of these cameras, not of the software. Shutter release and image transfer work from version 3.37.0, but guests see no preview:
In the 64-bit version you can additionally enable the official Sony Camera Remote SDK: a smoother live image and more reliable exposure values straight from Sony. This extension is optional and is offered by Sony for 64-bit only.
Important: Native Sony camera support is new. So far it has been verified on real hardware with an α6000 (shutter release and image transfer). Feedback on whether another camera works or not is particularly helpful.
The camera models mentioned above should be supported according to the current status. However, not all of them could be checked due to a lack of hardware. Feedback after your own tests is therefore welcome - especially if a camera does not work.
For questions about the setup, licensing models or individual branding requests, an email is enough:
Do you rent out photo booths or are you planning series installations? An individual offer including white labeling is available at any time.
Detailed setup guides, admin references and troubleshooting steps are included in the download package and are sent on request.
Check whether the camera is generally recognized by the PC (e.g. via the device manager).
Depending on the model, the camera may need to be controlled differently. Try in the camera settings with additional autofocus enabled before shooting; This option was added specifically for older cameras (e.g. Nikon D3500).
Check the camera settings to see if you have additional autofocus set before shooting, and if enabled, disable this option. This command is not necessary for newer camera models.
Older graphics cards or even newer onboard graphics cards can have problems with hardware acceleration. Disable hardware acceleration in the display settings.
This can have various causes. Often it is due to USB/chipset drivers, blocked USB ports by other programs, USB cables, USB hubs or because multiple devices are connected to one controller.
Use a USB cable recommended by the camera manufacturer, try removing other USB devices from the PC and see if this resolves the error.
First check in the camera settings whether JPEG or JPEG+RAW/NEF is set. If only RAW/NEF is set, this is the cause as a JPEG image is always necessary.
If RAW/NEF should also be transferred, this must also be activated in the software settings in the camera settings.
Check whether the PC date and time are correct and ideally synchronized with a time server.
Even small time differences can cause problems with HTTPS, signature or token checks, even if the internet connection itself is available.
Yes. The actual photo booth session can run offline. Online functions such as email sending, cloud upload or QR sharing require a connection depending on the settings.
When the outbox is enabled, emails and uploads can be collected and sent later.
In addition to the RAWCaptureBooth self-hosted server and folder export, Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud, pCloud and your own web space over FTP can be configured. With Nextcloud or your own web space the images stay on a server you choose yourself.
Yes. In addition to a general web album QR code, RAWCaptureBooth can create single-image QR codes so guests can open and download only their own image.
RAWCaptureBooth includes several options for this, including self-hosting, privacy-by-default mode, info screens, targeted image sharing and functions for exporting or deleting session data.
No. RAWCaptureBooth can also be used without the self-hosted server. The self-hosted server is mainly useful when event management, web album, single-image QR and data sovereignty should run on your own infrastructure.
It exists as your own area rather than as a subscription service: gallery, web album, single-image QR, event management and host access run on rented web space with PHP and MySQL. A setup assistant handles upload, database and configuration - installed in about five minutes, with no server knowledge. Here is how it works.
Yes. Guests have their photo redrawn in a style of their choice - more than 220 styles in thirteen groups, either as a separate capture mode or as a step inside the photo flow. You can create your own styles and move them into other events. Several AI models are available: fast with slightly less detail and likeness in around 10 to 12 seconds, or more detail and a closer likeness in around 25 seconds, both at around 4 euro cents per image (as of October 2026). The image model provider is your own account, the software shows the cost per portrait, and counters and limits can be set per event.
Photo Booth Software
RAWCaptureBooth covers the most important requirements of modern event photo booths: stable camera workflows, flexible output, professional post-processing with RAW and a clear focus on everyday rental life.
Functional overview for rental, event use and in-house operation including camera, printing and workflow topics.
ViewFocus on RAW format, JPEG+RAW workflows and post-processing for professional event photos.
ViewFor teams looking for an alternative to Sparkbooth, Darkroom, DSLRBooth, DSLR Booth, and similar programs.
ViewFocus on one-time licensing instead of monthly costs for predictable event and rental operations.
ViewCanon, Nikon, Sony and webcam: which models work, how they are connected and what matters for live view and RAW.
ViewMonitor and control photo booths remotely - and give rental customers a guided start with the Cockpit.
ViewSwitch softboxes, continuous light and trigger lights automatically instead of leaving them on all night.
ViewGallery, web album and event management on your own web space - set up in about five minutes, without a cloud subscription.
ViewGreen screen or AI cut-out: replace backgrounds without building a large set for every event.
ViewWhen a tablet app is enough and when Windows software with a system camera and instant printing pays off.
ViewSwitching with template import in dslrBooth format, a one-time license instead of a subscription and flexible cloud routes.
ViewWindows setup with a system camera, instant printing and extensions for rental operation.
View