Sparkbooth Photo Booth Software News

Select Photo Layout Screen

Guest Prompt Screen

Print Prompt Screen

Today Sparkbooth 3 moves from preview to released status. If you have never tried Sparkbooth 3, here are the changes and new features available:

• Updated to Adobe AIR 2.7 runtime. Please install the latest Adobe AIR runtime 2.7 or later.
• Submit emails to MailChimp mailing lists. To turn on this option, go to Settings, select Option tab, select Saving from list and check the "Submit email to MailChimp mailing list" option. You will need to also select the Prompt for email option.
• SendGrid uploader to email photos to guests. Select this option in Uploaders settings.
• Postmarkapp.com uploader to email photos to guests. Select this option in Uploaders settings.
• Touch screen controls. To enable, go to Settings > Options tab > User Controls. Great when used with touch screen computers such as the HP TouchSmart
• On-screen keyboard used for user prompts.
• On-screen photo layout selection and layout preview, so your users can now select the layout to use. Only layouts marked as "Favorite" will be displayed.
• On-screen color button so guests can change video filters.
• On-screen start button as an alternative to the "Click to start" option.
• Guest photo layout selection with touch screen or keyboard (ctrl-J or cmd-J). Limit available photo layouts by tagging as "favorite" (heart button) under Photo Layouts tab.
• Change the portrait photo used in the layout selection preview
• On-screen control for guest to select number of print copies. Also works with keyboard (ctrl-P or cmd-P, or minus/plus keys).
• On-screen cancel button
• Switch off click/touch to start, if start button is displayed
• Limit available guest selectable video colors by color button or keyboard (ctrl-K or cmd-K) and option to reset to default color.
• Hide distracting photos and video during user name/email prompts
• Improved user prompts - bigger and cleaner
• Option to always hide mouse cursor. Useful for touch screen users.
• Enable Facebook fan page albums selection.
• Upload photos to your guest's Facebook account or Twitter stream.
• Other minor fixes and improvements

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If you are running Sparkbooth on a low memory or low powered computer, it is recommended you stay with Sparkbooth 2. Sparkbooth 2 is still available for download on the archive page.

If you are a Sparkbooth 2 user and want to upgrade to Sparkbooth 3, you will need to go to the download page to install it. It is a separate install from Sparkbooth 2, so you can have both installed at the same time. Your existing license key will activate Sparkbooth 3.

If you are a Sparkbooth Party Edition user, you will need to purchase an upgrade to activate Sparkbooth 3. Please contact me for details, and provide the email address of your Sparkbooth PE license key.

Valentine's Day is a day that is filled with love, happiness, and lots of fun! This the day when people get to express their fondness for their special Valentine in any way they wish, and to anyone they love. This can include a boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, a friend, or family - as long as it is someone they adore and they want to show them how truly special they are as well as how lucky they are to have them in their lives.

Valentine's Day Décor

When you want to throw the best Valentine's Day party ever, you need to incorporate lots of fun by incorporating lots of exciting Valentine's Day-related items throughout the party venue.

Décor Examples:

• Place a few eye-grabbing banners on the walls. They're simple, yet easily express words of sentiment, such as 'Love is Sweet'.
• Order a few red and/or pink chalkboards and write lots of sweet messages on them, such as "Be My Valentine", and "I Love You". Some are even available in pre-made heart shapes! Be sure to get lots so you can spread them all around the party area.

Valentine Party Photo Booth Ideas

There are lots of benefits to setting up a Valentine-themed photo booth. First of all, a photo booth allows everyone to express themselves using a variety of props so they can take photos of themselves that they will surely treasure forever. Secondly, it's fun! Everyone likes taking photos with their friends and loved ones. And when it's Valentine's Day, there are lots of choices when it comes to using photo props so you can make the most original photos ever.

Photo Booth Prop Ideas

• Use a variety of colorful photo booth props (heart glasses, kissing lips, cupid, etc.) that are perfect for Valentine's Day.
• Who can resist using the infamous bow and arrow that cupid uses to spread the love? Once you shoot someone, they have to love you back!
• Buy a few Valentine's Day-themed posters, which can make a great backdrop for your photo. There are lots of choices, from simple and elegant to colorful and bold.
• Garland made of pink and red hearts makes a simple yet elegant background.
• Large candy hearts make a great prop idea and are highly associated with Valentine's Day.
• A personalized kissing booth spreads the love and is sure to be the hit of the party!

The Other Side of Romance

Occasionally, there are people who tend to host a Valentine's Day party with a goal of celebrating the opposite of what Valentine's Day is known for - love and romance. In these cases, a focus is placed on how much 'Love Sucks, or Bites', and accordingly props and 'Love Stinks' banners that relate to the downsides of romance are used. It's all in fun though, with darker colors being utilized to emote the overall feeling of either having no romantic partner or recently breaking up with one.

Most of All - Have Fun!

Be sure that having fun is at the top of your list! There are tons of Valentine Party photo booth ideas that you can use to make your Valentine's Day party one that is super fun for everyone. By using Sparkbooth, taking fun photos that your guests will treasure forever simply couldn't be any easier.

This update fixes:

• Saving of video color reset setting
• Twitter Guest uploader ready state
• On Macs, button bar sometimes would not appear on start up

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New uploader to tweet photo booth photo to your guest's Twitter stream. Select "Twitter Guest" from Upload tab in Settings. This will prompt your guest to authorize uploading the photo to their Twitter account after the photo is taken. Other changes in Sparkbooth 3.0.12 include:

• Fixed low space warning when save folders do not exist
• Backup single photo to sparkbooth-photo folder if current save folder is unavailable

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In time for your New Years Eve party, a maintenance update for Sparkbooth. Changes include:

• Add help links to some settings
• Backup single photo to sparkbooth-photo folder if current save folder is unavailable

Mostly a maintenance update. Changes include:

• Fix layout display of wide photo layouts in print and upload preview.
• Warn of low disk space if save folder drops below 10 MB of free space.
• Add help links to some settings
• Update sequence to save, print, prompt, upload, and then preview. As a result of this simplification, the "Show Preview At" setting has been removed.
• Backup single photo to sparkbooth-photo folder if current save folder is unavailable

The thought of hosting as well as attending a holiday party is both fun and exciting! The holiday spirit is in the air as some of the top holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve - are quickly approaching. This means that everyone is eager to either throw or attend one of the many holiday parties that will occur during this especially festive season.

One exceptionally unique way to commemorate a holiday party is to include a photo booth! This way you are able to take a lot of fun photos throughout the party, as well as allow all guests to take home a photo souvenir that will remind them of all the fun they had, and are sure to have again come next holiday season.

Sparkbooth - The Best Photo Booth Choice!

Although renting a photo booth is one idea, a more affordable and easier to manage idea is to use Sparkbooth! Sparkbooth is a great idea for taking photos since there are a variety of ways to use the Sparkbooth software. You'll receive more options when it comes to creating these fun photos, as well being able to use it again and again throughout the years for both future home and office parties. All you need is a computer, a webcam, and a printer and you're ready to go!

Home Holiday Parties. Most families are likely to host a holiday party so that all family members are able to come together and enjoy each other's company at this special time of year. A great way to add to the holiday celebration is to include a way for everyone to take a photo of themselves with their family. These photos are special and can be quite the keepsake, reminding everyone of just how much fun they had attending the home holiday party.

Create a Holiday Card that you can send out to friends and family by choosing one of the many holiday themes from the Sparkbooth layout library. Or make your own and add a personalized message!

Office Holiday Parties. Most companies tend to hold an office holiday party during this joyful time of year. Guests are sure to enjoy all the delicious holiday foods that will be served, as well as the a variety of music that will be playing throughout the celebration. But if you really want to take the office party to another whole level, give guests the ability to take holiday photos of themselves along with their co-workers! These holiday photos should not only be placed around the office for all to see and enjoy, everyone should be able to take at least one photo home with them as a souvenir of their office holiday party fun!

Props - A Few Ideas

Using props when you are taking a photo can be both entertaining and amusing!

Thanksgiving

Incorporate a few Thanksgiving props while taking the photos for a real Thanksgiving Holiday feel. Be formal or be silly, it's up to you!

Christmas

Buy (or if you're really crafty!) make a few Christmas Props that will make taking the photo booth pictures unique and fun.

New Years Eve

Use number cutouts and hold them up one at a time while taking a 4-photo strip so that the finished 4-strip photo shows the date of the New Year.

Photo Booth Backgrounds - A Few Ideas

Thanksgiving

Consider a Fall (seasonal) background, a turkey background, or a Thanksgiving Feast background.

Christmas

Lots of choices for using a Christmas theme as the holiday background! Consider a Christmas Tree, colorful presents, or snow falling, just to name a few of the more popular choices.

New Years Eve

The New York Eve's famous ball drop is a popular background, as well as silver/gold stars/fireworks/ribbons, and party favors.

Good To Know

There are many features and benefits to be had when you choose to use Sparkbooth at your next holiday party, so be sure to follow the Sparkbooth setup tips in order to make sure that all photos come out perfect every time. Also, you can upload photos to Twitter in order to immediately share the fun and laughter with all those that are close to you. Have Fun!!

Sparkbooth 3.0.10 preview update is now available. This update includes the new Facebook Guest uploader which will upload photos into your guest's Facebook account. Guests will be prompted for permission to upload into their Facebook account for each photo session.

Other changes include centering of on-screen messages when video screen is not displayed.

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Changes include:

• Guest print copies selection control now works with keyboard (ctrl-P or cmd-P, or plus/minus keys)
• Streamlined guest print copies control setting. To turn on, Go to Options tab > Printing from list > check "Enable printing", "Prompt guest to print", and "with copies selection"
• Fixed show/hide issue with touch controls. Controls were not hiding or showing in certain situations.
• Cleaned up setting labels
• Cleaned up start up code

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Just in time for your Halloween party! This update adds the ability for guests to select the number of print copies. To turn this new option:

1. Open Sparkbooth Settings by pressing F1 or the settings button in the upper right.
2. Select the Options tab, and selecting Printing from the list
3. Enable Printing. Also enable the print prompt by checking the option to "Prompt user to print" and "With preview"
4. Select User Controls from the list to show the print copies control.
5. Select "Enable Print Copies Selection"

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