The Photo Booth Guy · booth setup

Loading a print overlay into Darkroom Booth

Ten steps. About 15 minutes plus one test print.

The step that matters most: in Step 5 set Transparency to Use image alpha channel (32-bit targa or png). Miss it and the print has white blocks where the faces go.

Before you start

The Sheccid 18th print file over white and over dark
Sheccid 18th 2x6, 600 x 1800 px. Left: over white, the way Explorer shows it. Right: over dark grey, the open photo windows are obvious. Windows at x 44, y 120 / 501 / 882, each 512 x 341.

You need the .png print file (not the _PREVIEW.jpg) and the window numbers from the job's README.

Open the PNG over a dark desktop. The photo areas must show the dark through them (right side of the picture). If they stay white, the file is wrong. Stop.

Step 1: Duplicate an event

  1. In the Events list on the left, right-click a similar event and choose Duplicate.
  2. Name it client + date: Rey 0905.
  3. Select the new event.

Step 2: Settings > Main

Settings > Main, numbered
Settings > Main, numbered. 1 photos per session · 2 camera orientation · 3 copies · 4 Print Photo output · 20 Choose... opens the template picker. Template radio: None / Auto / Custom.
  1. Photos per session (1): 3.
  2. Camera turned (2): Horizontal.
  3. Tick Print Photo (4). Size button reads 2x6. Copies (3): 2.
  4. Template: Custom, then Choose... (20).

Step 3: Open a template with the same layout

Template picker
Template picker. New / Add / Edit / Delete along the top; choose / cancel at the bottom.
  1. Click a template with the same size and photo count (2x6 with 3 squares, or 4x6 with 3 squares).
  2. Click Edit. Do not click New.

Step 4: Delete the old design, keep the squares

Template Items
Template Items panel (right). Items lower in the list draw on top.
  1. In Template Items (right side), delete every Graphic and Text item.
  2. Leave the Photo items. Those are the squares.

Step 5: Add the PNG

Graphic Object
Graphic Object dialog, opened by the highlighted Add Artwork button in the bottom toolbar. Transparency: pick the fourth option, "Use image alpha channel (32-bit targa or png)".
  1. Click Add Artwork (highlighted).
  2. Browse... to the .png. Open.
  3. Under Transparency pick Use image alpha channel (32-bit targa or png). Skip this and the print has white blocks where the faces go.
  4. OK. Do not resize it.

Step 6: Fit the squares to the holes

Photo Object > Position and Size
Photo Object > Position and Size. X Position (left), Y Position (top), Width, Height, Units: Pixels.

Drag each square into its hole and pull the corner handles until it covers the hole exactly. Scroll wheel zooms. Arrow keys nudge (Shift = 1 px, Ctrl = 10 px).

For exact numbers: double-click the square, Position and Size tab, type X, Y, Width, Height from the README. Units: Pixels.

The squares already know their order: 1 is the first photo taken, 2 the second. Leave that.

Step 7: Put the PNG on top

Overlay above photos
Overlay PNG dragged above the photos so the photos show through the holes.

In Template Items, drag the PNG below the photos. Lower in the list = drawn on top. If a photo covers the design, it is in the wrong order.

Step 8: Save As

Save As
The editor with the finished strip. Click Save As (highlighted, top left), not Save, so the template you started from is left untouched.
  1. Click Save As (highlighted). Not Save. Save As leaves the template you started from alone.
  2. Name it event + size: rey 0905 2x6.
  3. In the picker, select it and click choose.

Step 9: Match the Screen

Pick a Screen made for the same number of photos (3). Wrong count = an extra photo that never prints, or an empty square.

Step 10: Test print

Print one on the event media. Check:

Keep the test print in the event bag.

If something looks wrong

You seeFix
White boxes where photos goStep 5, Transparency
Photo covers the designStep 7
Faces croppedStep 6, match the README numbers
Design shifted or has a borderStep 5, do not resize the PNG
Text cut offtemplate size must match the PNG (2x6 = 600 x 1800)
Booth takes the wrong number of photosStep 9
Old design shows throughStep 4, a Graphic item was missed
Template you started from got changedyou clicked Save, not Save As

Notes

Button and field names come from Darkroom Software's Help Center tutorial videos; the screenshots are frames from them, except Settings > Main, which is the current Booth 3 UI. Templates save as .xbdr and can be built on any Windows PC running Darkroom Booth, licensed or not, then copied to the booth laptop.