Installation 🔧¶

The application is available as a PyPI package. Follow this guide to install.

Still need a box? Check out the 3d printed photobooth box!

Let's go...

Prerequisites¶

• Python 3.10 or later.
• System: Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 recommended. Also, more performant hardware is fine using a generic Debian/Windows. Raspberry Pi 3 could work but might be slow.
• Screen: A touchscreen is highly recommended. Recommended minimum resolution is 1024x600.
• Camera. You can use one or two cameras. Using two cameras allows to dedicate one camera to stills and one to livepreview/videos. Supported cameras:
  • DSLR via gphoto2 on Linux or digicamcontrol on Windows
  • Raspberry Pi camera modules via picamera2.
  • USB-webcameras via linuxpy or opencv2.

System Preparation¶

RaspberryPi OS¶

On a fresh Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm 64bit, run following commands:

Update System (RPi)¶

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Install system dependencies (RPi)¶

The following dependencies need to be installed for Raspberry Pi OS 64bit. Customize for debian/ubuntu. Picamera2 is only available for Raspberry Pi.

sudo apt -y install ffmpeg libturbojpeg0 libgl1 libgphoto2-dev fonts-noto-color-emoji

Debian/Ubuntu¶

There is no dedicated installation guide yet. It should work similar to a Raspberry Pi installation, so please try this one. Feel free to submit a pull request to improve the instructions.

Windows¶

Windows is well supported, the software is developed on a Windows system. Digicamcontrol is integrated to support DSLR cameras on Windows platform.

Tweak system settings (Win)¶

• Ensure the system has standby disabled and the monitor is not turned off.
• Consider using autologin to windows desktop.

Install system dependencies (Win)¶

To use the photobooth first install following system dependencies:

• Latest stable Python Please use the link, the Microsoft Store version is not recommended.
• Latest ffmpeg-release: Choose the windows releases from gyan.dev. Look for the release builds, for example ffmpeg-release-full.7z. Download the folder, unpack it to C: and add the path to the executable ffmpeg.exe to system path's. Check that in a CLI you can start ffmpeg. If it starts, photobooth can use it also. If you don't need the video feature, you don't need to install ffmpeg.

Install photobooth app¶

There are several ways to install:

1. Method A: Install using pipx (easiest, recommended for Bookworm)
2. Method B: Install using venv
3. Method C: Install globally (recommended for Windows)

It's now preferred to install pypi packages in virtual environments. The latest Linux operating systems are starting to implement externally managed base environments. The easiest way to install it is to use pipx.

Method A: Install using pipx¶

Use the following commands to install pipx in a virtual environment: Install pipx from repo - if not available, check the pipx website

sudo apt -y install pipx

Use the following command to ensure that the path is registered and the application is available globally. You may also need to restart the console or logout/login to re-read the environment paths variable.

pipx ensurepath

Run the photobooth installation. Allow the import of system-site packages, as picamera2 is installed globally via apt in system-site.

pipx install --system-site-packages photobooth-app --pip-args='--prefer-binary'

Method B: Install using venv¶

To install in a virtual environment, use the following commands:

Create an empty directory and change to the new directory:

mkdir ~/photobooth-app && cd ~/photobooth-app

Initialize a new venv named myenv. Allow the import of system-site-packages, since picamera2 is installed globally via apt in system-site:

python -m venv --system-site-packages myenv

Activate the newly created environment:

source myenv/bin/activate

Install the photobooth-app

python -m pip install --prefer-binary photobooth-app

Note: --prefer-binary is added to avoid compiling opencv and instead prefer the wheel, which installs in minutes instead of hours.

Method C: Install globally¶

This was the default method in the past. Install the photobooth application:

pip install --prefer-binary photobooth-app

First start¶

Create data folder¶

The photobooth application automatically uses the current folder as the data folder. All images, logs, and configuration files are stored in this folder.

mkdir ~/photobooth-data

Start the app

cd ~/photobooth-data

Do the following only if you installed using the venv method

source ~/photobooth-app/myenv/bin/activate

Launch the application. The current directory will be used as the working directory. If you start the application again later, make sure you start it from the same directory.

photobooth

Browse to http://localhost:8000 and see if the application works properly. By default, the application uses a generated image and streams a demonstration video. No camera is started at this time. You will need to continue setting up the cameras.

Setup the Raspberry Pi in Kiosk Mode¶

To set up the kiosk mode, you will need to install the Photobooth application as a service and set up the browser to start automatically at boot time. The following advice is intended as a general guide, but since the OS changes from time to time, the guide may be outdated.

Service Setup¶

Automatic Service Setup¶

Once the Photobooth application has been launched, the service can be installed automatically on Linux systems. Select Admin Center -> Dashboard -> Server Control -> Install Service. After confirmation the service will be installed as described below for manual setup. If the setup fails, please install the service manually.

Manual Service Setup¶

Now that you have made sure that the photobooth application is working properly, it's time to set up the application as a service. If you installed the application according to the instructions above, the template .service file will work for you.

Create the following file in the specified location:

[Unit]
Description=photobooth-app
After=default.target

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=always
#you might want to adjust following lines
WorkingDirectory=%h/photobooth-data/
ExecStart=python -O -m photobooth

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Now enable the service and start it:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable photobooth-app.service
systemctl --user start photobooth-app.service

systemctl --user status photobooth-app.service

journalctl --user --unit photobooth-app.service

Desktop shortcut and autostart¶

Desktop Icon (Bookworm)¶

Create the following file in the specified location:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.3
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Name=Photobooth-App
Exec=chromium-browser --kiosk --disable-features=Translate --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --no-first-run --ozone-platform=wayland --enable-features=OverlayScrollbar --start-maximized http://localhost:8000/
StartupNotify=false

Autostart on system startup (Bookworm)¶

To autostart the app, chromium needs to start automatically after boot. The latest Raspberry Pi OS has several window manager - the most recent is labwc. Prior wayland was used, both are described below.

Labwc¶

Create the file below as indicated. The folder labwc and the file autostart may not exist yet, so you need to create these.

chromium-browser --kiosk --disable-features=Translate --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --no-first-run --ozone-platform=wayland --enable-features=OverlayScrollbar --start-maximized http://localhost:8000/

Wayland¶

Modify the file below as indicated. If there is already a section [autostart], just add the line chromium = ... otherwise add the whole section.

[autostart]
chromium = chromium-browser --kiosk --disable-features=Translate --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --no-first-run --ozone-platform=wayland --enable-features=OverlayScrollbar --start-maximized http://localhost:8000/