Event Mode
Pixture Photobooth runs a computer in one of two setups. A Kiosk is one self-service photobooth: the computer is paired to a booth from the Booths page and runs that booth every day. An Event computer runs the events you make on the dashboard's Events page: between events it waits on its own list of your events, and you launch the one you are working today.
Event mode needs Pixture Photobooth 1.2.9 or later. This page describes 1.2.15 and later; update older computers first. See Software Updates.
| Kiosk | Event computer | |
|---|---|---|
| Set up from | A booth's pairing code on the Booths page, or email sign-in and a booth from the list | An event's Pair a computer code, or email sign-in and Event mode |
| Runs | Its one booth | Whichever event you launch, one at a time |
| Without a license | Watermarked, or blocked on a Pix Pro account | Does not start sessions. There is no watermarked mode |
| Prices | The booth's Pricing tab | The event's Pay Per Session setting |
An Event Pass is a license, not a setup: 24 hours of Pix Pro on one computer. It works on a Kiosk and on an Event computer alike. Buying one does not put a computer in Event mode.
Putting a Computer in Event Mode
With an Event's Pairing Code
- On the dashboard, open the event and click + Pair a computer on the Setup tab.
- On the computer, enter the 6-digit code on the login screen's Pairing Code tab and click Pair Device. On a computer that is already running, open the operator menu and use Pair with a code instead, so its Pix Pro moves with it.
The computer goes into Event mode and opens its event list with that event selected. Pairing does not start the event; you still launch it.
With Email Sign-in
- On the login screen, open the Email & Password tab and sign in.
- Select a Booth lists your free kiosk booths. Above them is the Event mode row: "Shows this account's events. Pick one to launch." Tap it.
The footer reads "Switching to event mode..." and the event list opens. An account with no free kiosk booth, such as one that only runs events, still gets this page when the row is offered: the Event mode row alone, with Back to sign-in.
Whether the row is offered:
| Situation | What the picker shows |
|---|---|
| You have the Manage events permission and this computer is not a kiosk | The Event mode row |
| This computer is the kiosk on an active booth, in your account or any other | The row greyed out, under a red banner: "This computer is the kiosk at [booth]. To use it for events, open the menu → Pair with a code, with a code from the Events page." |
| You do not have the Manage events permission | No row, only booths. With no booths either, sign-in stops at "No booths found for this account" |
If the switch is refused, the banner reads "This computer is on a kiosk booth. Unlink it first.", "This computer doesn't match its record. Pair it with a code instead." or "Couldn't switch this computer to Event mode. Please try again."
Going Back to Kiosk
Pair the computer with a booth's code from the Booths page (Pair with a code in the operator menu), or Logout and pair or sign in to a booth. Pix Pro stays on the computer when you pair with a code. An Event Pass running on it is set aside for your next Event computer (see Logout); it never licenses a kiosk.
The Event List
An Event computer stays signed in between events. When it is not running one, it opens on Events, in a normal window.
- The list groups your events under Ongoing, Upcoming and Ended, each with a count. An event is ongoing from its first date until 06:00 the morning after its last date, in your organisation's time zone; an event with no date is always ongoing. Each row shows a small preview of the event's start screen, the date and the town, plus Last run here for the event this computer launched last and Not set up for an event with no templates. Ended events read Ended · still launchable: they stay on the list, and can be launched, until you archive them. "Events are created and edited on the dashboard. Archived events don't show here."
- The card on the right shows the selected event: its date, time and venue, a Start screen preview, the Booth modes, and the Capture, Print and Sharing outputs. An event with no templates says "No templates yet. Add them on the dashboard."
- The header shows the Internet and API status, a license pill (No pass running, or the same badge as the operator menu, such as Event Pass until HH:mm or Pix Pro), Manage event, which opens that event's page on the dashboard in your browser, and Launch event.
The list refreshes each time you come back to the window, so an event you just made on the dashboard appears. An empty account shows "No events yet".
Launch an Event
- Pick the event on the list.
- Click Launch event. If your account has a Menu Access PIN (dashboard Settings), type it first.
The computer joins its own station for that event; Launch itself uses no license. Then:
- With an Event Pass or Pix Pro already running on this computer, the booth goes straight to the event's start screen, full screen.
- Otherwise the operator menu opens, so you can choose how to license it with Start Booth.
Launch event is greyed out with "Add templates on the dashboard first" for an event that has a photo mode and no templates. If the event was archived in the meantime, the list says "This event is no longer available." and reloads. A computer that has never loaded your account settings says "Connect to the internet to launch this event."
Several computers can run the same event: each one pairs or launches on its own and gets its own station.
The Operator Menu on an Event Computer
On the start screen, open the menu with the lock button in the screen's corner: double-tap it, or, when your account has a Menu PIN, tap it and type the PIN. The hidden corner of the Operator Menu works too.
The menu card shows the event name and the computer's station, and a Licence line under "Ready to start" or "Before you start":
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "Pix Pro is on this computer." | Licensed by Pix Pro |
| "Event Pass runs until Sun 18 Oct, 14:32." | An Event Pass is running here |
| "That uses a free Pix Pro." | Start Booth will put a Pix Pro from your account on this computer |
| "That starts 1 Event Pass (2 left)." | Start Booth will start one of your unused Event Passes |
| "No Event Pass or Pix Pro left. Buy one before Start Booth." | Nothing to use |
The top bar has Back to events and Start Booth. The settings column has the usual Camera, Printer, Capture and Hardware API settings, the Admin Panel, Extend Event Pass 24h (N left), Pair with a code and Exit. Use an Event Pass on this computer is a kiosk button and does not appear here.
Start Booth
Start Booth takes the booth to the event's start screen, full screen. It checks the license in this order:
- An Event Pass or Pix Pro already running here: straight to the start screen.
- No internet: "Connect to the internet to start the booth". Nothing is used.
- A Pix Pro in your account that is on no computer: it goes on this computer, no question asked, and the booth starts.
- An unused Event Pass: the Use 1 Event Pass card shows Active until with the end time and how many passes are left. Its Start Booth starts the pass; Not yet closes the card. If a pass was set aside when another Event computer logged out, that one continues first, with its own end time.
- Nothing: No Event Pass or Pix Pro, "Scan to buy one on your phone", with a QR code to
pixture.io/licenses, Check again and Not yet. While the card is open the booth checks every few seconds and moves on by itself once your purchase lands.
A computer started this way comes back to the start screen after a restart or power cut, never to the menu.
Back to Events
Back to events takes the computer off its station and back to the event list. The event keeps running for any other computer on it, and the license stays on this computer for the next event you launch. Without a connection it stays put: "Couldn't leave the event. Check the connection and try again."
Exit and Logout
Exit opens a card with Exit App and Logout. Neither ends the event, and the booth never asks whether the event is over.
- Exit App closes the app. The computer stays signed in and reopens where it was: the start screen, the menu (behind the PIN) or the event list.
- Logout (double-tap, then the PIN if one is set) signs the computer out of Event mode and returns it to the login screen. Pix Pro goes back to your account. A running Event Pass leaves the computer but keeps its end time, and the next Event computer that uses Start Booth continues it.
The License on an Event Computer
An Event computer runs on an Event Pass or Pix Pro and never watermarked. The badges, the warnings before a pass ends and the Computers page are the same as on any computer; see Pix Pro on the Booth.
- When a pass runs out mid-event, the next guest who taps start keeps the booth going: the booth puts a free Pix Pro on the computer, or else starts one of your unused Event Passes, with no question asked. When it next sits idle, a notice tells the operator, for example New Event Pass started with "Runs until … · 1 left". It does this only at a guest's tap, after checking that templates and the camera are ready, never on the idle screen.
- When there is nothing to use, or the booth is offline, the guest's tap opens the license screen instead ("Use an Event Pass for today?", Use Pix Pro, or "No Event Passes left" with Buy Event Passes and Recheck). Its buttons sit behind the menu PIN. See On an Event.
- Extend Event Pass 24h (N left) in the menu shows while an Event Pass runs on this computer and you have an unused one. It spends that pass to add 24 hours, then reads "Extended until …". Extend 24h on the event page does the same from the dashboard.
When an Event Is Archived or the Computer Is Removed
An Event computer is never stopped by the event's dates: an ended event keeps running on a computer that launched it until you archive it. The server's answer always waits for the booth to be idle on the start screen; a guest mid-session finishes first.
| On the dashboard | What the Event computer does |
|---|---|
| Archive event, Unlink on the computer's row on the event page, or the event deleted | Stops taking new guests, then goes back to the event list, still signed in. Start Booth in the menu reads "This event was closed on the dashboard." |
| Remove on the computer's menu on the Computers page | Signs out to the login screen |
Payment
On an Event computer guests pay as the event says. With Pay Per Session on, the booth asks for the event's session price (or the mode's own price, when the event sets one per mode), with its packages and payment gateway, in a payment popup on the start screen. With it off, every session is free. A booth's Pricing tab and the Payment Screen page of a UI project do not apply. See Events for the event's payment settings.