How to Use Glitzycam
Your friendly guide to snapping, printing, and sharing photo booth memories — no experience needed. Just walk up, touch the button, and smile!
1 Welcome!
Glitzycam is a do-it-yourself photo booth. It takes a short series of photos, arranges them into a beautiful 4x6" print design, saves them, and can even print them automatically.
Walk up → touch the big glowing button → follow the countdown and pose → watch your finished photo appear → collect your print. That's it!
- iPad, holder and tripod
Any iPad, iPhone, or Android phone or tablet works.
- Diffused LED light
Soft, even light from the front flatters everyone.
- Bluetooth shutter
A selfie remote that starts a session from across the room.
- One or more photo printers
Add as many as you like; each photo goes to the least busy one.
- Micro router for AirPrint (optional)
A small router that gives your iPad and AirPrint printers a network of their own.
- Photo paper and ink
Buy the kit made for your exact printer model, and keep a spare.
2 Taking Your Photos
A photo session takes under a minute. Here's exactly what happens, step by step.
- Step into the booth. You'll see yourself live on the screen, with a big pulsing Touch to begin button. If the booth has fun face accessories switched on, a surprise prop is already on your face (see section 3). If the booth has two cameras, the flip button in the top-right corner switches between them.
- Touch the glowing button to start — or press the button on the booth's remote. A Bluetooth selfie remote works too: by default, Enter, Spacebar and Volume Up start a session. The operator can change what those buttons do in Settings → Controls (see section 9).
- Watch the giant countdown — 6… 5… 4… Get ready and pose! A white outline on screen shows the shape and size of the window your photo will fill — it changes from shot to shot. Stay inside it.
- FLASH! The screen flashes white and you'll hear a camera shutter sound. Photo taken!
- See your shot for a couple of seconds, then the countdown starts again for the next photo. A little film strip at the bottom shows the shots you've taken so far, with progress dots and a "Shot 2 of 4 — get ready!" banner.
- Repeat until all photos are taken — the last one is announced with "Last shot — almost done!".
3 Fun Face Accessories
The booth spots every face and gives each guest a surprise prop — sunglasses, a crown, cat ears, a mustache, a unicorn horn and more. It works on iPhone, iPad and Android booths.
- Props appear by themselves. As soon as the camera spots a face, a prop pops onto it — even before anyone touches the start button. There is nothing to tap or choose.
- Everyone gets their own. Each guest is dealt a prop at random, and a group gets different ones. The booth can dress up to six faces at once.
- Props follow you. They glide with your face, tilt with your head, grow and shrink as you move closer or step back, and fade away if you turn your head.
- They're in the photo. The prop you're wearing at the flash is painted into that shot, so it appears in the film strip, the finished photo, the gallery, every print and everything you share.
Operators: choose the props
Open the operator menu → Settings → Face Fun. The tab appears on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Linux; a Mac booth doesn't show it and never draws props.
- Face fun overlay is the master switch. It's on by default; switch it off and no props appear, on screen or in the photos.
- With it on, every prop gets a tile, drawn on a little head and grouped into Hats & headwear, Glasses & masks, Nose & mouth, Neckwear and Ears & creatures. Tap a tile to switch that prop off or on. Turn all off / Turn all on beside a group does the whole group at once.
- Changes apply straight away. A prop you switch off comes off any guest wearing it right now, and they're dealt another from what's left. With every prop off, nothing appears.
- Props added by later app updates start out switched on, so look over the tiles after you update.
4 After Your Session
When the last photo is taken, Glitzycam works its magic — cropping each shot into the design, adding borders, frames, and text — and shows you the finished photo.
- Your finished photo appears full-screen, with a "Tap anywhere to continue" counter showing the seconds left (6 by default).
- Want to move on sooner? Tap anywhere or press Enter to return to the start screen.
- If the operator enabled auto-print, your photo is already on its way to the printer — just collect it! If the printer can't take it, a "Printing failed — check the printer" notice appears so someone can sort it out.
- Every photo is saved automatically, so you can reprint it later from the gallery. It's added to the device photo library too, in a "Glitzycam" album.
5 The Gallery & Reprints
Every photo taken today is kept in the gallery. Browse, zoom in, and print extra copies for friends and family.
- Open the gallery — tap the gallery button in the bottom-right corner of the booth screen, or ask the operator (see section 8).
- Browse using the thumbnail strip at the bottom. Tap any thumbnail to see it big, then swipe or use the arrows to flip through.
- Pinch to zoom in on the big photo to check everyone's smiles up close.
- Tap Print to make more copies — pick anywhere from 1 to 10 and hit Print. One for each friend! While a print is on its way, the photo's thumbnail shows a small badge naming the printer that took the job (an amber "Print failed" badge means no printer could, so just tap Print again).
- Looking for an earlier day? Tap Past Photos to pick a date from the calendar, then Today to come back.
- Made a face you regret? Tap Delete and confirm — and if you change your mind, tap Undo in the "Photo deleted" message within a few seconds.
- Tap Back to Booth (top-right) to float back to the camera.
7 Choosing a Template
Templates are the photo designs — backgrounds, frames, and the number of photos per session. Glitzycam comes with seven ready-made designs.
Baby Boy · Baby Girl · Christening Boy · Christening Girl · Happy Birthday · Kiddie Birthday · Wedding
The operator picks the design from the operator menu → Template Picker (see section 8). Each card shows a real preview of the design and how many photos it takes.
8 The Hidden Operator Menu
Running the booth? All the behind-the-scenes controls live in one hidden place, safely away from curious guests.
| Menu item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gallery | View, share, reprint, or delete today's photos. |
| Template Picker | Open the visual design picker and change the default template. |
| Settings | Timing, remote controls, templates, printing. |
| Exit Glitzycam | Close the booth (asks for confirmation first). |
9 Settings Tour (for Operators)
Open the operator menu → Settings. On a tablet the tabs run down the left side; on a phone tap the ☰ menu button to open them.
| Tab | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Timing | Set the countdown before the first shot, between shots, and how long the result stays on screen. Each is one tap: 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 seconds (6 is the default). |
| Controls | Choose what each button on a remote or keyboard does — start a session, end one, or nothing. Details below. Need a button remote? See recommended triggers. |
| Templates | Switch between On this device and Glitzycam Web. Browse designs (newest first, built-ins last) with their tags, filter by tag, name or description, Set default, Customize, export or delete from the ⋮ menu, create a New Layout, or Import from a file or from Glitzycam Web. Sign in under Glitzycam Web to load templates made on the website. |
| Face Fun | The Face fun overlay switch, plus a tile for every prop: choose which props guests can get (see section 3). |
| Printing | Auto-print, copies, your printers and the print size. Details below. Choosing a printer? See our recommended printers. |
| About | See the app version and website link. |
Controls: choose what each button does
Under Remote buttons, just press a button on your remote (or a key on a keyboard). The screen shows which button registered and what it does right now, then you pick one of three choices:
- Start session — the booth begins its countdown.
- End session — cancels a session in progress, just like the ✕ on screen. A remote-only booth can now be cancelled without touching it.
- Do nothing — ignore that button.
The Assigned buttons list underneath shows everything that's set up. Change what a button does, or remove it, right there.
- Out of the box: Enter, Spacebar and Volume Up start a session; Esc and Volume Down end one. Bluetooth selfie remotes usually send Volume Up, so they work straight away.
- You can't remove the last button that starts a session — the booth always keeps one way in.
- Buttons work whatever the screen has focused, but not while a dialog or the operator menu is open on top of the booth.
- On iPad and Android the tablet's own volume buttons don't change the volume while Glitzycam is open — they act as the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons.
- Remote not responding? Press it with this tab open — if "Waiting for a button…" never changes, the booth isn't receiving it. Re-pair the remote over Bluetooth.
Printing: printers, copies and print size
- Auto-print and Copies share one row: switch auto-print on and set 1–10 copies per photo. Copies from the gallery's Print button are chosen on the spot.
- Add printer adds a printer to the list. Add as many printers as you like, free on every device. On iPhone and iPad it opens the AirPrint picker; on Android it scans the network for printers (or lets you enter an address). On iPhone and iPad, iOS may ask for Local Network access — say yes, or the booth can't see the printer.
- With no printer added, every print asks which printer to use. With one, photos print straight to it — no dialog for guests, ever. With several, photos take turns in the order you added them. A printer that is stopped, offline or far behind is skipped for that turn, and one that rejects a photo hands it to the next printer.
- Slow printer? With two or more printers, tap the hourglass beside a slow one and it takes every other turn — half as many photos as the others. A row only shows a note when something needs attention, like Stopped.
- Test print (the printer icon on each row) lets you pick one of today's photos — it goes through exactly the same steps as a guest's photo — or a plain alignment card. With no photos yet today, the card prints on its own. If it fails, the message says why: for example the printer didn't answer, or Local Network access is off.
Some printers (the Canon SELPHY, for one) print slightly past the perforation, so the edge of the photo lands on the tear-off tab. Print size shrinks the photo on the paper and centers it, leaving blank paper at each end.
- Drag the slider from 80 to 100%, or tap a preset: 100, 95, 90 or 85%. A little picture of the page shows the result in inches — for example 92% prints at 5.5 × 3.7″ with about 0.24″ of blank paper at each end.
- It applies to every print: auto-print, gallery reprints and test prints. 100% (the default) leaves things exactly as they were. The photo keeps its shape, so a thin blank border also appears along the top and bottom.
- To dial it in: pick Test print → alignment card, and lower the size until the whole frame is visible just inside the perforation.
10 Making Your Own Template
Feeling creative? The built-in editor lets you design custom layouts — your own background, photo positions, borders, and text.
- Go to Settings → Templates and tap New Layout — or tap Customize on any design to start from a copy. (The built-in designs are protected, so customizing one automatically works on a "Copy Of..." clone. The originals are always safe.)
- Use the toolbar buttons Slot and Text to add photo windows (up to 12) and captions (up to 12).
- Drag items to move them — pink guide lines snap them into alignment — drag the corner or edge dots to resize, and drag the top knob to rotate. Pinch to zoom the canvas, and tap Undo if a change goes wrong.
- The right panel keeps a Canvas section pinned at the top with Background... and Overlay... buttons for your own artwork, plus eye toggles to peek at each layer. Backgrounds must be one of the standard 4x6" sizes (1800x1200 is the default canvas) — other sizes get a crop-or-resize dialog.
- Select an item to fine-tune it in the right panel: position, size and rotation sliders, border thickness and color (with a custom color picker), a keep-aspect-ratio switch, and Clone/Delete. Text items add font, size, and content. You can also give the template Tags to keep a big library tidy.
- Tap Save, give it a name, and optionally set it as the default template. Done — it's ready for guests!
11 Tips for Great Photos
- Watch the white outline — it shows the shape of the window your next photo will fill. Keep faces inside it.
- Selfie view — on front cameras the live preview is mirrored like a selfie, so fix your hair now! The saved photo comes out the right way round.
- Plan your poses — you get one photo per slot, with a few seconds in between. Silly, sweet, surprised... variety wins.
- Hold still at the flash — the shutter fires right when the countdown hits zero.
- Group shots? Squeeze in! The frame is wider than you think. Check the countdown number to time your jump.
- Let your prop settle — if the booth hands out face accessories, face the camera for a moment before the flash. A prop fades out when you turn your head, and one that has only just appeared may not make it into the photo.
- Reprints are free of embarrassment — if a shot didn't work out, just take another session and delete the old one from the gallery.
12 Troubleshooting
"No camera detected"
Check that the camera is plugged in (or built-in and enabled), wait a couple of seconds, and tap Retry. Make sure the app has camera permission in the system settings. On a booth with two cameras, the flip button in the top-right corner switches between them.
Nothing prints
Check the printer has paper and is switched on. In Settings → Printing, confirm the right printer has been added and tap its Test print — or print from the gallery as a test. Remember: auto-print only happens when it's switched on, and if every printer rejects a photo the result screen says "Printing failed — check the printer". On iPad, make sure Glitzycam has Local Network access in the system settings, and give the printer a fixed address on your router if you can. Prints running past the tear-off edge? Lower the Print size. Running low? Find the right paper and ink.
The screen went back to the booth by itself
That's the kiosk doing its job! Gallery and settings return to the booth after a minute of no touching, so the booth is always ready for the next guest. Just reopen what you need.
Photos look rotated
Glitzycam automatically respects the camera's rotation metadata (EXIF), so photos come out right-side up. If a camera still misbehaves, try the other one with the flip button.
No props are showing up
Face accessories need a booth running Glitzycam 2.8.0 or newer on iPhone, iPad or Android, 2.16.0 or newer on Windows, or 2.17.0 or newer on Linux (Settings → About shows the version). Then check Settings → Face Fun: the Face fun overlay switch must be on, with at least one prop switched on (see section 3). If both are fine, make sure the guest's face is clearly in view and turned toward the camera — a prop appears once the booth has spotted the face.
The QR link won't open on my phone
Make sure the phone is on the same Wi-Fi network as the booth, then scan the QR code again — the link expires after about an hour. Still stuck? Ask the operator to send the photo by email or SMS instead.
13 30-Second Cheat Sheet
| You want to... | Do this |
|---|---|
| Take photos | Touch the big glowing button (or press Enter, Spacebar or Volume Up on a remote) |
| Cancel mid-session | Tap the ✕ button (top-right), or press Esc / Volume Down on the remote |
| Skip the result early | Tap the photo or press Enter |
| Change the design | Operator menu → Template Picker |
| See today's photos | Gallery button (bottom-right) or Operator menu → Gallery |
| See an earlier day | Gallery → Past Photos |
| Print more copies | Gallery → Print → choose 1–10 copies |
| Send a photo to a phone | Gallery → Share → QR, Email, or SMS |
| Put a photo on the world map | Gallery → Share → Snapshots Around The World |
| Open the operator menu | Tap the gear (bottom-left) or long-press the logo (top-center) |
| Get back to the booth | Tap Back to Booth (top-right)... or just wait ~60s |
| Change what a remote button does | Operator menu → Settings → Controls |
| Pick or switch off the face props | Operator menu → Settings → Face Fun |
| Add a printer or change print size | Operator menu → Settings → Printing |
| Change settings | Operator menu → Settings |
| Close the app | Operator menu → Exit Glitzycam → Yes |