Fotably Booth Monitor

Installation & everyday use · Version 1.2.1 · Windows 10/11, 64-bit

The monitor quietly reports the screen, Breeze, GoodSync, camera, printer, and connection status. It does not take photos, print, click the screen, restart booth software, or control equipment.

1. Add a booth in the dashboard

Open your private owner link. Staff open https://booths.fotably.com and enter the team password. Remember this device keeps access for 30 days; use Sign out on shared devices. Owner setup still uses your separate private owner link.
Choose Add booth. Give the PC a lasting name, such as Houston Booth 01.
Copy the 12-character setup code. It expires after 24 hours and works once. Each PC needs its own code.

2. Install on the booth PC

Sign into the Windows account normally used to run the booth.
Download and run FotablyBoothMonitorSetup.exe from the dashboard. If your copy includes the version in the filename, that is the same installer.
Leave Pair this booth with your dashboard checked at the end.
Enter the setup code in Setup. The dashboard address and normal photo-booth settings are already filled in.
Click Connect & start monitoring. Setup checks the connection, saves the pairing key using Windows encryption, and enables startup at sign-in.
Close Setup and check the dashboard after about 30 seconds.

No Python or other software needs installing separately. Installation is per Windows user and normally needs no administrator password. The installer is not code-signed; Windows may identify it as an unrecognized app. Use the original Fotably-provided file and verify its supplied SHA256 when needed.

Kristina: final studio step

Finish all programming, tests, and restarts.
Open the Prepare booth desktop shortcut. Choose an event from the next ten calendar days, or tap Enter booking ID and use the large number pad. Internet is needed to look up bookings.
Review the event, assigned staff, and final monitoring end. Use + Day for multiday events. BoothBook may only contain the first day; you must extend the final end when needed. The end is shown in this PC’s local time.
For planned overnight shutdowns, enable Quiet overnight and choose the hours (24-hour America/Chicago time). Leave it off for continuous monitoring.
Tap Ready for transport and confirm testing is finished. Close the window and shut down Windows normally.

The next Windows sign-in starts monitoring silently, even for early setup. Opening or restarting the monitor does not activate an event. Windows Fast Startup is supported because readiness follows the sign-in session, not kernel uptime. Locking/unlocking does not activate it. Signing out and back in does, so use Back to preparation before any extra studio sign-in or restart.

During transport the booth stays quiet. If it never comes online by the booking’s expected arrival time, it is treated as missing during monitoring hours. Alerts end at the saved final end; there is no automatic extension. Imported booking details are a snapshot. Re-prepare if the assignment or times change. The monitor never changes BoothBook records or shuts down the PC.

Staff: print supplies

Open the Print supplies desktop shortcut only when needed. Set the initial prints remaining. After loading full media, tap Media reloaded; the first time, enter how many prints that media contains. The amount is remembered for that printer. Use Adjust prints remaining for partial rolls or corrections. A confirmation prevents accidental resets. Tap Done to close the window.

One unique job sent to the Windows monitored printer deducts one print. Copies, pages, sizes, and success do not change that rule. Cancelled or failed jobs still count. No print is submitted, cancelled, paused, or modified by the monitor. Media estimates and job identities are saved locally, including during internet outages. Counts never go below zero, and an uninitialized count stays unknown.

The counter follows the monitored printer automatically. Each printer queue keeps its own estimate; a new queue needs its starting count. If Windows drops notifications, the spooler fails, monitoring is interrupted, or the default queue changes, check the estimate. Existing queued jobs on attachment are not deducted again. Fast jobs sent while monitoring was not running may be missed. No document titles, contents, or user names are stored.

Dashboard and alerts

Staff open the private shared staff link, find their named booth, choose Follow this booth, then My booths. Enable alerts for sound and supported browser notifications. Keep the dashboard open and the device awake: this is not SMS or guaranteed push when the browser is closed. Following is remembered on that browser; alerts must be enabled each visit. Alerts are quiet in the studio, during transport before the expected arrival, during chosen quiet hours, and after the final end.

During active monitoring, no heartbeat for 60 seconds is Offline. Screens older than 90 seconds are stale. Low estimated supplies (20 or fewer), unavailable checks, and lost print tracking need attention. A booth can have internet while a device needs attention. The owner link adds/removes booths and can pause alerts; staff cannot change those settings. New booth event preparation is controlled locally by the Prepare booth shortcut.

3. Verify before the first event

Confirm the screenshot is the guest-facing display. Open Advanced connection setup from the Start menu and change the display number if needed.
Confirm Breeze and GoodSync show running. Process names can be changed in Setup if another application/version uses a different name.
Confirm the intended camera is detected. If another built-in camera is being detected instead, enter part of the event camera’s name in Setup.
Confirm the event printer is selected. The default physical Windows printer is preferred. If several printers exist with no physical default, enter the exact printer name shown in Windows Settings.
Between sessions, unplug and reconnect the camera and printer and confirm their readings change. Some printer drivers cannot detect physical disconnects reliably.
Disconnect internet briefly, confirm the booth becomes Offline after 60 seconds, then reconnect and confirm recovery.
Run a complete photo and print session while monitoring. Confirm there are no visible windows, focus changes, or interruptions.

Reading the dashboard

Reading	Meaning
Healthy	All monitored checks are currently successful and a recent screenshot is available.
Needs attention	A process stopped, device is missing, check is unknown/stale, connection is slow, or the screenshot failed.
Offline	No heartbeat reached the server for 60 seconds. The PC, internet, or monitor may be unavailable. Previous readings are not current.
Paused	Excluded from attention counts between events. Reporting continues. Pause does not stop screenshots.
Camera detected	Windows detects an imaging device. This does not prove Breeze can use it or take a photo.
Printer ready / printing	The Windows driver reports ready or printing. This is not a physical test of paper, ribbon, or output.
GoodSync running	A configured GoodSync process exists. This does not verify sync progress or success.
Connected	The last authenticated cloud request succeeded. Response time is not a speed test; Wi-Fi signal is shown only when Windows exposes it.

Event equipment swaps

Booth identity stays with the PC. Automatic camera detection and the automatically detected online printer adapt to most swaps. Reopen Setup if you previously pinned a camera name or printer that has changed. A phone or unusual camera driver may not be recognized; use the screen preview and verify locally rather than treating detection as proof of operation.

Automatic printer selection

With Printer name left blank in Setup, the monitor follows the single connected USB printer and its matching Windows queue. It checks roughly every 30 seconds. A cached ready queue alone is not proof the printer is powered on. If there are multiple matching queues, or a network printer cannot be confirmed, select the exact queue in Advanced connection setup. This changes monitoring only; Windows and Breeze printing settings stay as configured. Check the printer name shown in Print supplies before entering a count. Counts belong to each Windows queue; after a hardware swap, confirm the remaining estimate. Jobs sent before monitoring attaches cannot always be recovered and are flagged for review.

Restart a booth PC

Staff can open a booth, choose Restart PC, review its name and latest screen, then confirm on a separate final screen. Check that no guest session or printing is in progress. The request expires after 60 seconds if not received, and is never automatically retried. The dashboard shows receipt separately from a new Windows session returning. This is a normal Windows restart, without forcing applications closed; an application may block it. Windows sign-in and Breeze startup must already be configured. The monitor does not change them. Restart is unavailable for offline booths or older monitor versions. Anyone with the team password or a private staff access link can use this control; share access only with your team.

Network connection

The Internet row shows the active Wi-Fi name and signal strength, or Ethernet for a wired connection. Windows must allow reading this information; unavailable names are labeled honestly. The monitor never changes networks or reads Wi-Fi passwords.

Reliability and privacy

Process checks and heartbeats run about every 15 seconds. Device discovery and screenshots run about every 30 seconds. Background helpers run below normal priority. Restart requests use the existing heartbeat, with no extra polling process.
Screen previews are compressed to a maximum 1000 × 1000 bounding box. Only the newest server screenshot is kept; there is no screenshot history or offline upload backlog.
Network requests time out. Failures retry with delays up to about two minutes. Recovery after a long outage can therefore take about two minutes.
Device queries and screen capture have time limits. A failed check is reported as unknown or unavailable.
A background supervisor restarts the monitoring process if it exits. Duplicate instances are blocked.
Logs rotate automatically and do not contain pairing keys or screenshots. Credentials are encrypted for the Windows user who paired the app.
The app needs the booth user signed in. A locked screen, remote desktop change, or unavailable display can prevent screenshots.
Screenshots can contain guest images and on-screen information. Restrict dashboard access to authorized operators. Only outbound HTTPS connections are used.

Troubleshooting

Waiting to pair: complete Setup on the booth with its setup code.
Offline: check PC power, Windows sign-in, internet, and whether the monitor is installed under the signed-in account.
Wrong/missing screen: verify the display number; ensure Windows is unlocked.
Camera appears online after the event camera is unplugged: a built-in webcam may still be present. Set the camera-name filter in Setup.
Printer unknown: verify the printer in Windows and its driver. For USB printers, the monitor checks present Windows USB printer devices and matches the model to the selected queue. An absent USB device is reported missing. A driver queue alone, a network printer, or an ambiguous model is reported as connection unconfirmed. Even a connected printer still needs your normal test print before guests arrive.
Pairing rejected: check the setup code. If it has expired, open the booth in the owner dashboard and choose New setup code.
Lost setup code: choose New setup code in the owner dashboard. Redeeming a new code replaces the old PC connection for that booth.
Support logs: open %LOCALAPPDATA%\FotablyBoothMonitor and locate monitor.log. Do not share settings files or keys.

Updates and removal

Install future versions under the same Windows account. Saved pairing settings remain in that account. Use Windows Settings → Apps → Fotably Booth Monitor to uninstall. Removing the program removes its startup registration but retains settings for recovery. Remove the booth from the dashboard to revoke cloud access and remove its screenshot.

Adding another booth

Repeat Add booth → Install → Pair. Use a new setup code for every PC; do not copy a paired settings file from another PC. Windows encryption prevents credentials from being transferred that way.