DIY Photobooth

This is a tutorial on how to build your own photobooth much like the traditional ones seen at malls, amusement parks, and shopping centers the world over. This booth however is completely digital and is much much cheaper/easier to do at home.

I wrote the first half of the tutorial months ago and finally decided to finish it and post it up.

This project was the result of an undergraduate research project I did last year while attending Carnegie Mellon Univ. It was my first year of college so I thought that a photobooth would be a great way to discover the campus community. The project was a great success and, though my version had many bugs, I have literally hundreds of photos of my classmates.

Step 1 Design your booth

The design part is really up to you. Build whatever you think looks cool and works well. Here are some key things I had to keep in mind when figuring out my design.
- portability (fits through doorways, not too heavy)
- secure from theft
- attractiveness. This was important since I had to actually get people to use it.

Comments

[aadkison]

Do you have any idea what kind of a budget a first time photobooth constructor would be looking at with this particular project?

[alanjgreenwood]

Is there a possibility that you could post your dimensions of the wooden panels? size and font used for the wordart? :)

[TheLodgeShop]

creative idea.

[oophotobooth]

here's my sample photobooth prints

[vcorpus]

Hi! What software are you using for this if you don't mind? Thanks!

[marceloco]

You haven't posted any Forum Topics, yet.
The forums are the place to ask questions, share a cool project from another site, find collaborators for your latest project, or discuss anything of interest to the Instructables community. Create a Forum Topic now!

[bruinchiq]

I was inspired by this Instructables post long long ago... and finally created my own home version! Here's the instructions and materials that I used to create it, using spare parts that were just on their way to recycling!

http://www.kimberlymichelle.com/2011/03/03/how-to-build-your-own-party-photobooth-at-home/

[bangaram]

really its very good.u done great job mate because it is very clear and perfect but i dont understand one thing how the machine working when u put the coin inside.please can u explain the mechanism how coin work when u put in the booth.thank u very much.im eagerly waiting for ur reply.

[THE_GEEK2007]

there is no coin mechanism. and I'm not an expert on that. I'm sure that there's someone on the internet that could help you with putting a coin slot into this.

[dltl]

I too have had coin slot issues and found this informational video very helpful. Good luck!

[johnwu]

(removed by author or community request)

[johnwu]

Update: the application is now named Spark Booth.

[vigorotaku]

Very good ideas here! Check out another example Photo Booth from a recent wedding at http://vigorotaku.blogspot.com/ November 1st. It was a lot of fun and a really big hit! I have some diagrams of what I use with explanations and an example pic.
The specific link is here

[vigorotaku]

Very good ideas here!

Check out another example Photo Booth from a recent wedding at
http://vigorotaku.blogspot.com/
November 1st. It was a lot of fun and a really big hit!

I have some diagrams of what I use with explanations and an example pic.

[Svetlana_photo]

Love your LOGO. We are still trying to find ours...
You can see us here:
San Diego photo booth rentals

[Svetlana_photo]

We use quantum flash for the "hair" light. Check us out:
San Diego photo booth rentals

[Svetlana_photo]

For professional looking pictures construct a "hair" light for your photo booth. It's important if you want to get studio lighting effect. You can see how the pictures will look like here: http://www.mysandiegophotobooth.com.

[shemartin]

Hi there I am extremely interested in paying someone to build me a custom photobooth for my upcoming wedding. I would like something nice that doesn't cost a wwwhhhole lot of money. Please email me at [e-mail]

[ngez]

Any One can please help me to find good Photo-booth software that can run in full-screen kiosk mode , and easy to use , that will work with Canon G10 .
also can give you option to select templed 
Thank you 

[davider02]

HI i am also intresting build a photo booth machine what is your recommendation which software you finnay select ? Thanks for advice David

[jumpfroggy]

I love the design of the "photobooth" backlit cutout! Looks great. I actually made a photobooth for my own use, though it didn't look nearly as nice as yours. I'm going to start selling the software soon (http://photobooth.rocketmonkeys.com/), since I really feel like there should be another option besides the $600 photoboof software (!!).

I've noticed that this can be a big hit not just as an installation, but if you bring it to events like weddings, birthday parties, etc. If it's small and portable, you can start bringing it places you never thought of. I'd love to make a booth similar to this that can be easily broken down and fit into the trunk of a car. If I end up making it, I'll post up an instructable.

[davider02]

HI i am also intresting build a photo booth machine what is your recommendation which software you finnay select ? Thanks for advice David

[jumpfroggy]

The URL above is old.  It's now http://www.seemonkey.net/

I'm also working on putting together a site dedicated to all things photobooth related.  I'll post when I have it online.

[pollyhyper]

If you ever do an instructable of a portable booth, I'd love to see it! I'm very interested in doing this too.

[jumpfroggy]

I'll put one up soon. I've already got another instructable in the pipes for a unique monitor stand... it'll be interesting :). After that, I'll do the photobooth one. Stay tuned!

[nastone]

I am wanting to build a photo booth using these plans with a few modifications of my own. I thought I would make it in two pieces that can be stacked on each other for portability. I would be very interested in purchasing the software from you if you can let me know it will work in a photo booth of this type with the subjects in control of the remote? I look forward to hearing from you. FYI I am not versed at all on writing my own programs.

[jumpfroggy]

The way it works is that after you set it up, it can be completely run by the guests. A guest can sit down, press the button, then it'll take 3 pictures (with a delay so they can repose) and then print out their photos. So once you set it up, you should be able to just leave it working.

[1spartan95]

Me and my sister really want to build one of these things!

[jonesphotog]

What was your overall cost for this project?

[jchorng]

I had gotten a school grant for $500 and used it all to buy all the materials. I'm sure if you're clever enough you can repurpose/recycle stuff and do it for much less!

[teenhysterics]

How did you get the grant? I'm going into college this year so I'm curious.

[zachschi]

Looks great! What type/size of photoprinter did you use?

[thepartycow]

Awesome job on the photobooth. Awesome! I made the photobooth @ Shine and will be releasing it open source shortly. In short, it currently runs php pages on apache, a javascript countdown and then fires some python to take the images. After all four images are captured, using imagemagik, it creates the photostrip and adds the watermark and saves it. There is an uploader that runs in the background that is constantly looking for new images and uploads them to flickr. example image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shinesf/286486188/"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/103/286486188_a16db43b55_m_d.jpg"></a> I also took each of the individual images, and using mencoder, put them together as a timelapse movie. We will be incorporating this into the API of one of the video services and I will be releasing the source code for this as well!

[static]

LOL bless the girls not to shy to flash the camera,

[jchorng]

This is so cool. I'm hoping to start on Photobooth 2.0 very soon and would love to collaborate. we must keep in touch!

[Sumrhumr]

Sounds like you are the best authority I've seen so far on Photo booths on the web. I'm trying to build one for a wedding shower this summer. I would like one that we can load the pics into the computer and print at the same time so that there are two copies that print out side by side. I'm really confused about the whole set up. Building the booth is the least of my problems. It's the camera, the remote button, the program and the printer. I know I will need a very good printer. Will a canon point and shoot work or am I better off spending more on a good camera? Any help is really appreciated.

[The DNR]

John Hobbs has developed 2 great free alternatives, a software one and a web based one.  Both are called OpenPhotoBooth.  I believe he is looking for collaborators as well.

http://www.openphotobooth.com

[picsbylc]

I am in the process of making something similar and was wondering if you could tell me more about the equipment and how it is hooked up.  Just more detailed information on your setup process and the equipment that you used.

[LuciferRex]

 wow, this is amazing!  Kudos on a great project

[aamcclai]

 what a hilarious and almost cartoon like smiling girl popping her head out of that booth. :p