Phone upload feature

Phone Print (also called Smartphone Print) is a separate product where customers upload photos from their phone to the kiosk and print them on the booth's printer. There's no app to install. The booth creates its own local Wi-Fi network and serves a small upload web page directly to the customer's phone.

Who this is for: Operators who want to understand how Phone Print works and how to support customers using it.

The flow at a glance

1. Customer picks Smartphone Print on the product selection screen.
2. The booth shows a Phone Print screen with a QR code and Wi-Fi instructions.
3. Customer scans the QR code with their phone (most phone cameras handle this directly).
4. The phone connects to the booth's local Wi-Fi network and opens a small upload web page.
5. Customer picks photos from their phone and uploads them.
6. Each upload appears on the kiosk screen as it arrives.
7. Customer goes back to the kiosk and uses the Phone Image Editor to position the photo inside the print frame.
8. Customer pays (or skips in Free Play).
9. Print produces.

The QR code and Wi-Fi

When the customer reaches the Phone Print screen:

• The booth creates a local Wi-Fi hotspot (no internet required)
• It runs an embedded web server (port 8080) on its own
• It generates a QR code that encodes the Wi-Fi network info and the upload URL
• The QR code is large and easy to scan from arm's length

When the customer scans the QR code with their phone camera:

• Most modern phones recognize the Wi-Fi info inside the QR code and offer to connect
• After connecting, the phone opens the upload page automatically
• On older phones, the customer may have to connect manually using the SSID shown on the screen

The upload page

The upload page on the customer's phone is a simple web form:

• A "Pick photo" button that opens the phone's photo library
• An upload progress indicator
• A "Done" button to confirm

The customer picks one or more photos and they upload to the kiosk. As each one arrives, the kiosk screen updates to show the latest received image.

The Phone Image Editor

After the upload, the customer goes back to the kiosk and uses the Phone Image Editor to position the uploaded photo inside the print frame. This editor lets them:

• Crop and zoom (up to 4× zoom)
• Rotate (0, 90, 180, 270 degrees)
• Pick a margin fill mode:
  • White. Solid white background where the photo doesn't fill the frame
  • Blur. Blurred photo background fills the margins
  • Stretch. The photo is stretched to fill the frame

The target output dimensions at 300 DPI are:

• 4×6 print → 1803 × 1206 pixels
• Strip → 603 × 1803 pixels

The editor handles the math automatically. The customer just drags and pinches.

After the editor

Once the customer is happy with the layout, they tap Done and the booth advances to the same payment → printing → thank-you flow as the regular product flows. The print comes out of the same DNP printer.

Idle behavior

The Phone Print screen has a longer timeout (about 180 seconds) because customers need time to scan the QR, connect, find a photo on their phone, and upload. The Phone Image Editor has its own timeout (about 120 seconds).

What you control

You don't have many knobs for Phone Print. What you can control:

• Whether the product is enabled in the Products tab
• The base price in the Products tab
• Whether your venue Wi-Fi is on or off. Doesn't affect Phone Print itself, since Phone Print uses its own local hotspot

Common customer issues

"I can't find the Wi-Fi network on my phone"

Some phones don't auto-connect when scanning the QR code. Tell the customer to:

1. Open their phone's Wi-Fi settings
2. Look for the network name (SSID) shown on the kiosk screen
3. Tap to connect. There's no password
4. Then open the upload URL shown on the screen

"The QR code won't scan"

The phone camera may need to be a few inches further or closer. Most modern Android and iOS cameras handle Wi-Fi QR codes natively in the camera app. Older phones may need a dedicated QR scanner app.

"I can't upload, it says I'm not connected to the internet"

That's expected. The kiosk's Phone Print Wi-Fi is not connected to the internet. It's a local network for transferring the photo. Some phones complain about this, but the upload still works. Reassure the customer.

"The photo uploaded but I don't see it on the kiosk screen"

Wait a few seconds. Large photos take longer. If it really doesn't appear after 30 seconds, the upload may have failed. Try uploading a smaller version.

"I uploaded the wrong photo"

They can upload another one. Each new upload replaces the previous one until they confirm.

Windows Firewall rule

The BoothIQ installer adds an inbound Windows Firewall rule called "BoothIQ Photo Upload Server" scoped to the local subnet only. This rule lets the customer's phone reach the upload page without exposing the booth to the public internet. Operators don't need to manage this rule. It's installed automatically.

Common operator questions

Phone Print isn't working at all.

• Confirm the product is enabled in the Products tab.
• The kiosk needs a Wi-Fi adapter to create the local hotspot. Open the WiFi tab and confirm the adapter is Active.
• See Phone upload not working (coming soon).

Can the customer email themselves the photo afterwards?

No, that's the opposite direction. Phone Print is for uploading to the kiosk, not for sending photos from the kiosk to the customer's email or phone.

Can multiple customers use Phone Print at the same time?

No, only one Phone Print session at a time on a single kiosk. The next customer has to wait until the current session is done.

A customer says the upload was slow.

The local Wi-Fi hotspot is fine for typical phone photos (a few MB each). Very large photos (high-res panoramas, RAW files) take longer.

Next steps

• Welcome screen. Where the next customer starts.
• Phone upload not working (coming soon). When something goes wrong.
• Products tab (coming soon). Where you enable / disable Phone Print.