Preview and live background

Set up a live preview or countdown background that fits your hardware. Make sure Photobooth works without preview first—debugging is easier that way.

Preview “from URL” (remote preview, preferred)

Use when you want the same preview on every device (tablet, phone, kiosk):

  • Admin panel: Preview mode → from URL
  • Example Preview-URL: http://192.168.0.2:8081 (replace with your stream IP)
  • Do not enable “Capture screenshot (preview ‘from device cam’ only)”
  • Pi Camera preview via this method fails if motion is installed
  • Requires Photobooth v2.2.1+

go2rtc stream from DSLR or Pi Camera

Provides a stream you can consume via Preview-URL.

  • Install via Photobooth Setup Wizard: 4 go2rtc → choose variant, then reboot.
  • Use http://localhost:1984/api/stream.mjpeg?src=photobooth as Preview-URL (replace localhost for remote access).
  • Adjust capture command: capture %s
  • Verify camera commands: DSLR gphoto2 --capture-movie; Pi Camera rpicam-vid or libcamera-vid
  • Pi Camera defaults: width 2304px, height 1296px (edit /etc/go2rtc.yaml if needed)

Preview “from device cam” (no remote preview)

Uses the camera of the device you open Photobooth on (e.g. tablet/phone/desktop).

  • Admin panel: Preview mode → from device cam
  • Notes:
  • Uses the local device camera only; not shared across other devices
  • Pi Camera capture via raspistill / libcamera-still / rpicam-still does not work here
  • Secure origin or exception required for camera access
  • “Capture screenshot (preview ‘from device cam’ only)” captures from this preview instead of gphoto/digicamcontrol/raspistill/libcamera-still/rpicam-still

DSLR preview via device cam mode (cameracontrol.py)

Keeps the DSLR connection alive for preview + capture on Linux.

  • Run Photobooth Setup Wizard: 5 gphoto2 webcam → install service (recommended) or cronjob.
  • Admin panel:
  • Live Preview → Preview Mode: from device cam
  • If Execute start command for preview on take picture/collage is enabled: Command to generate a live preview: python3 cameracontrol.py --bsm
  • If disabled: python3 cameracontrol.py
  • Take picture command: python3 cameracontrol.py --capture-image-and-download %s
  • Optional:
  • Background video timeout: python3 cameracontrol.py --bsmtime 1
  • Use background video continuously: disable “Execute start command for preview on take picture/collage” and add --bsm
  • Capture target (keep images on camera): python3 cameracontrol.py --set-config capturetarget=1 --capture-image-and-download %s
  • Permissions: ensure www-data is in video group (sudo gpasswd -a www-data video; reboot). Liveview must be supported by your camera (check list).

Troubleshooting

  • Check v4l2loopback after updates: v4l2-ctl --list-devices Expected: GPhoto2 Webcam (platform:v4l2loopback-000): /dev/video0
  • If missing, rebuild v4l2loopback: curl -LO https://github.com/umlaeute/v4l2loopback/archive/refs/tags/v0.12.7.tar.gz tar xzf v0.12.7.tar.gz && cd v4l2loopback-0.12.7 make && sudo make install sudo depmod -a sudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1 card_label="GPhoto2 Webcam"
  • Chromium may pick the wrong webcam (e.g. bcm2835-isp); disable other webcams if needed.
  • Long preview startup? Increase countdown (e.g. 8s) or run preview continuously (higher battery/CPU).
  • For command help: python3 /var/www/html/api/cameracontrol.py --help (adjust path if installed in a subfolder).