AI Photos: How It Works
This page is for anyone using AI Photos, whether you're a guest posing for a picture or an operator running the booth. Guests will find what they need in the first few sections. Operators should read through to the end.
For Guests
What AI Photos does
Take a photo at the booth and choose a style. In a moment, you'll get back a new version of your picture: same you, new setting. You might find yourself on a city bridge at sunset, in a neon-lit street, or in a magazine-style portrait, depending on the style you picked.
Your face is the starting point. Everything else, including the setting, the outfit and the lighting, is created around it.
How long it takes
Your photo appears right on the booth screen. Most images are ready in well under a minute, though some styles take longer. Allow up to two minutes.
What to expect from your image
AI images are created fresh each time, so no two results are ever the same. Take two photos in the same style and you'll get two different pictures.
Because of this, the result won't be a perfect copy of you. Most of the time the likeness is strong, but you may notice differences in your hair, your expression, your clothing, or the way the light falls on your face. Occasionally the differences are bigger than you'd like. That's simply how this kind of image works, not a sign that anything went wrong.
If you don't love your first result, take another. It's quick, and the next one will be different.
Children in photos
AI Photos applies extra care when a child appears in the photo. For some styles this means an image may not be produced, and results for children are less predictable than for adults. If no image comes through, that's the system working as intended rather than something you've done wrong.
Getting the best result
A few things make a real difference:
If something doesn't come through
Now and then the system needs a second go to produce an image. When that happens, it retries on its own and you may notice the wait is a little longer than usual.
If you see a Try Again button, tap it. This is normal and usually solves it. Try Again uses the photo you've already taken, so there's no need to retake it.
Your photo and your privacy
Your original photo is used only to create your AI image. Once the new image is ready, the original is deleted from our AI processing servers.
The finished image is delivered to the booth and then removed from our AI processing servers as well. We don't keep either picture.
Whether your AI image is saved afterwards depends on how the event organiser has set up the booth. Some events keep a gallery; others don't. If you have questions about what happens to your photo after the event, the organiser can tell you.
For Operators
Styles
AI Photos runs on a set of built-in styles that we've designed and tested. Guests choose a style at the booth.
Each style is tuned to keep the guest's likeness while changing the scene, wardrobe and lighting. Results vary from one generation to the next, even with the same photo and style. Because of this, we recommend trying every style you plan to offer before an event so you know what guests will see.
Groups
AI Photos works with group photos as well as single portraits. Every face in the shot is carried into the new image.
Larger groups are more demanding for the AI, and likeness for each person may be less consistent than in a solo photo. Faces that are small in the frame or partly hidden are the ones most likely to change.
Some styles handle groups better than others, so make sure to test the styles you plan to offer with a group before your event.
Photos that include children
The AI service we use has stricter rules for images of minors. In practice, this means some styles will not reliably produce an image when a child is in the photo, and the same photo may succeed one time and not the next.
If you're running a family or school event, test your chosen styles with a child in frame beforehand so you know which ones work, and let parents know that not every style will produce a result for younger guests.
Timing and retries
Generation runs while the guest waits at the booth, typically finishing in under a minute and always within about two.
Not every request produces an image on the first pass. When that happens, the booth retries automatically before showing anything to the guest. If it still hasn't succeeded after those retries, the guest sees a Try Again button. This is expected behaviour, not a fault, and you don't need to do anything.
If you're seeing Try Again on a large share of photos at an event, check the lighting and the framing first. Backlit, dim, or off-centre photos are the most common cause.
Credits
Each AI photo generation uses 1 credit.
You can see your current balance and current pricing packages by visiting the AI Credit management page that can be found in your Dashboard.
Data, consent and your responsibilities
Here is exactly what happens to a photo:
Consent is your responsibility as the operator
We don't retain guest photos, and we don't use them for any purpose other than generating the requested image. After the image reaches the booth, storage is in your hands. Depending on how you've configured your setup, you decide how long images are kept and who can access them.
We don't collect consent from guests on your behalf. Before guests use AI Photos, you should make sure they know that:
Requirements vary by location, and some venues or clients will have their own rules. If you're unsure what applies to you, check the relevant privacy regulations for the event's location or take advice.
Appropriate use
AI Photos is a creative, consensual experience for people who have chosen to take part. Don't use it to generate images of people who haven't agreed to it, or in any way that could mislead, embarrass, or harm someone. This is a condition of the AI service that powers the feature as well as a requirement of ours.
Troubleshooting
Still have questions? Email [email protected]