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Troubleshooting

Slowness, choppy preview and a computer running hot

Get a smooth preview and a responsive booth back, even on a modest computer or on battery.

The camera preview is choppy

  1. Cable and port: plug the camera directly into a USB 3 port on the computer, without a hub.
  2. Other apps: close browsers, video conferencing software and file sync tools.
  3. Display performance: in Settings › Performance, switch to Standard (or Eco) instead of Unlimited.
  4. Graphics card: on a laptop with two graphics cards, choose High performance.
  5. GPU acceleration: make sure it's turned on; software rendering is much slower.

A Wi-Fi preview (CCAPI) is naturally less smooth than over USB.

The app is slow to respond

  • Check the disk space: an almost full disk slows everything down. Clear out old events after backing them up.
  • Restart the computer before a job: a session left open for days builds up processes.
  • Turn off automatic system updates during the event.
  • An SSD and at least 8 GB of memory make a big difference.

The layout takes a while to appear

The layout combines full-resolution photos. With a Canon camera, set the image quality to JPEG L fine without RAW: RAW files are useless for the booth and much heavier. See Setting up your camera for the photo booth.

The computer runs hot or the battery drains quickly

  • Apply the Eco express setup (Settings): 30 frames per second, reduced animations and background activity, power-saving graphics card, battery alerts.
  • Turn on Reduce background activity (Settings › Power).
  • Plug the computer into AC power during the event.
  • Leave room for air around the computer, especially if it's enclosed in a booth: plan for ventilation.

The fan runs loud during the event

This is often the camera preview at the Unlimited frame rate. Switch to Standard: the difference in smoothness is barely visible, the difference in heat is clear.

Sync slows down the booth

Uploading hundreds of photos to the gallery uses the connection, not the processor: it shouldn't slow down the interface. If the connection is very slow, the upload simply takes longer; it continues in the background and resumes after an interruption.

Still slow?

Note what's slow (preview, layout, navigating the app), the computer and camera models, and send us your logs (see Logs and support reports).