What is a photo booth, and how does it work at an event?

What is a photo booth?

A photo booth is a small photo studio set up at your event, where guests take their own photos. It brings together four things: a camera, a screen, a light and a printer. Guests step in, shoot a short series of frames, and a few seconds later they are holding a printed strip with the event design on it.

That print is the whole point. A phone photo disappears into a camera roll. A strip goes into a wallet, onto a fridge, into a frame.

The other difference: there is no photographer. Guests decide who is in the frame and what they do in it, which is why booth photos feel so different from posed portraits.

The parts of a photo booth

Every photo booth is built from the same few parts:

The camera

Takes the photos, so nobody has to hold a phone or ask someone else to shoot. Our Open booth uses a pro camera.

The screen

How guests use the booth: it guides them through the session. On our booths it works in Arabic and English, and the Open booth has a touchscreen.

The light

Good, even light is what makes faces come out clear when the hall is dim or the party lights are moving. Our Open booth uses a studio light, and every booth is set up and tested before doors open.

The printer

Turns the session into a print within seconds. We use a dye-sublimation photo printer and 4 × 6 inch photo paper.

Walls, or none

An enclosed booth puts all of this inside a private space. An open booth leaves it in the open, so a big group fits in front of the camera.

How does a photo booth work? A session, step by step

This is how a session runs on our booths.

1. Step in

   Into the enclosed booth, or in front of the open one. Alone, as a couple, or with a group of friends.

2. Follow the screen

   The screen guides guests through the session in Arabic or English, and the attendant is close by if anyone needs a hand.

3. Shoot the frames

   Four frames for a four-frame strip, or three for a three-frame design. Changing the pose between frames is half the fun.

4. The strip prints

   Within seconds, with the event design on it. In hand before the next song.

5. Take it home

   Guests leave with the print. If video messages were added to the booking, they can also record a short message inside the booth.

Enclosed or open: the two kinds of photo booth

Photo booths come in two shapes. An enclosed (closed) booth is a private space with walls: guests step inside, nobody is watching, and people relax in a way they rarely do in front of a full room. An open booth has no walls: the camera, light, screen and printer stand in the open, so a big group fits in one frame and the people nearby can join in. Our Closed booth comes in two finishes, The Black and The Red, and our Open booth is made for big groups. Our open vs enclosed guide (linked below) compares them point by point.

What do photo booth prints look like?

The classic booth print is a strip: a narrow column of photos from one session, with a design that carries names, a date or a logo. We print four-frame strips, three-frame strips, and bespoke concept designs.

Our strips are printed on 4 × 6 inch photo paper, two strips to a sheet, and the sheet is then cut, so each strip is half a sheet.

We print on a dye-sublimation photo printer, and each strip comes out within seconds of the last frame.

What does a photo booth attendant do?

Ask any photo booth company whether someone stays with the booth for the whole booking: it is the difference between a booth that keeps printing and one that runs out of paper unnoticed. Every Tru booking includes an attendant on site throughout the booking, who:

• Arrives before doors open, sets up the booth and tests the camera and printer.
• Guides guests through the booth whenever they need it.
• Keeps the printer running, so the prints keep coming.
• Packs everything away when the booking ends.

Extras: custom design, video messages and photobooks

One night, three keepsakes: the strip tonight, the messages within a week, the book after.

Custom strip design (always included)

Every booking includes a print design with your names, date, colours, logo or monogram. Choose a three-frame strip, a four-frame strip, or a bespoke concept that can use AI-rendered artwork on request.

Video messages: The Truth Room

Guests record short, raw messages inside the booth. Every clip, raw and uncut, is delivered in a private cloud folder within a week.

Tru Photo Books

An A5 hardcover (14.8 × 21 cm) with 26 or 50 pages of 200 gsm archival matte paper, printed and bound in Cairo. Delivered across Egypt or picked up at a Tru booth.

Photo booths for events: where they fit

We bring our booths to:

• Weddings, where the enclosed booth gives guests a private corner of the night.
• Engagements and katb ketab.
• Birthdays and private parties.
• Company events and brand activations, with the brand logo and colours on every strip.
• Malls and venues, as a permanent or seasonal booth on site.

Where can you try a photo booth in Egypt?

Want to see one before you book? We have a permanent booth at Majarrah Mall in Sheikh Zayed, and a seasonal one at Seashell Hill Walk on the North Coast in summer. At both, walk-up guests can use the booth and pay per print.

Photo booth questions, answered