This guide walks you through your first event on BrandStudio. By the end, you'll have an event set up, photos captured, and guests receiving their photos on their phones.
1. Get the Apps
BrandStudio runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, plus a web dashboard where you set up events. The iPhone app is enough to run your first event. We're onboarding by invitation, so if you don't have an account yet, request an invite; we'll reach out when a spot opens and get you set up on a call. Once you're in, the download page has the apps.
Also available on iPad for booth and kiosk capture. Live slideshows run from a URL — open it full-screen on any browser-capable display: a laptop feeding the projector, a signage player, or a stick PC behind the monitor.
2. Create Your Event
In the web dashboard, click New Event. Give it a name and a date. That's it — you can add details later. The event is your container for everything: photos, guests, sessions, and galleries.
If you're testing things out, just create a “Test Event” and play around. You can delete it later.
3. Brand It
Go to your event settings and upload your logo. Set your brand colors. These carry through to the gallery your guests see, the messages they receive, and the photos they download. (A small “Powered by BrandStudio” credit shows on the gallery by default; you can switch it off in the event's branding settings.)
If you want to go further, you can add a branded overlay that places your logo directly on every photo. But for now, logo and colors are enough to make it feel professional.
4. Start Capturing
There are a few ways to get photos into your event, depending on your setup:
iPhone / iPad (simplest)
Open your event in the app and start Instant Photo. Take photos with the device camera. Each photo uploads as you go and appears in your event gallery; with no signal, photos queue on the device and upload when the connection comes back.
Tethered Camera (professional)
Connect a Canon camera to a Mac (or an iPhone or iPad) via USB. Open the BrandStudio app, select your event, and start tethered capture. Every photo you take flows directly from the camera to BrandStudio — branded, processed, and ready for delivery in seconds. Sony, Nikon, and Fuji tethering are on the roadmap; for now, use a watch folder.
Watch Folder (for Lightroom users)
Already shoot tethered to Lightroom or Capture One? Point a watch folder at your export directory. BrandStudio picks up new files automatically. Edit in your existing workflow, export, and it handles the rest.
5. Deliver to Guests
This is the part that changes everything. Instead of sending a gallery link days later, guests get their photos while they're still at the event.
Sessions (recommended for your first event)
A session is a mini photo set for one guest or group. Start a session, enter the guest's name and phone number (or scan their badge), take their photos, and end the session. They get a text with their gallery link as soon as the photos finish uploading.
Face Recognition (for larger events)
At scale, face recognition handles delivery automatically. Guests register with a selfie when they arrive. As your photographers capture photos throughout the event, the system matches faces and routes the right photos to the right people. No manual tagging, no sorting.
QR Code Gallery
For the simplest setup, share your event's QR code. Guests scan it and see the full gallery on their phone. They can browse, download, and share — all branded with your logo.
What's Next
You've got the basics. Here's where to go from here:
- Set up a photo booth — self-service branded photos, animated bursts, overlays, prints, and instant delivery
- Run a live slideshow — photos on screens throughout your venue, updating in real time
- Gate your gallery — collect email addresses before guests can download, turning photos into leads
- Schedule follow-up messages — a thank-you a few days later, or an anniversary message a year on
- Track engagement — see how many guests viewed, downloaded, and shared their photos
Every tool works together. Add them as you need them — there's no wrong order, and everything connects to the same event and guest data.
Make the most of your event photos
Branded galleries, instant delivery, and face recognition — all from one platform. Invite-only.