Creating Images For Overlaying on RightBooth Photos and Videos

Updated: Jan 2021

You may have already seen the overlay images that are provided with RightBooth. If you have installed the RightBooth Media Library then you will find them in this folder on your computer:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\RightBooth7 Library\Images\Overlays

All the images in the Overlays folder contain various transparent areas that allow your recorded videos and photos to show through, for example:

You can add your own images into the Overlays folder and then use them in RightBooth.  

This article explains how.

1 - Get Yourself An Image Editing Program
This article demonstrates how to create overlay images using GIMP, a free image editing package.
If you are unfamiliar with GIMP or image editing, please first read this article

2 – Find An Image
There are plenty of places on the Web to find images, including sites like pixabay.com which are all completely free to use.  For this tutorial we are using this image (which you’ve probably already seen included in the Overlays folder:

Image source:   https://pixabay.com/en/valentine-greeting-card-frame-588264/

​This image is ideally suited to be edited and altered into an overlay image, allowing the RightBooth event user’s head(s) to appear in the heart shaped photo frame.
Download the image and save it onto your computer.  Notice that it is a JPG image.

3 – Edit The Image
JPG images do not contain any transparent areas so we need to edit the image in GIMP to make the white heart area transparent.

• Run GIMP
• On the GIMP menu, Click File... Open...  to browse for and open your downloaded image.
• Add an Alpha Channel to the image (as shown in the screenshot below).  On the GIMP menu, Click Layer... Transparency... Add Alpha Channel...

• ​Select the Eraser Tool from the GIMP Toolbox (1).  If the Toolbox is not showing, press  the Ctrl and B keys.
• Use the eraser to carefully remove the image area in the heart, creating transparency. Notice as you erase parts of the image you reveal a checkerboard pattern, which is GIMP’s way of representing transparency.  On our screen shot we are part way through the process (2).
• You can set the Zoom factor (3) to get a closer view of the area you are working on:

4 Save the Image
We need to save the image as a PNG file because PNG images can retain the transparent areas.

• On the GIMP menu, click File... Export As...
• On the Export Image window, in the Name text box, change the name to something more suitable, such as roseheart.png.  Important: You MUST add ‘.png’ to the end of the filename. This will cause GIMP to save the image in PNG format.
• Use the Places and Name boxes to browse to the RightBooth Overlays folder (mentioned above), then click the Export button to save your PNG file into the Media Library...

Job done.

​You now have a new overlay image for use in RightBooth.  Now it’s your turn to find some suitable images that you can modify and use as overlays.  And don’t forget to seek permission from the image owner if they are not free to use.