Recommended Printers

Dreambooth supports any printer Windows can install. Up to 3 printers run in parallel, each with independent paper size, DPI, orientation, margins, and scale factor. The app reads printer capabilities directly from the driver, so flexible page sizes — A3, A4, 4R, 2R, strip cuts, custom dimensions — are all available.

Three Types of Photobooth Printer

Three different printer technologies cover the use cases in a typical photobooth. Most operators end up combining one dye-sub for instant 4×6 prints with a photo inkjet for A4/A3 newspaper-style layouts.

Dye-sublimation (DNP, HiTi, Canon Selphy) — Heat transfers ribbon-based dye onto paper; prints come out instantly dry. Fast, consistent, scratch-resistant. Uses proprietary ribbon + paper sets that cost more per print but make the operator workflow simple.
Photo inkjet (Epson L-series) — A consumer photo printer with refillable EcoTank ink. Much cheaper per print, supports A3/A4 sizes that dye-sub can't reach, but slower and prints take a moment to dry. The standard pick for newspaper layouts and budget-conscious booths.
Dry-lab (Epson SureLab SL-D500) — Professional inkjet minilab with pigment ink. Instant dry, archival quality, premium price. Used by high-end rental operators where output quality is the headline feature.

Recommended Photobooth Printers

These are the models most commonly running in our active fleet today. Any of them works out of the box with Dreambooth.

Common photobooth printers, ordered by real-world deployment volume

Printer	Tier	Notes
DNP DS-RX1 / DS-RX1HS	Recommended	Default in the Dreambooth app and by far the most-used photobooth printer in our fleet. 4×6 dye-sub — fast, ribbon and paper rolls are easy to source, and second-hand units are plentiful.
Epson L8050 (and L8050 Series)	Recommended	A4/A3+ photo inkjet with 6-color EcoTank ink. The second-most-deployed printer in our fleet, and the standard pick for newspaper-style layouts. Slower than dye-sub, but ink is cheap, prints look great, and the printer is stocked at every office-supply retailer.
HiTi P510 series	Recommended	4×6 dye-sub. Strong alternative to DNP when their ribbons are scarce or pricier than usual. Long-running model that's still actively used in our fleet.
DNP DS620A	Stable	Step up from the RX1 with 5×7 capability and slightly higher print quality. Pick this if you print premium 5×7 frames.
Canon Selphy CP1500	Stable	Compact dye-sub sold at general electronics retailers. The cheapest path to a working booth and the easiest printer to find on short notice — slower than dedicated photobooth printers, but solid for low-volume kiosks and starter setups.
Epson L11050	Stable	A3 EcoTank inkjet, 4-color (document-focused). A solid workhorse for high-volume newspaper layouts where photo-grade color isn't critical.
Epson L3110 Series	Stable	A4 EcoTank entry-level. Slow but extremely cheap per print. Found at every office-supply retailer — useful as a backup A4 printer or for budget setups.
Epson M15140 Series	Stable	Fast monochrome A4 inkjet. Used for B&W newspaper-style layouts, ticket-style outputs, and any high-volume mono printing. EcoTank ink keeps cost per print very low.
Epson SureLab SL-D500 series	Stable	Professional dry minilab with pigment ink. Used by high-end rental operators for archival-quality prints. Premium price; output is unmatched among inkjets.

Multi-Printer Setup

Dreambooth can drive a primary, secondary, and tertiary printer at the same time. There are two common patterns:

Pattern A — Different paper sizes

Assign each printer a different paper size and route specific frames to specific printers. The most common combination in our fleet:

Printer 1: DNP DS-RX1 — 4R for strips, single shots, and standard photobooth output
Printer 2: Epson L8050 — A4/A3 for newspaper-style layouts and large-format frames
Printer 3: (optional) DNP DS620A — 5×7 for premium frames

When designing a frame in the dashboard, pick which printer it should route to.

Pattern B — Parallel printing (round-robin)

Assign two printers the same role and Dreambooth alternates jobs between them. Used at high-volume events where a single printer can't keep up.

To configure:

Install all printers in Windows so they appear under Devices and Printers.
In the Photobooth App, open Settings → Printer Settings.
Pick the primary printer + paper size + orientation.
Toggle Secondary Printer (and Tertiary Printer if needed), pick devices, and configure each one's page size independently.
Run a test print on every printer before going live.

One Physical Printer, Two Configs

A single physical printer can serve two paper sizes (e.g. one DNP DS-RX1 doing both 4×6 prints and 2×6 strip cuts) without unplugging anything. The trick is to install the same physical printer twice in Windows, then assign each Windows instance a different paper size in Dreambooth.

Install the printer normally in Windows. It appears as e.g. DS-RX1.
Open Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → Add device. When it doesn't auto-detect, choose Add a printer manually.
Select Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings. Pick the existing port (the same USB or virtual port the first instance uses).
Pick the same driver as the original printer. When prompted, choose Use the driver that is currently installed.
Name the second instance distinctly — e.g. DS-RX1 (Strip 2x6) vs DS-RX1 (4x6). Finish the wizard.
In the Photobooth App, open Printer Settings. Set Primary Printer = DS-RX1 (4x6) with 4×6 page size. Set Secondary Printer = DS-RX1 (Strip 2x6) with strip page size.
In the dashboard, route the strip-style frame to the secondary printer instance. Print a test from each.

Remote Printing

Remote Printing lets a Windows computer running the Photobooth App act as the printer for any other device — an iPad, an Android tablet, a Mac, or another laptop in the same booth or across the internet. The other device sends the photo to the Windows computer over the internet; the Windows computer prints it on the connected USB printer.

When You'd Use It

iPad-fronted booth. The customer-facing kiosk is an iPad for aesthetics, but the printer is plugged into a small Windows mini-PC hidden behind the booth.
Multi-station event. Two iPads or Android tablets at a wedding both print to one shared DNP printer attached to a single Windows laptop.
Mac creative studio. Designers prefer a Mac for daily work; a small Windows PC in the corner handles printing.
Mobile photographer + base station. A roaming iPad takes photos at the venue; prints come out of a Windows laptop in the prep room.

How to Enable It (Windows Side)

Install and run the Photobooth App on a Windows PC. Make sure the printer is connected and a test print works locally first.
Open Settings → Printer Settings.
Enable Remote Printing. The app starts a small print service on this PC and creates an internet-accessible address for it.
Copy the Remote Printing address shown in the modal. This is the link you'll enter on the other device.

How to Use It (iPad / Android / Mac Side)

On the other device, open the Photobooth App in a browser:

Go to Settings → Printer Settings.
Choose Use Remote Printing.
Paste the Remote Printing address from the Windows PC.
Run a test print. The print job leaves the iPad/Android/Mac, travels over the internet to the Windows PC, and comes out on the connected printer with no system dialog.

Local Network vs Internet

Remote Printing works either over your local Wi-Fi or over the public internet — both devices just need to be online. The address is stable while the Windows app is running. There's no separate VPN or port-forwarding setup.

For very high-volume events where every millisecond counts, keeping both devices on the same Wi-Fi network reduces print latency. For everyday use, either is fine.

Remote Printing vs Network IP Printing

Two different things:

Remote Printing (this section) — sends the print job through the Photobooth App on a Windows PC. Works with any USB printer, any device, no extra setup on the printer.
Network IP printing — for printers with built-in Ethernet (DNP and HiTi network models, among others). The Android Photobooth App talks directly to the printer's IP address over TCP port 9100. No Windows PC needed in the chain.

If your printer has an Ethernet port and your kiosk runs Android, network IP printing is simpler. Otherwise use Remote Printing.