FMX for Windows: Customizing Your Experience

Updated Today · 5 min read

Everything at a photo booth event — the overlays, the countdown, the on-screen text, the email guests receive, the gallery they get a link to — is something you control. This guide maps out every customization area in FMX for Windows so you know exactly where to look.

Start from a Preset (The Fastest Way to Customize)

You don't have to build from scratch. FMX ships with a library of ready-made presets — fully built experiences that include a workflow, overlays, animations, and sharing settings. The idea is simple: pick one that's close to what you want, then make it yours.

In the Select screen, browse and load any preset. Then open the Workflow Builder and start tweaking: swap the countdown animation for your branded one, replace the overlay image, update the on-screen text, change the AI prompt, or add a new step. Every element of a preset is editable.

💡 Tip: Loading a preset and customising it is the fastest way to get a polished, branded experience without starting from zero. Most operators save their first custom build as their own preset and reuse it across events.

→ Building a FMX Preset From Scratch: Video Tutorial

Branding & Visual Theme

Set your brand colors, logo, and the overall visual identity shown in the FMX interface and on guest-facing screens.

💡 Tip: The Theme Tab controls the colors guests see on the experience screen — matching it to your client's brand colors is a quick way to make the event feel fully custom.

→ Theme Tab (Global Settings)

Photo Layout & Collage Design

Design multi-photo strips, collages, and print templates. Drag and drop photo frames, set spacing, add borders, and define the output size — all inside the Layout Builder.

💡 Tip: A branded 2×6 strip with your logo at the top is a classic that never gets old. But the Layout Builder supports everything from single portraits to 4-up grids — experiment to match the event vibe.

→ Layout Builder

Overlays, Frames & Branded Graphics

Place a custom-branded frame, logo, or graphic on top of every photo. Supports PNG with transparency, animated GIFs, and looping video overlays.

💡 Tip: Keep overlay files small (under 5 MB). Large overlay files slow down photo processing — especially at high-volume events.

→ Custom Assets Specifications — required dimensions and file formats for every asset type → How to Create a Custom Overlay

Animations & Live View

Add motion to the guest experience with countdown animations, transition effects, and a live camera view with a transparent animated overlay playing over it.

💡 Tip: A live view with a branded animated frame running on top of it makes the booth feel premium before the photo is even taken. Guests love seeing themselves "in the experience" while waiting for the countdown.

→ How to Create a Custom Animation → Animations in the Workflow Builder → Setting Up Live View with a Transparent Countdown Animation → Converting Video to a Transparent Format

Green Screen & AI Background Removal

Replace the background behind guests with a branded scene, a looping video, or a custom still — using chroma key or AI-powered background removal (no green screen required).

💡 Tip: AI background removal works well in controlled lighting. For events with mixed or dynamic backgrounds, a physical green screen + chroma key gives cleaner, more consistent results.

→ Chroma Key Guide (Green/Blue Screen)

Stamps & Virtual Props

Overlay virtual accessories and branded props — hats, glasses, signs, logos — that appear directly on the photo.

→ Using Stamps Virtual Props

Workflow & On-Screen Text

The Workflow Builder is where you control the full guest journey — every screen, every step, every piece of text. You can add steps, reorder them, change button labels, translate any string into another language, and build entirely custom flows.

💡 Tip: If you're running an event in a second language, the Translations feature lets you replace every default label in the workflow UI — so the experience feels native, not translated.

You can also add interactive or branded steps:

Disclaimer — show a custom consent screen or branded message before the session starts
Access Code — gate the experience so only invited guests can use the booth
Sign & Draw — let guests add a signature, message, or drawing to their photo
Games — add a branded interactive game to the flow

→ Using Translations (Workflow UI) → Disclaimer: Overview → Sign & Draw: Overview → Access Code: Overview → Games: Overview

Selection Screen

Design the screen where guests review their photo and choose whether to keep it, retake, or share. You can set custom background media, branded imagery, and control what options are shown.

💡 Tip: Adding a short looping branded video as the selection screen background makes the experience feel more immersive and keeps energy high while guests decide.

→ Selection Screen: Overview → Setting up a Selection Screen → Using Area Media on Selection Screens

Email & SMS Templates

Brand the messages guests receive after their session — custom subject lines, sender name, message body, and call-to-action links. This is often the piece guests keep and share, so it's worth getting right.

💡 Tip: Include the event name and a thank-you in the email subject line. A personal touch here increases the chance guests open it and click through to their gallery.

→ Sharing Tab (Global Settings) — configure email and SMS defaults → Queue Management: Email Filter → Queue Management: SMS Filter → Instant Sharing Before Final Upload

Online Gallery

Control the online gallery link guests receive — what it shows, when it expires, and whether guests can download their photo.

→ Final Photo: When FMX Saves It and How It Works → Offline Gallery

Printing & Paper Size

Configure custom paper sizes, print output settings, and print templates — including DNP hot folder printing for high-volume or unattended events.

💡 Tip: If your client wants 4×6 prints but your workflow was set up for 2×6 strips, the paper size setting is where you change it without rebuilding the whole layout.

→ Printing from FMX → Using a Different Paper Size → DNP Hot Folder Printing

Was this helpful?