v0.1 Ahlchemy Snap

Layout
Shape
Timer
10s
Frame

Session archive

Gallery

Everything captured on this tablet, stored locally in the browser. Reprint or resend any photo, or clear the archive when the event wraps.

Event keepsake

Poster

Build one piece from everything shot at the event. A collage lays the photos out; a photomosaic uses them as tiles to rebuild a picture, a word, or a logo.

Sheet

Collage

Spacing

Photomosaic

Tile density
Colour bleed

Event activity

Reports

Counts drawn from this tablet's activity log. Useful for sizing paper and ink before the next event.

Last 14 days

By layout

By frame

Busiest hours

Operator guide

How to use Ahlchemy Snap

Set up once at the venue, then let guests run it themselves.

Before the event

  1. Put the printer on the same Wi-Fi

    Ahlchemy Snap prints through Android's own print system, so any AirPrint or Mopria printer on the network will show up. On the tablet, install Mopria Print Service from the Play Store if it isn't already there, then open Settings › Connections › More connection settings › Printing and confirm the printer is listed.

  2. Set up the caption

    Open Setup and fill in the print caption. Custom text is the headline — “Class of 2026”, “Ahl Family Reunion” — and the event name prints smaller beneath it. Add a logo if the client wants one, and pick a date stamp format for the bottom line. Anything you leave blank is simply left out, and the plate shrinks to fit.

  3. Check the frame takes custom text

    Seven frames print custom text: aSnap house, New Year, Independence, Christmas, Birthday, Wedding, and Graduation. The seasonal frames have their own identity and show the event name instead. Setup tells you which frame is selected and what it will do with your text.

  4. Do a test print

    Take one photo and print it. Check the paper size in the Android print dialog matches your paper, and set Scale to fit off if your printer offers it. Borderless 4×6 needs to be selected in the printer's own options.

  5. Lock the tablet down

    Add Ahlchemy Snap to the home screen, open it, then turn on screen pinning: Settings › Security and privacy › Other security settings › Pin app. Pinning stops guests from wandering out of the app.

Running the booth

  1. Pick a layout and timer

    Single is one 4×6. Strip ×3 is the classic photo strip, printed two to a sheet. Grid ×4 puts four shots on one 4×6. Set the countdown anywhere from 1 to 30 seconds with the stepper — hold a button to move faster. Ten seconds suits groups; three is better once a line forms.

  2. Choose the shape

    Landscape or portrait, and it applies to whatever layout is selected. Portrait suits couples and single guests; landscape suits groups lined up shoulder to shoulder. The strip follows too — portrait gives you the familiar tall 2×6, landscape gives a wide 6×2. Both print two to a sheet of 4×6: tall strips sit side by side and cut down the middle, wide ones stack and cut across.

  3. Let the frame follow the calendar

    Leave the frame on Seasonal (auto) and it changes itself — Halloween through November 1st, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. Override it any time for a birthday or a wedding.

  4. Watch the preview

    The bright area of the camera view is exactly what prints, at the same shape as the paper. Anything dimmed gets cropped. The border, corners, and caption plate you see over the feed are the real frame. On strip and grid layouts each slot is outlined, and the one being filled turns lavender.

  5. Tap the aperture

    Guests tap the aperture ring, the countdown runs, and the screen flashes white to light their faces. Strip and grid layouts shoot back to back, counting down the gap between each.

  6. Print, send, or retake

    Print goes to the Wi-Fi printer. Send opens the tablet's share sheet, so a guest can drop the photo straight into Messages, WhatsApp, or email — the real image file, not a link. Save writes it to the tablet's Downloads folder.

Good to know

  1. Photos never leave the tablet

    Everything is stored in the browser's local database. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. That also means clearing the browser's site data erases the archive — download the photos before you do that.

  2. Send needs the tablet's own apps

    Sending hands the file to whatever messaging apps are installed. A Wi-Fi-only tablet has no SMS of its own, so pair it with Google Messages web or use WhatsApp and email instead.

  3. The screen stays awake

    Ahlchemy Snap holds a wake lock while the Booth is open so the tablet won't sleep mid-event. Keep it on the charger anyway.

The event poster

  1. Build it at the end of the night

    The Poster page works from everything in the archive, so the more that's been shot the better it looks. A collage works from the first few photos. A photomosaic needs about 150 tiles before the repetition stops showing — since a strip yields three tiles and a grid four, that's roughly 50 sessions.

  2. Pick the arrangement

    Masonry keeps every photo's own shape, which is what you want when tall strips sit beside wide 4×6s. Grid crops everything square for even rows. Scattered piles them with a tilt and a white edge, like photos dropped on a table.

  3. Choose what the mosaic shows

    Big text is the safe choice — a year, a name, “Class of 2026” — because bold letterforms survive being rebuilt out of tiles. A logo or crest works for the same reason. A photo from the event is the most affecting option but needs a tight crop and hard lighting, or it comes out muddy. Tap Mosaic on any gallery photo to make it the subject.

  4. Balance the colour bleed

    Low bleed keeps every face true to its own colour but the subject may not read from across a room. High bleed makes the subject unmistakable and tints the faces toward it. Around 40% suits most events; raise it if you're building a mosaic from fewer photos.

  5. Mind the sheet size

    Every option states the DPI it will actually reach, because the long edge is capped at 3000 pixels so the tablet can hold the image. An 8×10 comes out at a true 300 DPI; a 16×20 lands at 150, which is fine for a wall but not for close inspection. Your booth printer only takes 4×6, so anything larger is for saving, sending, or taking to a print shop.

Add to the home screen

The best way to remember your day in aSnap — and running it installed gives you the full screen with no browser chrome, which is what you want on a booth.

Release history

Change log

Versions increment by 0.1 with each release.

Operator settings

Setup

Saved on this tablet and remembered between sessions.

Print caption

Everything here prints on the plate along the bottom of the photo, stacked in this order.

Camera

Countdown before the first shot
Gap between shots

Storage

Counting…