Email Step: Overview
The Email step collects a guest's email address at the booth and sends them their media. It is one of the two direct-delivery steps in the Workflow Builder, alongside SMS, and it is usually the one clients care most about, because an email capture is also a lead capture.
This article covers the workflow step. For designing what the email looks like, see Email Templates and How To Use the Email Template In the Cloud.
What Is the Email Step?
From the workflow's point of view, the Email step:
- Shows a keyboard screen where the guest types their address
- Queues the selected media for delivery through Foto Master Cloud
- Continues to the next step once the guest submits, skips, or the timeout expires
From the guest's point of view:
- They see an email entry screen with an on-screen keyboard
- They type their address and confirm
- They receive their photos by email shortly afterwards, using the template configured for the event
The step queues the send; it does not wait for delivery. If the booth is offline, the job sits in the queue and goes out when the connection returns.
Settings
Media to email selects what gets sent. You can choose any combination of:
- Final Photo — the composited layout. The default, and what most events send
- Final Video — the finished video, if the workflow produced one
- Final GIF — a GIF produced by a compatible or legacy workflow
- Raw Photo — the unprocessed camera image
- Raw Video — the unprocessed clip
Send Final media unless the client specifically wants the originals. Raw files are large, less flattering, and carry none of the client's branding.
Enable multiple emails lets a group enter more than one address in the same session, so everyone in a photo gets a copy without queuing again.
Enable timeout and timeout seconds move the workflow on automatically if nobody types anything. The default is 30 seconds. Use this at busy events so an abandoned booth does not sit on a keyboard screen.
Show skip button gives the guest an explicit way out, and skip step chooses where the workflow goes when they take it. Without a skip destination the flow simply continues to the next step.
When Should You Use the Email Step?
Use it whenever guests should receive their media digitally, or whenever the client wants an opt-in list.
Typical reasons:
- Digital delivery at events with no printer, or alongside printing
- Lead capture for brand activations and trade shows
- High-resolution delivery, where email suits large files better than SMS
- International events, where SMS costs and carrier rules make email simpler
Consider SMS or a QR Code step instead when:
- Guests want their photo on their phone in seconds, not in an inbox
- Typing an address on a touchscreen would slow the queue too much
- The client does not need contact details
Many workflows use a Selection Screen to offer email, SMS, and QR and let the guest pick.
How the Email Step Fits in the Workflow
Place it after the media exists and, in most flows, after Preview:
- Capture and processing steps
- Save Final Photo
- Preview
- Print Copies, if printing
- Thank-you animation
- End Session
Notes on placement:
- Choose only media the workflow produces. An explicit Save Final Photo checkpoint guarantees the Final Photo exists at this exact point, but FMX can also prepare final media when a sharing step consumes it
- Put a short animation before it explaining what the guest is about to be asked for. Guests type more readily when they know why
- If your workflow includes a Disclaimer step with a marketing-consent checkbox, place it before the Email step so consent is recorded with the address
Consent and privacy
An email address is personal data. If the client intends to market to the list, use a Disclaimer step with a marketing-consent option rather than assuming consent from the fact that someone wanted their photo. See Guest Data and Privacy for how Foto Master handles guest data.
Why the Email Step Is Useful
For event operators:
- Delivers media without printing costs
- Produces the opt-in list that most brand clients are actually paying for
- Works offline: addresses are queued and sent when connectivity returns
For guests:
- Full-resolution files they can keep, unlike a compressed message attachment
- Everything from the session in one place
Common Mistakes
Requesting media the workflow never produces. Match the Email media list to the actual photo, video, and GIF outputs. Add Save Final Photo before Email when you need an explicit, fixed photo checkpoint.
No timeout at a busy event. An abandoned keyboard screen blocks the booth until an attendant intervenes.
Sending Raw Photo by default. Large files, no branding, and often an unflattering unprocessed image. Send Final media.
Forgetting the video or GIF. If the workflow produced one, add Final Video or Final GIF to the media list, or guests never receive it.
No skip route. Guests who do not want to give an address get stuck. Enable the skip button, the timeout, or both.
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