Photo to Phone - General
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General Info
Darkroom Booth allows direct uploading to a phone by text message in two ways. One requires an outside service called Twillio. A Twillio account will provide a phone number that the images will come from. You can get more information about Twillio here. The second way does not require any outside services and uses your email account to send those messages. The difference to the user is if you use Twillio they only need to enter their phone number but with the email option they enter the number plus select their phone carrier like AT&T, Sprint, etc. Most major carriers are per-configured but the list is editable so you can add or remove carriers that are not in your area.
To set up Photo to Phone go to the Settings tab and check the box for Photo to Phone to enable. Then click on the button next to the check box. In the setup dialog you can set the following options;
- Select the provider. Currently only Twillio is supported. If left blank it will use the email option where the user selects the carrier. You must have a send email account set up for this option.
- Select the file size to be sent. For most phones medium will be the best option.
- You can also add a separate template that will be applied. This option will allow a different template than the default. Such as one formatted for the phone screen instead of the default strip. If left blank it will be sent with the default template like the print.
Important Info
Please note that sending images to a phone number is dependent on outside services that Darkroom has no control over. Government regulations to reduce Spam text messages have impacted services like Twilio requiring registration and approval to continue. Darkroom offers two methods to send an image to a phone number.
Twilio – This option uses the outside service Twilio to send to a phone number. There are several links in the chain and Darkroom sends the image to an online storage temporarily and the text message to Twilio. Then Twilio sends that on to the phone carrier (e.g., Verizon, ATT, etc.) with the image location. Next, the carrier sends that information on to the end user’s phone. New government regulations require users to register their business and the intended use of the number and receive approval to continue. The use of services like Twilio will also be subject to a higher level of scrutiny in the future and may be blocked.
Carrier Selection - This method uses a feature that most cell carriers in the US offer where a phone number is appended with a carrier specific domain, for example, ###-###-####@mms.att.net for AT&T. The image is sent as an attachment to the email server then from there to the phone carrier. This method is subject to the scrutiny of the cell carrier and may be flagged as Spam or blocked because the attachment exceeds the size allowed. We have also seen instances where an image may not be delivered for some time, possibly hours later.
Twilio – This option uses the outside service Twilio to send to a phone number. There are several links in the chain and Darkroom sends the image to an online storage temporarily and the text message to Twilio. Then Twilio sends that on to the phone carrier (e.g., Verizon, ATT, etc.) with the image location. Next, the carrier sends that information on to the end user’s phone. New government regulations require users to register their business and the intended use of the number and receive approval to continue. The use of services like Twilio will also be subject to a higher level of scrutiny in the future and may be blocked.
Carrier Selection - This method uses a feature that most cell carriers in the US offer where a phone number is appended with a carrier specific domain, for example, ###-###-####@mms.att.net for AT&T. The image is sent as an attachment to the email server then from there to the phone carrier. This method is subject to the scrutiny of the cell carrier and may be flagged as Spam or blocked because the attachment exceeds the size allowed. We have also seen instances where an image may not be delivered for some time, possibly hours later.
There is no 100% guaranteed method of email or text delivery. As a software developer Darkroom has no control over those 3rd party companies and carriers. Bearing this in mind, Darkroom recommends that our users set realistic expectations with regards to digital delivery. Online galleries such as Eventgallery.com are one way to avoid situations where images are not delivered. With this method, users are sent to a website or “gallery” to download their images direct to their phone.
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