> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.captrid.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Photo Day (Webcam Capture)

> Capture photos against a session roster with a webcam, straight from the admin portal — with live framing guidance and optional auto-capture.

Photo Day turns the admin portal into a capture station. Instead of sending capturers out with the mobile app, a coordinator sits subjects in front of a webcam and works through the session roster: pick a person, capture, approve, next.

<Info>
  Photo Day runs entirely in your browser. You'll need a webcam (a laptop's built-in camera works; an external 1080p webcam gives better results) and camera permission granted to the site.
</Info>

## Opening Photo Day

1. Open your session and go to the **Submissions** tab.
2. Select **Photo Day** in the top-right.
3. Grant camera access when the browser asks.

<Frame caption="The Photo Day capture screen with the session roster on the left and the live viewfinder in the centre.">
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/captrid/images/admin-guide/photo-day-overview.png" alt="Photo Day screen showing a roster list of people on the left and a live webcam viewfinder with a head-and-shoulders outline guide in the centre." />
</Frame>

## Working the roster

The left panel lists everyone in the session. Filter by **To do**, **Pending**, or **Done**, or search by name or ID. Selecting a person makes them the capture target — their name shows beneath the viewfinder ("Capturing: …").

After each capture the roster refreshes, so you can watch the "captured" count climb as you work through the queue.

## Framing

The viewfinder draws a head-and-shoulders outline measured from real ID photos — ask the subject to fit their head to the outline with their eyes on the dashed line. The framing picker in the toolbar offers three presets:

| Preset               | Use for                                        |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| **Passport**         | Tight head shot — head fills most of the frame |
| **Head & shoulders** | Standard ID card photo (the default)           |
| **Half body**        | More distant framing with upper body visible   |

The picker opens on your organisation's configured framing default, and the outline matches what the server will produce — so a photo framed to the guide needs little or no cropping later.

## Live capture guidance

When your organisation has **AI capture assist** switched on (see [Organisation Settings](/admin-guide/organisation-settings)), Photo Day adds live guidance on top of the outline:

* A row of live checks — **Distance, Centred, Level, Facing, Eyes, Gaze** — each ticking green as the subject aligns.
* One instruction at a time beneath the viewfinder ("Move back", "Straighten your head", "Look at the camera"), always the most important fix first.
* The outline turns green when every check passes.

<Info>
  Guidance runs entirely on your device, in the browser. No image or video ever leaves the computer for guidance — face detection is used only to advise on framing, never to identify anyone. With AI capture assist switched off, Photo Day shows the static framing guide and skips detection altogether.
</Info>

## Capturing

Select **Snap** to capture. The shot appears for review with two choices:

* **Keep** — the photo is saved as a submission (and approved immediately if auto-approve is on).
* **Retake** — the shot is discarded (any saved copy is rejected automatically) and the live view returns.

### Auto-capture

Switch on **Auto-capture** in the toolbar and Photo Day fires the shutter for you: once every guidance check has held green for a moment, a three-second countdown runs above the caption and the photo is taken. Any check dropping out — the subject moving, looking away — cancels the countdown. Blinking doesn't.

Auto-capture requires AI capture assist, since it relies on the live checks.

### Auto-approve

With **Auto-approve** on, each kept capture is approved on the spot — the subject is done the moment the shutter fires. A newer approved photo automatically supersedes the previous one, and an auto-approved photo can still be rejected later from the review screen if you spot a problem.

## Quality scores

Seconds after each capture, the server scores the photo (sharpness, exposure, background, and — where enabled — face checks) and the verdict appears beside the review. See [Standardising Photos](/admin-guide/standardising-photos) for what the scores mean.

<Tip>
  The scoring engine wakes up as soon as you open Photo Day, so the first capture's score normally arrives within a few seconds. If a score shows as pending, it will still appear against the submission in the review tab shortly.
</Tip>

## Tips for a smooth session

* Set up against a plain, evenly lit background — [auto-standardise](/admin-guide/standardising-photos) can replace the backdrop later, but a clean source photo always finishes better.
* Position the webcam at the subject's eye level if you can; a camera looking up or down makes the "Facing" check harder to satisfy.
* Use **Auto-capture + Auto-approve** for long queues: subject sits, aligns, the countdown fires, next person.
* Keep an eye on the quality verdicts — a run of low scores usually means the lighting or camera focus has drifted.