Do you have this where you stay? I don't ever recall hearing about it being used in Western countries, but it is insanely popular in many Asian countries.
Essentially, "Print Club" is a type of photobooth that originates from Japan. Most machines are Japanese in origin, but I've seen several of Korean make. Locally, in Singapore, it is known as "Neoprint", after the most common brand of machines here.
Machines are similar to normal photobooths but usually decorated mainly in various shades of pink. They are generally clustered in shops where the deco is, again, predominantly pink.
[Image: 4a120f2d.gif]
This is how a machine may look like, I can't find a photo of a print club shop online for some reason. This is a very old photo, I believe, as most machines now are a complete and enclosed booth for proper lighting and environment control, and all controls are done by touchscreen, rather than buttons. This one looks extremely low-tech.
Purpose of "Print Club" is very simple. It is a location mainly for teenage girls to take photos in silly poses for fun. Boys are less commonly seen in such locations except when they are the boyfriends of said girls and/or are being dragged in for fun. Still, target demographic is predominantly female, as seen from the decoration theme.
This supposedly originates from standard photobooths in japan; after taking photos together Japanese schoolgirls will write/draw on them with gel-pens. In fact, certain types of gel pen are specially designed for this purpose.
After taking photos with "Print Club", users will go to another small booth at the side to write/draw on it digitally.
[Image: yam433dd5cd16a8f-web.jpg]
The photos will be available on the screen and borders, glow effects, stamps, markers, brushes, etc. etc. will be available. Once finished, it will print out at the side as a sticker sheet. Scissors are provided at nearby tables/benches to cut it.
Sample output may look like this;
[Image: 7c420e3a.jpg]
(this is half the sheet, it's seldom done solo so the print-out is usually cut and shared)
Modern print-club booths are equipped with very good equipment. There is always extremely high-res digital camera and very good lighting within. There may be cushioned bench, poles to hang from, etc. etc., depending on the machine. Some may also have extra effects, such as mechanized automatic background changing with screens sliding up and down, or fans that blow strongly to give a "windy day" effect, etc. etc. Photos are printed on good quality glossy photo paper.
I believe the other main draw for these is the way it is run. There may be more than one camera, angle, etc. etc. and notification for the snapshot is very erratic, on purpose. It may even deliberately mislead to give a more candid shot for overall laughter. Consequently, it is very popular with teenagers in Asian regions.
In terms of price... locally, one sheet will cost S$10 which translates to about US$7 or so. If you consider the number of people who do this daily, and the number of shops/machines available... the total income is staggering.
Essentially, "Print Club" is a type of photobooth that originates from Japan. Most machines are Japanese in origin, but I've seen several of Korean make. Locally, in Singapore, it is known as "Neoprint", after the most common brand of machines here.
Machines are similar to normal photobooths but usually decorated mainly in various shades of pink. They are generally clustered in shops where the deco is, again, predominantly pink.
[Image: 4a120f2d.gif]
This is how a machine may look like, I can't find a photo of a print club shop online for some reason. This is a very old photo, I believe, as most machines now are a complete and enclosed booth for proper lighting and environment control, and all controls are done by touchscreen, rather than buttons. This one looks extremely low-tech.
Purpose of "Print Club" is very simple. It is a location mainly for teenage girls to take photos in silly poses for fun. Boys are less commonly seen in such locations except when they are the boyfriends of said girls and/or are being dragged in for fun. Still, target demographic is predominantly female, as seen from the decoration theme.
This supposedly originates from standard photobooths in japan; after taking photos together Japanese schoolgirls will write/draw on them with gel-pens. In fact, certain types of gel pen are specially designed for this purpose.
After taking photos with "Print Club", users will go to another small booth at the side to write/draw on it digitally.
[Image: yam433dd5cd16a8f-web.jpg]
The photos will be available on the screen and borders, glow effects, stamps, markers, brushes, etc. etc. will be available. Once finished, it will print out at the side as a sticker sheet. Scissors are provided at nearby tables/benches to cut it.
Sample output may look like this;
[Image: 7c420e3a.jpg]
(this is half the sheet, it's seldom done solo so the print-out is usually cut and shared)
Modern print-club booths are equipped with very good equipment. There is always extremely high-res digital camera and very good lighting within. There may be cushioned bench, poles to hang from, etc. etc., depending on the machine. Some may also have extra effects, such as mechanized automatic background changing with screens sliding up and down, or fans that blow strongly to give a "windy day" effect, etc. etc. Photos are printed on good quality glossy photo paper.
I believe the other main draw for these is the way it is run. There may be more than one camera, angle, etc. etc. and notification for the snapshot is very erratic, on purpose. It may even deliberately mislead to give a more candid shot for overall laughter. Consequently, it is very popular with teenagers in Asian regions.
In terms of price... locally, one sheet will cost S$10 which translates to about US$7 or so. If you consider the number of people who do this daily, and the number of shops/machines available... the total income is staggering.