Advanced Snapshot & Video for Home Assistant

Advanced Snapshot is a custom integration for Home Assistant that allows you to automatically capture snapshots from cameras and customize them with personalized texts and crop options. This integration provides additional flexibility and customization for camera images used in Home Assistant.

Original Snapshot	Advanced Snapshot

🚀 Features

• Capture snapshots from any camera in your Home Assistant setup.
• Add custom text to the snapshots, with options for left, center, and right-aligned text.
• Add a customizable bar to the snapshot (position, color, height, etc.).
• Crop images before saving them.
• Save snapshots to a specified path and optionally create backups.

🔧 Installation - Using HACS

This integration is an official HACS Integration right now.

Open HACS then install the "advanced_snapshot" integration or use the link below.

If you use this method, your component will always update to the latest version.

Configuration

Go to Settings → Devices and Services and click on “+ ADD INTEGRATION”. Then search for “advanced_snapshot”.

🔧 Usage

After installation, you can use the advanced_snapshot service to capture snapshots or record videos from your camera entities. There are two available actions:

take_snapshot: Captures a snapshot from the camera.

record_video: Records a video using the camera.

You can call the desired action using the following YAML:

service: advanced_snapshot.take_snapshot
data:
  camera_entity_id: camera.your_camera_front_door
  file_path: frontdoor.jpg
  file_path_backup: "{{ now().strftime('%y%m%d')}}/{{now().strftime('%H%M%S')}}_frontdoor.jpg"
  crop: [100, 100, 400, 300]  # (x, y, width, height)
  crop_aspect_ratio: "16:9"
  rotate_angle: 90
  add_bar: true
  custom_text_left: "Front Door"
  custom_text_middle: "{{ states('sensor.garten_actual_temperature') }} °C"
  custom_text_right: "{{ now().strftime('%d.%m.%y %H:%M:%S') }}"
  setting_font_path: "Arial.ttf"
  setting_font_size: "auto"
  setting_font_color: "black"
  setting_bar_height: 7%
  setting_bar_color: "white"
  setting_bar_position: "bottom"

service: advanced_snapshot.record_video
data:
  camera_entity_id: camera.your_camera_front_door
  file_path: frontdoor.mp4
  file_path_backup: {{ now().strftime('%y%m%d')}}/{{now().strftime('%H%M%S')}}_frontdoor.mp4
  duration: 40
  crop: [100, 100, 400, 300]  # (x, y, width, height)
  crop_aspect_ratio: "16:9"

Parameters

• camera_entity_id (Required): The entity ID of the camera you want to capture a snapshot from.
• file_path (Required): The path where the snapshot will be saved can be either a relative or an absolute path. If a relative path is provided, it will be completed based on the configuration.
• file_path_backup (Optional): A backup path can be either a relative or an absolute path. If a relative path is provided, it will be completed based on the configuration.
• crop (Optional): Defines the cropping area as [x, y, width, height]. If an aspect ratio is set, height will be ignored.
• crop_aspect_ratio (Optional): Optional aspect ratio (e.g., '16:9'). If set, the height in 'crop' will be ignored and calculated automatically.
• rotate_angle (Optional): to rotate the snapshot (e.g. 90)
• add_bar (Optional): If set to true, a text bar will be added to the snapshot.
• custom_text_left, custom_text_middle, custom_text_right (Optional): Texts to be displayed on the left, center, and right of the bar.
• setting_font_path (Optional): The font path can be either a relative or an absolute path. If a relative path is provided, it will be completed based on the configuration. (defaults to Arial.ttf).
• setting_font_size (Optional): Font size for the text bar. (number oder 'auto')
• setting_font_color (Optional): Color of the text (default is black). You can use color names like white, black, etc., as well as RGB values in the format RGB(0,0,0).
• setting_bar_height (Optional): Height of the bar. (number or percentage, e.g., 40 or 50%)
• setting_bar_color (Optional): Color of the bar (default is white). You can use color names like white, black, etc., as well as RGB values in the format RGB(0,0,0).
• setting_bar_position (Optional): Position of the bar (top or bottom).

Response

success: true
file_path: /config/www/push/snapshot.jpg
backup_path: /config/www/backupsnapshots/250216_220954_snapshot.jpg
original_resolution:
  - 3840
  - 2160
final_resolution:
  - 1066
  - 640
error: null

💡 Troubleshooting

If the service does not work as expected, please ensure the following:

• The camera_entity_id is correct and the camera is functioning properly.
• The file_path is accessible and Home Assistant has permission to write to the directory.
• Ensure you are using the correct image file formats (e.g., PNG, JPG).
• If you're receiving errors with the text bar, verify the font file path and font size.

Contributing

If you find a bug or would like to contribute new features, please fork the repository and submit a pull request. Contributions are always welcome!

🙏 Donate

If you find this integration useful and want to support its development, feel free to make a donation:

Your support is greatly appreciated!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.