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IMD Signage Studio · free Windows app

Make the show on your computer. Send it to the screen.

Free digital signage software for Windows, with no subscription and no account. It is made for the people who run the shop, the restaurant or the front desk: answer three questions, type your own words over ours, and put the show on your screen with a memory card, a USB stick or over the internet.

Download for Windows (6.0 MB)Install notes and help

Version
1.2.4
For
Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit
Size
6.0 MB (6,330,586 bytes)
SHA-256
73cc110cba7e334aaf1dc0ba9114e9196da59970b78de5ecc2bd0b56403d18ed

Not code-signed yet: Windows may warn you the first time it runs. What to click.

The app

This is what you get.

The first screen of IMD Signage Studio: the question "Is your screen tall or wide?" with two pictures to click, Tall like a poster and Wide like a TV.
It starts with three questions you answer by clicking a picture. No empty page, nothing to set up.
IMD Signage Studio with a menu slide open: two Add buttons on the left, the slide on a tall screen in the middle, and on the right a plain form to type your own words over the example words.
Change the words in a plain form. One line under the top bar always says what to do next.
The Watch it window in IMD Signage Studio playing a video slide inside a tall screen frame, with Back, Pause and Next buttons.
"Watch it" plays the whole show with its real timings before anything leaves the computer.
The window "Put My first show on your screen" in IMD Signage Studio asking how the show gets to the screen: on a memory card or USB stick, or over the internet.
One show, two ways to the screen: a card or stick you carry, or the internet.
The Connect a screen window in IMD Signage Studio: a drawing of a screen showing a six-character code, and a box to type that code and a name for the screen.
Connecting a screen takes one code: the screen shows it, you type it, once.
IMD Signage Studio after sending a show over the internet: the screen named Bench lobby says Showing it now.
Sent over the internet. Studio tells you when each screen is showing the new show.
The My screens page in IMD Signage Studio: one screen with a small picture of the show it is playing, connected, with the buttons Send a show, Write a message and More.
My screens: a picture of what each screen is playing and how it is doing, in plain words.
The Write a message window in IMD Signage Studio: the words We are closing soon, ready-made suggestions to click, a small picture of the message along the bottom of a tall screen, and a choice of 1, 5 or 10 minutes.
A short message along the bottom of the screen, for 1, 5 or 10 minutes: "We are closing soon".

Screenshots of IMD Signage Studio 1.2.4 on Windows. The slides in them are sample artwork.

Three steps

From a folder of pictures to a running screen.

Studio keeps your shows on your computer. A show is the set of slides a screen plays, over and over; make as many as you like.

  1. 01

    Make the show

    Answer three questions: is the screen tall or wide, where is it, and do you start from ready-made slides or your own pictures. Ready-made slides cover a menu, an offer, opening hours, a welcome, a guest Wi-Fi code and more; you type your own words over the examples.

  2. 02

    Watch it

    "Watch it" plays the show the way the screen will: the same order, the same timings, the same fade between slides.

  3. 03

    Put it on your screen

    Copy it onto a memory card or USB stick and carry it to the screen, or send it over the internet to the screens you have connected.

Two ways to the screen

A card you carry, or the internet.

The same show goes either way. A card needs nothing at the screen but a slot. The internet lets you change the screen from your desk, within the free service's limits.

QuestionMemory card or USB stickOver the internet
Network at the screenNone neededWi-Fi or a network cable
How the show gets thereYou carry the card or stick and put it inStudio sends it; the screen fetches it by itself
How fastThe new show starts within a few seconds of the card going inEach screen looks for a new show every 2 minutes
CheckingEvery file is read back from the card and checked, and the card is made safe to take outStudio says "Showing it now" when each screen has the new show
LimitsNone of the online limits: the card's free space is the limit25 screens, 200 MB of files in all, one file up to 25 MB
Several screensCarry the card to each screen in turnChoose the screens you want and send once
Going backCopy the older show onto the card again"Put back" on a screen sends the show it had before
A short message on the screenNot on a card"Write a message" puts a line of words along the bottom of the screen for 1, 5 or 10 minutes, and you can take it off sooner
Player neededIMD Signage PlayerIMD Signage Player 1.1.0 or newer

A screen that is connected over the internet still plays a card while the card is in, and goes back to its internet show when the card comes out.

What you need

A computer, a screen and the player.

A Windows computer

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. A card reader or a USB port for cards and sticks, and an internet connection if you send shows over the internet.

An IMD Signage display

Studio makes shows for our screens, tall or wide. See the IMD Signage displays.

IMD Signage Player

The free player on the screen plays the show. Connecting a screen over the internet needs IMD Signage Player 1.1.0 or newer.

Help

Install, connect, send.

How do I install Studio?

Download the installer (6.0 MB) and open it. It installs for your own Windows user. It needs Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Studio uses the Microsoft WebView2 component that Windows 11 already has; on a computer without it, the installer downloads it, so that first install needs the internet.

Windows says "Windows protected your PC". What do I do?

The installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen shows this warning the first time it runs. Click More info, then Run anyway. To be sure the file is ours, compare its fingerprint before you run it: in PowerShell, Get-FileHash followed by the file name prints a SHA-256 that must match 73cc110cba7e334aaf1dc0ba9114e9196da59970b78de5ecc2bd0b56403d18ed, the value in the .sha256 file.

How do I connect a screen?

Connect the screen to Wi-Fi or a network cable. With nothing to play, IMD Signage Player shows Connect this screen and a code of six letters and numbers (Player 1.1.0 says "Link this screen"; it is the same thing). In Studio, open My screens, press Connect a screen, type the code and give the screen a name such as Window or Counter. A code is replaced after a day, so type the one the screen shows now.

My screen shows no code.

A screen that is busy playing shows no code. Tap the top left corner of the screen five times quickly (with a remote, hold the Back button for three seconds), type the staff code and choose Connect to IMD Signage Studio ("Link to IMD Signage Studio" on Player 1.1.0). An older player has no such choice: put Player 1.1.0 or newer on the screen from the player page first. Or, in Connect a screen, open My screen shows no code. What do I do? and choose Make a connect card instead: Studio writes a small connect card onto a memory card or USB stick. Put it into the screen once, with the network connected, wait a minute, then take it out. The connect card holds no pictures. A screen with no network at all cannot be connected; put its show on a card instead.

How do I put a show on a memory card or USB stick?

Plug a microSD card (in a reader) or a USB stick into the computer. Studio notices it and offers to copy your show onto it. Or press Put it on my screen and choose On a memory card or USB stick. Studio copies the show, reads every file back to check it, and makes the card safe to take out. If a ready-made slide still has our example words, Studio asks you to have a look first. Put the card into the screen and the new show starts within a few seconds; after a minute you can take it out or leave it in. Use a card the way it comes from the store (FAT32 or exFAT); many screens cannot read a card set up as NTFS, and Studio warns you about one. Nothing else on the card is erased except an older show. Under More options you can also save the show as a folder named IMD_SIGNAGE and copy it to a card yourself.

Can I put a short message on the screen?

Yes, on a screen connected over the internet. Open My screens and press Write a message. Type a few words such as "Back soon" and choose 1, 5 or 10 minutes. The words appear along the bottom of the screen within about two minutes, on top of the show, and go away by themselves. Changed your mind? Take the message off, on the same page, removes them sooner (with Player 1.1.2 the words simply go; an older player shows the name of the screen for three seconds as they go). For anything that should stay longer, make a slide.

What happens when the internet is down?

The screen keeps playing the show it holds. A screen that is not connected when you send a show gets it as soon as it is connected again. If our online service cannot be reached, screens keep playing what they have. A card works with no network at all, and a connected screen plays a card while it is in, then goes back to its internet show when the card comes out.

How do I move to another computer?

Your screens belong to a private key that Studio makes the first time you connect a screen. On the old computer open Settings, then Moving to another computer, and copy The key to your screens. On the new computer open the same place, choose Use a key from another computer and paste it: the new computer then manages the same screens. Whoever holds the key can change what your screens show, so keep it somewhere safe. Your shows are kept on the computer itself: Settings shows where. Copy that folder to take your shows along or to back them up.

Which files can I use?

Pictures: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP and AVIF. Video: MP4, M4V, MOV, WebM, MKV, AVI and WMV. PDF: each page becomes a slide, up to 200 pages. PowerPoint, Keynote and Word files: save or export them as PDF first. iPhone HEIC photos: save them as JPG first. Studio turns each picture slide into a JPEG at the screen's exact size. A video the screen cannot play is converted on the computer to H.264 MP4, at most Full HD and 30 frames a second. Over the internet one file may be up to 25 MB, so shorten a long video or put that show on a card, where there is no limit.

How do I update Studio?

Studio looks for a newer version by itself a few seconds after it starts. When one is ready, an Update button appears; installing takes a few seconds, Studio restarts by itself and your shows stay as they are. You can also look from Settings, Look for a newer version.

How do I uninstall it?

Open Windows Settings, then Apps, find IMD Signage Studio and choose Uninstall. If you want to keep your shows, copy the folder shown in Studio's Settings first, and keep a copy of the key to your screens. Screens that already play a show keep playing it.

What the free service keeps

  • No account and no email address. Your screens belong to the key Studio keeps on your computer.
  • The files of shows you send over the internet. Files no screen has used for 30 days are removed.
  • For each connected screen: its name, model, player version and when it last checked in. A message you write on a screen is kept until the screen has shown it.
  • Network addresses only as a shortened fingerprint, to limit how often anyone can call the service.
  • Limits today: 25 screens, 200 MB of files and one file up to 25 MB. Screens check for a new show every 2 minutes. Cards and sticks have none of these limits.
  • The service is free and comes with no promise of uptime. A screen keeps playing the show it holds when the service cannot be reached. We may switch off a key that abuses the service; its screens keep their last show.

Something not covered here?

Write to [email protected] and say which screen and which version of Studio you have. More about the screens themselves is on the questions page.