Having badges is essential for in-person events. A badge will be an attendee's identification card to which you can add relevant information about your event. With Accelevents, you can design your badge and print it too!
Notes:
Only Zebra thermal printers are compatible with badge printing. We have integrated the Zebra “Link-OS Multiplatform SDK” into our Admin Mobile App. Click here for more information about the SDK with the list of supported printers.
Printing through an iPad is the recommended way to print. When printing through a mobile phone, the badge size enlarges; we are working on improving this feature on phones.
If you print from your laptop or computer through a Zebra printer, an additional application is needed. Please submit the form on this page to download the application. If you're using a Mac, you can also request access to the application here.
Designing the badge will allow you to add color. However, it will be in black and white (thermal printer) when you print it.
If you don't have a Zebra printer connected, a PDF file of the badge will be downloaded to your computer when you try to print. It will create that PDF in color, and you can use that file to print it on a regular ink printer. This is good for one-off prints from your laptop.
Our Badge Designer is for simple designs and is not intended to replace professional graphic design tools like Photoshop or Canva.
This feature is not available for the Starter Plan.
Badge Printing Guide
Design Your Badge
Login to your admin console and go to Registration > Badges
Select one of the preset badge template sizes or create a custom-sized badge.
Enter your Badge Name and associate it with one or more Ticket Types. If you create a custom badge, enter the dimensions for your badge.
Once in the Badge Designer, use the left-side navigation menu to start customizing items visible on your badges.
Widgets - add information that will be populated with attendee or event data.
Shapes - choose and adjust different shapes, sizes, colors, and border weights.
Text - add customized text and change the font, size, colors, and alignment.
Images - Upload images that will appear on your badges.
Click the element once to add it to the template. If the element is selected, you will see the options to customize it on the left side menu. To delete an element, click the trash icon or drag it outside the template.
To see what your design would look like, click the Preview button.
Design Tips
The profile picture will print in black, not grayscale, so some images may not be recognizable.
Zebra printers are not incredibly precise, so if you're adding frames to encase a widget, give it a little padding so it doesn't overlap. (e.g., adding a box frame around the QR code)
If the text is too long, it truncates when you print it, click on the text box and hit shift+enter to create a second line.
If you do not want to show your attendees' full names, there is a setting under the Full Name widget to show only the last name initials.
Set Your Print Resolution
Setting your print resolution is especially important for Zebra printers because they can be 203, 300, or 600 DPI, and the setting determines the size of your printed badge.
Click the gear icon on the upper right header
Select the correct DPI for your printer
Click Save
Print Your Badge
Our badge printing is designed to print a single badge per page. We recommend using a Label Printer such as a Zebra ZD420, 500, or 620 thermal printer.
If you don't have a Zebra printer connected, a PDF file of the badge will be downloaded to your computer when you try to print. It will create that PDF in color, and you can use that file to print it on a regular ink printer. This is good for one-off prints from your laptop.
Print a Sample Badge
To print a sample of your badge template, click Print Badge from the upper right header.
Print Attendee Badges Through the Admin Console
Go to Attendees > Check in Attendees
Search for the attendee
Click Print Badge
Print Attendee Badges Through the Staff Portal
Go to your event landing page
Click Event Staff
Click Check in Attendees
Search for the attendee
Click Print Badge
Print Attendee Badges Through the iPad Admin App
Badge printing can be done in the iPad admin app when an attendee checks in. To make this work, you must connect your printer via wifi or LAN and enable kiosk mode in the iPad admin app.
Part 1: Connect the Printer
Log in to the admin app.
Click the menu icon [ Ξ ] in the upper left corner
Choose Settings > Printing
Make sure the toggle for “Enable Printing” is turned on
Connect to a printer via wifi or LAN by adding your Network Printer IP address.
For Zebra printers, the port number is 6101.
Tap the Connect Printer button.
Part 2: Check-in and Print
Click the menu icon [ Ξ ] in the upper left corner
Choose Check In Attendee
From your Active Events page, you can choose an event to manage.
Select Event Check In
Click Check In. This will automatically check in the attendee and print the badge.
Print Through the Kiosk
The Kiosk feature makes check-in faster and hassle-free for attendees. They can scan their QR code or search for their registration through the kiosk to check in and print their badge.
To enable kiosk mode, click Activate Kiosk Mode from the iPad admin app's Event Check-In page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What printers do you recommend for badge printing?
Our badge printing is designed for a Label Printer such as a Zebra ZD420, 500, or 620 thermal printer.
If you're using a "GX" series Zebra printer, please consult us if it's not working; it may require a different SDK to integrate with our Mobile App.
Some printers may not work with the Mobile App, like Epson, because the SDK is not compatible, but it should work fine if you're printing through your laptop via a web browser.
What printers do you recommend for printing wristbands?
The Zebra printers mentioned above can handle wristband-size media.
I want to print a badge sheet using a standard printer. Is that possible?
Yes, it is possible to print to a standard printer. However, the system is designed to print a single badge per page, unlike labels for an envelope.
If you plan on using a standard printer and want badge sheets that hold multiple badges on one sheet page, we recommend using a label printing tool to print your badges.
An Epson printer will not work using our Mobile App, but it should work if you're using your laptop via the web interface.
If you have a thermal printer, it will use a thermal transfer ribbon, which allows it to print any kind of media just like a standard ink printer would use because the ribbon just transfers the ink onto the paper/media.
Is it possible to print multiple badges on one sheet via a standard printer? Or will it only be one badge per page?
When using a standard printer, our badges will print only one badge per page. Our badge printing is designed for a Label Printer such as a Zebra ZD420, 500, or 620 thermal printer.
We don't want to buy a printer, can you provide one?
We don't provide them. However, you can rent them from Choose2Rent, where most of our clients borrow printers.
What can I do if the printed result is not as precise as my design?
Label printers can vary in the precision of their prints, both horizontally and vertically. Some variation is expected.
You can use the printer's built-in print adjustment settings to dial in the location of the print.
Does the printer have to be on the same network as the iPad when checking in attendees?
Yes, if you are using an IP connection to the Printer. If you can't use an IP connection, you can connect to the printer using Bluetooth. However, note that there are inherent stability issues with Bluetooth and a limit of 30 feet distance between the device printing and the printer. We recommend using an IP connection if at all possible.
Does the printer need to be Wifi or Bluetooth-ready?
It doesn't necessarily need to support Wifi or Bluetooth. It will work if the printer is plugged into a cell router via Ethernet. Connection type doesn't matter for printing compatibility.
When checking people in, do I need to connect the iPad to the internet?
Yes, the Accelevents Admin App looks up attendee information from the cloud and needs to be connected to the internet.
Being connected to the internet also lets all your devices know who has already checked in and prevents multiple check-ins or badge prints by the same person.
Why can't I find the Kiosk mode on the Admin Mobile App?
Kiosk Mode is only available on iPad devices currently.
What is DPI?
DPI stands "for "Dots Per "Inch" and is a measurement of the resolution of a printer. Lower resolutions print faster and can use less ink. Higher resolutions are slower but result in a higher-quality printout.
Can Accelevents bulk print badges?
Currently, no, but we can provide you a CSV file by request with all your attendee's barcode IDs that you can convert to a QR code. You can use this data to bulk print outside of Accelevents.