Badges are essential for in-person events. They are an attendee's identification card to which you can add relevant information about your event. With Accelevents, you can design and print your badge.
Notes:
Zebra thermal printers are the most compatible printers for 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 from 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.
Please ensure you install the latest app version to see the latest updates.
This feature is not available for the Starter Plan.
If you're looking to set conditions on the badge, like dynamic text, hide or show elements, and other tips and tricks, check out this article.
Badge Design & Printing Guide
Create a Badge
Go to Registration > Badges
Select Custom Badge or one of the templates
Enter the Badge Name
Associate the badge with one or more Ticket Types.
If you selected a custom badge, enter the dimensions for your badge.
Click Create
Add Elements to the Badge
Use the left-side navigation menu on the Badge Designer page to start customizing items visible on your badge.
Widgets - event and attendee information that can be added to the badge. This includes order form answers, even from custom fields.
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 in the template, 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.
Note: Our Badge Designer is for simple designs and is not intended to replace professional graphic design tools like Photoshop or Canva. If our designer cannot produce the graphics you need, you may work on the graphics on another platform and then upload the image to your design.
Preview Your Badge
To see what your design would look like, click the Preview button. When you click Print Badge, this should print the sample badge if your compatible printer is connected. If not, it will show you a preview that you can save as PDF. We'll discuss printing more in Connect Your Printer.
Note: Please ensure you have a ticket when previewing and test printing a badge. The information on the badge will come from the currently logged-in user with a ticket. If you've added widgets, ensure that you also have answers in the order form so that it will show in the preview.
If you're unsatisfied with how items look in the badge preview (e.g., the content breaks into 2 lines or truncates), check out our tips and tricks to improve your design.
Settings to Check Before Printing a Test Badge
1. Assign a Ticket to a Badge
After designing your badge, make sure that your settings are correct to ensure that it prints out the attendee information to the badge.
In the first part of creating your badge, you were asked to select which ticket types will have this badge. You may not have created ticket types yet or completely skipped this part when you started designing. Make sure to go back and check.
2. Enable the Ticket Holder Fields
To have the attendee data printed on the badge, you must ensure that the ticket holder order form fields are enabled in your order form. If it's not enabled, the information will not be printed.
Go to Registration > Order Form
Turn on the toggle to Collect both Ticket Buyer and Ticket Holder Information.
Go to the Ticket Holder Tab
Include all the fields you need
Notes:
If you're collecting only ticket holder information, the badge will show only the data from the default order form fields. Answers from custom fields will not show.
There is a workaround: You can enable the fields in the ticket holder tab and add the answers to the ticket holder information in the Orders tab. Once the answers are added you can again turn on the toggle to collect only the ticket buyer information.
3. Set Your Print Resolution
This setting applies only to computer printing. Setting your print resolution is especially important for Zebra printers, which can be 203, 300, or 600 DPI. The setting determines the size of your printed badge.
Click the gear icon on the header
Select the correct DPI for your printer
Click Save
Connect Your Printer
Badges can be printed from printers connected to a laptop or iPad. To print from an iPad, you must install the Accelevents Admin App.
It will also work on iPhones and Androids; however, the badge size enlarges, and we are improving this phone feature.
Zebra thermal printers are the most compatible printers for 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.
Most event organizers like to print on the spot when the attendee checks in; some pre-print the badge's colored design and just have the name printed out during check-in for faster processing. Knowing how you want to print is important to determine which device you'll connect the printer to.
If you're having difficulty connecting your printer to the Admin App or want to print colored badges, downloading PrintNode to your laptop may be your answer. This feature works for iPad printing. You may need to check PrintNode's list of compatible printers to see if your printer will work with Accelevents.
Kiosk Check-In and Printing
If you're using a tablet for printing, you can turn on Kiosk Mode to allow attendees to self-check in and print.
Frequently Asked Questions
What printers do you recommend for badge printing?
Our badge printing is designed and compatible with Zebra Thermal Printers such as Zebra ZD420, 500, or 620 thermal printers.
Please do not use ZD 620 and 621 - 300 dpi, it has been known to cause issues with resizing.
If you're using a Zebra printer of the "GX" series, please consult us if it's not working; it may require a different SDK to integrate with our Admin App.
If you're not using the recommended Zebra Thermal Printers, you may still print through an iPad by installing PrintNode on your computer and integrating PrintNode into your event to make it work. Just make sure that your printer is compatible with PrintNode. We have worked with these compatible printers:
ZC10L
Brother C3500 and C4000
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 it on 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 using your laptop via the web interface.
If you have a thermal printer, it will use a thermal transfer ribbon, allowing it to print any kind of media just like a standard ink printer because the ribbon just transfers the ink onto the paper/media.
Is printing multiple badges on one sheet via a standard printer possible? Or will it only be one badge per page?
Our badges will print only one badge per page when using a standard printer. 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, it needs to use the same wifi network as the iPads you will use.
Does the printer need to be Wifi ready?
It doesn't necessarily need to support Wifi printing. It will work if the printer is plugged into a cell router via Ethernet.
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 currently available on iPad devices.
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. This may take 24 to 48 hours to process, please request ahead of time. You can use this data to bulk print outside of Accelevents.
You can use this site to convert the barcode ID to QR images: https://qrbatch.com/
How long does it take to print?
For Zebra direct thermal printers, it can finish printing a badge in about 7 seconds.
For other colored printers connected through PrintNode, it may take 20 seconds or more to print a badge, depending on the model of the printer and design of the badge.
We recommend pre-printing your colored design on the badges, and then on the event day, you can print the attendee information during check-in. This way, printing would be faster.