Add text, QR codes, images and shapes to a badge

Click Add element in the Badge designer and pick a type. Select anything already on the canvas to edit it in Selected element.

Text

The main content of any badge.

Set Font, Weight, size, Align and V-align, uppercase, and colours.

Text supports merge tags, which is how a single template prints a different name for every attendee — see Put attendee details on a badge.

Sizing that works in practice: first name 24pt or more, organisation around 12pt, everything else smaller. If it does not fit, remove something rather than shrinking everything.

QR code

Set Encodes to either:

• Check-in token (scans at the door) — the default and almost always right. This is what the Check-in page and the exhibitors' lead scanners read.
• Custom URL template — a link of your own, for a badge that should open a website when scanned by a phone.

Make it at least 20mm square and keep it clear of other elements.

Image

A fixed image, by URL. Your event logo, a sponsor mark.

Set Fit to contain (whole image visible) or cover (fills the box, edges cropped), and a corner radius.

Attendee photo

A per-person image pulled from a Registration field — whichever file upload field on your form collects their photo.

Only useful if you actually asked for a photo at registration. If most people skipped it, expect gaps.

Shape

Rectangles, ellipses and lines with a stroke and stroke width.

The most valuable use is a solid colour band across the top or bottom, coloured per attendee type. It is the fastest way to identify someone at a distance.

Layers

Layers controls what sits in front of what. Raise or lower the selected element.

Backgrounds and shapes go at the bottom; text and QR codes on top. If text has disappeared, it is behind a shape — raise it.

What happens next

Everything is positioned in true millimetres, so the canvas is what prints. Save, then print a test badge on the real stock.

Common problems

Text vanished. It is behind a shape. Raise it in Layers.

A merge tag prints as literal text. The tag is misspelled or that field is empty for the test attendee. See Put attendee details on a badge.

The photo box is empty. That attendee never uploaded one, or the wrong registration field is selected.

The QR will not scan. Too small, too close to another element, or too little contrast. Black on white, 20mm, with clear space.

An element will not move where you want it. Check the safe margin — content outside it will be trimmed.