Event badges enhance the attendee experiences while providing essential functionality for event organizers. Badges are necessary for security, and they facilitate check-in and networking.
Guidebook’s Badges feature allows you to create professional, customized event badges that integrate with your attendee data to save you time. Simply design your badge in Guidebook Builder. Then, export the badge files for printing at home or with our partner Billy’s Badges.
You do not have to publish a guide to use the badges feature. Guidebook’s mobile app offering is separate. You are welcome to use the guide, the Event Marketing Website, and/or the Registration platform to give your attendees a seamless experience before, during, and after your event.
Design Professional Badges In Minutes
From your guide dashboard, click Event Badges.
On the Design tab, first choose your printing method: (a) print with our partner Billy’s Badges or (b) print at home. There are a few differences in the badge configuration that depend on your printing plan; be sure to confirm this selection before going further.
Once you’ve decided how you will print your badges, finalize your export options.
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Next, customize the content for the front of the badges. The front of the badge will contain each user’s information and a header image, if provided. The user information will be populated according to the data provided in Audience Management (learn more here).
- First name (Required)
- Last name
- Role
- Organization
- Badge Type
- Guidebook ID QR code (Required)
If you choose to upload a header image, this image will appear on all badges.
Then, customize the content for the back of the badges. The back of the badge will contain universal information provided by the event organizer.
- Custom header
- Custom text
- App QR code
- App download header
- App download text
Typical content includes app-download instructions, wifi access, or sponsor messages.
Lastly, customize your badge branding. Choose a Background, Text, and Accent color.
When you click Save on the Design tab, the preview will update. This is a great way to experiment with your badge design before printing.
Badge Types For Quick Identification
With badge types, you can display a colorful label on certain users’ badges. Examples of Badge Types include “First Time Attendee”, “Gold Sponsor”, and “Staff”.
Click New to create a badge type. Give it a name and assign a color.
You will be able to assign Users to Badge Types in the next step.
Review Before Printing
The Review tab will be populated after Users have been added under Audience Management.
The columns on the Review tab will correspond to the fields enabled on the Design tab.
Now it’s time to review the badge data before exporting and printing.
Addressing Warnings
Builder will flag empty fields and fields that exceed the character limit. You can then customize what will be displayed on that user’s badge. Note: Changes to the badge data will not update the user’s profile information.
Assigning Badge Types
Now you can assign users to Badge Types. You can do this in bulk or individually.
Exporting badges
Click to Export badges and then select which badges you would like: all, or those not yet exported. You may choose to export badges by type as well.
The badge export file will be a PDF. Check “Include badge data CSV” if you would like a spreadsheet of the badge data; this would be most helpful for teams who want their users’ Guidebook ID QR Codes for designing and printing their own badges.
You will receive an email with the requested file(s).
If you are printing at home, simply print the PDF. If you are printing with our partner, Billy’s Badges, visit https://guidebook.billysbadges.com/ to finalize your order, upload the PDF file, and check out.
Using the badge data CSV for custom badge printing
If you're designing your own badges rather than using Guidebook's built-in PDF export, the badge data CSV gives you everything you need to add scannable QR codes to them. Here's how it works.
To do this:
- Upload your users to your guide's Users list. For details, see Invite Your Users.
- Go to the Badges section of your guide and review your badges.
- When exporting your badges, make sure to check Include badge data CSV. For details, see Exporting Badges.
- Open the CSV file. Each row contains the URL for that user's Guidebook ID: Guidebook ID QR Code URL.
- Visit the Guidebook QR Code Generator, paste the URLs (one per line), and generate QR codes for each user.
- Download the QR codes as PNG or SVG files, and incorporate them into your custom badge design.
What's in the CSV
The CSV contains one row per attendee, with their badge information (name, role, organization, badge type) alongside a column titled Guidebook ID QR Code URL. Despite the column name, this value isn't a traditional web URL — it's the unique encoded data that Guidebook's app uses to identify each attendee for networking and check-in features.
Generating QR codes from the CSV
You can drop the values from the Guidebook ID QR Code URL column directly into any QR code generator that supports bulk creation. Most accept either a CSV upload or a pasted list, and many will produce a zip of individual QR images you can place into your badge template. There's no website prefix to add and no formula to apply — paste or import the values as-is and the resulting QR codes are ready to print.
How the QR codes work onsite
The QR codes you print on your badges power two in-app features: Guidebook ID networking (attendees scan each other's badges to view profiles and connect) and check-in scanning (event staff scan badges for session attendance verification). Both are accessed through the Guidebook app's built-in scanner, found in the navigation menu next to the user's avatar.
Important: These QR codes will only scan through the Guidebook app — they won't resolve when scanned by a regular phone camera or a third-party QR reader. This is by design, and it's what keeps your attendees' profile data private to your event.
To make sure scanning works smoothly onsite, encourage your attendees to download the Guidebook app and log into your guide before they arrive at the event.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which badge sizes or dimensions are supported?
The following dimensions are supported for professional service printing:
- 4” x 3”
- 4” x 6”
The following dimensions are supported for print at home badges: - 3.5” x 2.25”
- 4” x 3”
- 4.25” x 3.5”
- 2.75” x 4.25”
- 3” x 4”
- 3.5” x 5.5”
- 4” x 6”
- 6” x 8”
How many badges will print per sheet of paper?
For print at home, letter paper size:
| Badge size (in) | Badges per sheet (front and back) |
|---|---|
| 4” x 3” | 3 |
| 4” x 6” | 1 |
| 3.5” x 2.25” | 4 |
| 4.25” x 3.5” | 1 |
| 2.75” x 4.25” | 2 |
| 3” x 4” | 2 |
| 3.5” x 5.5” | 1 |
For print at home, A4 paper size:
| Badge size (in) | Badges per sheet (front and back) |
|---|---|
| 4” x 3” | 3 |
| 4” x 6” | 1 |
| 3.5” x 2.25” | 4 |
| 4.25” x 3.5” | 1 |
| 2.75” x 4.25” | 2 |
| 3” x 4” | 2 |
| 3.5” x 5.5” | 2 |
What are the dimensions for the header image?
The dimension for your header image depend on the badge size.
| Badge size (in) | Header image dimensions |
|---|---|
| 4” x 3” | 879px wide by 200px tall |
| 4” x 6” | 347px wide by 200px tall |
| 3.5” x 2.25” | 1139px wide by 200px tall |
| 4.25” x 3.5” | 768px wide by 200px tall |
| 2.75” x 4.25” | 342px wide by 200px tall |
| 3” x 4” | 403px wide by 200px tall |
| 3.5” x 5.5” | 331px wide by 200px tall |
Do I have to purchase an app/guide to use Guidebook Badges?
No, you do not have to publish a guide to use the badges feature. Guidebook’s mobile app offering is separate. However, you are welcome to use the guide, the Event Marketing Website, and/or the Registration platform to give your attendees a seamless experience before, during, and after your event.
Why doesn't the Guidebook ID QR Code URL open as a webpage?
Despite the column name, the values in the Guidebook ID QR Code URL column aren't traditional web URLs and won't load in a browser. They're the unique encoded data that the Guidebook app uses to identify each attendee for networking and check-in features. To put them to use, paste the values directly into a QR code generator (no prefix needed) and print the resulting QR codes on your badges. See Using the badge data CSV for custom badge printing for full instructions.
Can attendees scan each other's badges with a regular phone camera?
No — the Guidebook ID QR codes only work when scanned through the Guidebook app's built-in scanner, which lives in the navigation menu next to the user's avatar. Standalone phone cameras and third-party QR readers won't recognize the codes. This is by design and keeps your attendees' profile data private to your event. To make sure scanning works smoothly onsite, encourage attendees to download the Guidebook app and log into your guide before they arrive.
Can I export QR codes for individual users' Guidebook IDs?
Guidebook does not provide a direct export of QR codes for individual user Guidebook IDs. However, when you export your badges with the badge data CSV, the CSV will contain the URL for each user's Guidebook ID. You can use those URLs with the Guidebook QR Code Generator to create QR codes for your own custom badge designs. See Using the Badge Data CSV for Custom Badge Printing for the full walkthrough.