Name tags from Excel

Add a Company column if people come from different organizations, and a Title column if job titles matter at your event. When the list has First Name and Last Name columns, the tool puts them together on the first line of the badge with a space between; a single Name column goes on the first line as it is. Keep names in their own cells rather than joining them in Excel first, so you can still choose later to print the first name alone.

Registration exports usually carry more than a badge needs: email, phone, ticket type, dietary notes. There is no need to delete them from the file. The starting layout gives the next few columns a line each, in the order the sheet has them, so delete the lines you do not want printed in step 2. If the list also holds street addresses, the tool assumes you want a mailing label and lays the address out; delete those lines too.

Check spelling and capitals in the sheet, not on the printed badge. Each name prints exactly as its cell has it, so a list typed in capitals prints in capitals. If registrations came in through a Google Form linked to a spreadsheet, the answers are already in Google Sheets: copy the columns you need and paste them into step 1, as labels from Google Sheets describes.

A badge is read from a few steps away, often at an angle and in passing, so the name has to win at a glance. That is the case for keeping to two or three lines: every extra line takes height the name could have used, and the company and title are there for someone already standing in front of you. At networking events some organizers put the first name alone on line one, so it can be larger still, with the last name underneath.

To change sizes, open More options in step 2 and use Size and alignment per line. The Text size box above it sets every line at once, which flattens the difference between the name and the company. If most of your guests have short first names, try 28 or 32 point for line one and check the longest name in the preview; per-line sizes go up to 36 point.

A name too wide for the badge is set smaller on its own line, so one long name does not shrink everyone else’s. If it still does not fit at the smallest size, it is cut short with an ellipsis and the download tells you. When the lines together are too tall for the badge, they are scaled down together. Either way, the preview shows it before you print.

The PDF uses Helvetica, or Noto Sans for letters Helvetica lacks, regular and bold, in black. There are no script or decorative fonts, so for calligraphy-style wedding badges a design program is the better route.

Avery 5395 is the adhesive name badge this page opens on. Avery’s own help page says the same template serves 8395, 15395, 25395, 42395, 45395, 85395, 88395 and 92106, so if one of those numbers is on your pack, choose 5395 in step 3. Avery also notes that badges with a colored border use slightly different templates, so give those a plain-paper test before a full run.

Insert cards are in the same list, under Name badges. Avery 5390 has eight name badge inserts to a sheet and Avery 5392 has six larger 3 by 4 inch inserts; both are printed flat, then separated and slid into holders. Choose the one printed on your pack, and the sheet in the preview changes to match.

Heavier insert stock often feeds more reliably from a printer’s manual or rear tray, one sheet at a time. Whatever the stock, print at actual size with “Fit to page” turned off; a small shrink moves each row of badges further from its cut than the row above.

Badges print in the order of your rows: across the sheet, down it, then on to the next sheet. Sort by last name in Excel (Data, Sort) and the printed stack comes out alphabetical, which is what a check-in table wants. Sort by company first if badges go out in groups.

A few hundred guests are no more work than ten. The preview pages through every sheet, and the summary in step 4 says how many badges and sheets there will be before you download. The tool reads the first 5,000 rows of a list.

Late registrations do not need a fresh sheet. Copy the header row with the new names, paste them in, then open “Printing on a partly used sheet?” in step 3 and pick the first badge still on the sheet.

Adhesive badges are single-use, so a two-day event may need two per person: add a column holding the number each guest needs and choose it under Copies of each row in More options. For staff or volunteers, a layout with no columns in it, such as just the word VOLUNTEER, prints the same text on every badge and lets you choose how many; the starting number fills the rest of one sheet. Keep a few blank badges and a marker at the desk for walk-ins.

Start from a blank document. On the Mailings tab choose Start Mail Merge, then Labels, set Label vendors to Avery US Letter and pick 5395. Select Recipients attaches your workbook, Insert Merge Field places the name and company in the first badge, and Update Labels copies that badge to the rest of the sheet. Then Preview Results and Finish & Merge. Microsoft’s own steps are in Print labels for your mailing list.

The extra step for badges is formatting. Select the name field in the first badge and make it large and bold before you click Update Labels, so every copy inherits it, and center the text in the cell. The mail merge labels guide covers the usual failures and their fixes.