Setting Up Your First Badge in Secure

When you are setting up AlphaCard Visitor Pass, one of the first tasks will be setting up your templates so you can print visitor badges. This guide will show you how to use the tools included in AlphaCard Visitor Pass to create your first badge.

Setting Up Your First Badge

1. Click on the Configuration tab.
2. Click on the New Badge icon.
3. The badge designer will open to a new blank template.
4. Before anything else, you will want to make sure the badge dimensions are correct for your style of visitor badge. Start by clicking on the Paper Icon in the upper left corner of AlphaCard Visitor Pass.
5. Then click Page Set Up.
6. The page set up window will open. Select the Template tab.
7. In this screen, set the Default Printer to the printer that you are using. Also, set the paper size to the badge size that you want. CR80 being by far the most common badge. Click OK once these have been set.
8. Once you have your page size set, click on the Insert tab to start adding objects to your new card design.
9. To add a text field, click on the text tool and then use it to draw a text box on your blank template.
10. The Text box properties window will pop up. This is where you can enter fixed text, link data fields, change font and font size, and change the alignment.
11. The default source is “fixed” text. You can change the source to a database field in the source drop down.
12. The concatenate button allows you to combine multiple database fields into one text box on the card design.
13. The prefix and suffix fields allow you to add fixed text around the variable database field information. This is incredibly useful if you want a field title on the card, or the ID numbers always start with the same values.
14. You can move or resize the text object once it is added to the badge design. Simply click on the text object and drag it anywhere you would like it to be positioned.
15. To resize, click and drag on one of the corner boxes and stretch it to the desired size.
16. Click on the Image button to add a photo or other variable images, logo, or any other fixed images. To add an image onto the card, draw a box onto the card, exactly as if you were adding a text box.
17. The insert new object window will open. This is where you can add a logo or select a photo column to add to your badge design. Choose fixed image from the image type if you would like to add a Logo. Click the … button to the right of the image path to set the path for your fixed image.
18. Once that is set, AlphaCard Visitor Pass will load in the selection of images so you can choose which one looks correct. Click on the correct image, and then click close.
19. Use the same process to add a Photo to the badge design. Choose Photo as the image type and then choose Photo from the Database drop down menu. This will store the photo in the database when you enter a new person during data entry. You can repeat this for any specific image type that you need. In all cases, AlphaCard Visitor Pass includes a specific column in the database that it should be linked to.
20. You can move or resize the photo object once it is added to the badge design. Simply click on the photo object and drag it anywhere you would like it to be positioned. To resize, click and drag on one of the corner boxes and stretch it to the desired size.
21. To add a barcode to your design, click on the Linear Barcode tool and then use it to draw a box on your template.
22. The barcode properties window will open. Please select the barcode symbology that your scanners can read. If you do not know, we recommend using code 39, as it is the most used symbology.
23. Select the database column with the information in it. We recommend using the provided barcode database field for your barcode.
24. You can move or resize the barcode object once it is added to the badge design. Simply click on the barcode object and drag it anywhere you would like it to be positioned. To resize, click and drag on one of the corner boxes and stretch it to the desired size.
    
25. Repeat the above instructions as needed until you have all the objects that you need on your card design.
26. Once you are done, click the blue box in the top left hand corner of your screen.
27. Click on Save to save the design.
28. Name the design, and click Save.
29. Exit the designer. Your template should now be shown in the bottom left hand corner of the software as the preview.
30. If it is not, go to the Configuration tab of the software.
31. Click on Select Badge.
32. Browse to the badge that you just created.
33. Click Open.
34. Your badge is now loaded into the software.

If you continue to experience problems, or have questions about your AlphaCard Visitor Pass software, please contact AlphaCard technical support.