Use this guide to easily add badge printers to your BigMarker Event
With BigMarker events, you can provide your in-person attendees custom and personalized badges. These badges can be quickly printed out by your staff using the event admin or by your attendees themselves using the scanner app. With this guide you'll learn how to quickly add your onsite printers to the event so that you can start using them right away.
Badge Printing is only available for channels with an event license. For more information contact your BigMarker Customer Success Manager or sales@bigmarker.com
Initial setup for onsite printing
Before you get started, you will need some assistance from the BigMarker team. BigMarker uses a specialized app to connect printers to your event. As part of your event setup, you will be given a username and password to log in to the BigMarker Printer Connector.
Once you have this account, you will need to download the BigMarker Printer Connector app, which will be given to your by your customer success manager. After installing the app on your computer, make sure that all printers that you plan on adding have been connected to this same computer and they are all currently on the same network.
The BigMarker Printer Connector currently only works with windows operating systems.
Connecting Printers to the BigMarker Printer Connector
Once you have your devices connected and app installed, you are ready to start connecting your printers. Open the printer connector app, log in and head to the Printers tab. Here you'll see a list of printers connected to your computer. In order to connect a printer, check the box to make it active.
By default, all printers are set to active. Uncheck the box for Printers active by default in order to select individual printers to activate.
IMPORTANT: The computer with which you use to connect printers must be turned on and connected to the internet while you are printing onsite.
Connecting the Printer Connector to your BigMarker Event
Once you have activated your printers and connected them to your account, it's time to connect to your BigMarker event. First, you will get your API keys from the Printer Connector. You customer success manager will provide you access to these settings.
You will be asked to re-enter your password in order to proceed. Once you do, you'll have the ability to generate an API key as well as see all of the previously generated keys. Copy the key you want to use and head into your BigMarker event admin
In the event admin, go to Event Setup > Advanced Settings and look for the setting Printer Service API Key. Paste the API key you have into this field and hit Save.
Adding and choosing printers
Once you have saved the API key, head over to Onsite Experience > Badges & Printers then click Add Printer. In these settings you'll give the printer a name, then select which badge design it will be printing. Either the default badge from BigMarker, or a custom badge that has been implemented in your event.
Contact your customer success manager for more information on custom badges
Look for the setting Select Printer Using and choose Printer ID. Once you do you'll find a few settings to configure and save:
- Select Computer - Here you'll select the computer you used to connect to the BigMarker Printer Connector. All computers associated with the API key will be listed.
- Select Printer - Here you will select the printer from the list of printers that were activated using the connector app
- Select Paper- Here you will choose the paper size that your printer uses
Now when you go to your registrants page in the event admin, you'll see the option to select a printer. Choose the printer you want to use, then click the print icon for any corresponding registrant to print their badge from this printer.
