Eventact Arrival: Check-in and Badge Printing Setup

May 27, 2025 | 6 min read

This guide covers setting up Arrival from the Eventact back office (office.eventact.com > Registration), which gives you full control over every Arrival feature. If you use Arrival on its own and do not manage your event in Eventact, follow the simplified setup at arrival.eventact.com instead. Both paths work, and you can use them in parallel. Either way, the desk itself is operated from arrival.eventact.com - see Arrival Operation: Check-in Desk Guide.

New to Arrival? Start with Eventact Arrival: An Introduction to Event Check-in, which covers what Arrival is, what it does for organizers, and its three components - the Arrival Desk, the Arrival Kiosk, and the Eventact Printer App. This guide picks up from there and walks through configuring each of them.

Intended Audience

This guide was written for users with basic technical experience with the Eventact registration management system and printer configuration.

Pre-Event Setup

Arrival Settings

The Eventact back office serves as the central hub for event check-in management. Event managers can configure Arrival Desks and Kiosks in advance and monitor real-time check-in activity during the event.

Real-time monitoring includes the total number of arrivals, the number of badges printed per desk, and the status of active printers and stations.

Initial setup tasks include:

• Defining check-in eligibility criteria.
• Designing and assigning badge templates.
• Customizing the interface text and display fields for both Arrival Kiosk and Arrival Desk.

Each desk or kiosk can then be individually configured with settings such as:

• Station name or location.
• Whether it supports on-site registration or only allows pre-registered attendees.
• The printer is assigned for badge printing.

Each Arrival Desk, Kiosk, and Printer App connects directly to the internet. No local network setup is required.

Pre-Event Testing

Testing your Eventact Arrival setup before event day is invaluable for minimizing surprises and ensuring event managers and attendees have a smooth, stress-free arrival experience. A test should include a run-through of your check-in process, simulating self-service kiosk and staff-operated check-in, QR code scanning, and badge printing.

Use the following checklist to ensure everything is operating flawlessly:

• Confirm Attendee Search Functionality: Perform searches by name, registration code, or phone number to confirm you can find expected attendees and their correct details.
• Simulate Check-in: Run through both self-service kiosk and staff-operated desk check-ins.
• Verify QR/Barcode Scanning: Test QR code and barcode scanning with sample tickets and registration codes.
• Confirm Badge Print Appearance: Print badges to ensure they look as intended. For setups that include custom badges for each attendee role, verify that each attendee type receives the correct badge design and the vouchers they are entitled to.
• Check Printer & Scanner Connectivity: Confirm that all printers and scanners are correctly connected and functioning across all Arrival Desks and Kiosks.

On the morning of the event, run through the shorter launch checklist before the doors open.

Badge Design and Configuration

Badges can be configured either from the Eventact back office or directly within the Arrival Desk settings. Any changes will automatically sync across all Arrival Stations.

To Configure Badges

1. Navigate to Registration > Arrival > Badges in the Eventact back office.
2. Edit the Default Badge: Click to edit the default badge.
   • Customize: Reorder Lines (e.g., Name, Company) via drag-and-drop.
   • Edit content using plain text or tokens (e.g., {Contact.Full Name}). See the token quick reference.
   • Add Elements: Text, QR codes, barcodes, images.
   • Style Text: Align, change font, size, bold, underline, italics, invert color.
   • Positioning: Set precise X/Y coordinates for each line.
   • Advanced Options: Conditional Printing: Print badges based on role, ticket type, or registration status.
   • Duplicate Badges: Clone existing badges and apply variations as needed.

Understanding Position Settings in Badge Design

When customizing your event badges, the Position setting lets you control exactly where text or graphic elements appear on the printed badge. However, manual positioning is entirely optional. By understanding how the system automatically flows content versus how to specify custom coordinates, you can design professional badges quickly and efficiently.

Default Flow vs. Custom Positioning

• Automatic Flow (Default): If you leave the position settings blank for a line of text, the system handles the placement for you. The element will appear automatically, directly beneath the previous line.
• When to Use Position Settings: Enter values only when you want to deviate from this standard flow. Manual coordinates are ideal when you want to create custom spacing, place markers, or pin specific text and graphics to exact coordinates on the badge.

How to Input Position Values

When you do choose to position an element manually, the system accepts either a single number or a pair of numbers. There is no need to type unit suffixes (like "px" or "cm") - just input the numbers directly.

• Entering a Single Number (Y-Axis Only): If you enter only one number, the system automatically registers it as the Y position (the vertical distance from the top edge). The horizontal alignment will remain at its default setting.
• Entering Two Numbers (X and Y-Axis): To explicitly define both horizontal and vertical placement, enter two numbers separated by a space or a comma.
  • The first value determines the X position (horizontal distance from the left edge).
  • The second value determines the Y position (vertical distance from the top edge).

What Do the Numbers Mean? (Understanding the Units)

The positional units in Eventact Arrival do not use standard physical units such as inches or millimeters. Instead, they share the same scale as your font size units.

To easily visualize what a value means:

• If you set a font size to 12, that text has a specific height on the badge.
• If you then set a Position value to 12, you move that element by exactly the height of the size-12 font.

Tip: Think of the positioning system as a grid built entirely out of your text sizing. For example, if you have a line of text with a font size of 12 and you want to manually place the next line directly underneath it without any overlapping, you would increase the second line's Y position by at least 12 units.

Arrival Desk

The Arrival Desk is tailored for staff-operated check-in and badge printing - see what it can do for the feature list.

Requirements

• Device: Laptop, PC, or tablet with a browser.
• Scanner: Built-in camera or an external QR code scanner.
• Internet: Recommended 5 Mbps download / 2 Mbps upload.

Arrival Desk Setup

From Eventact back office:

1. Access Settings: Go to Registration > Arrival.
2. Select Forms: Choose which registration forms to display in the Arrival Desk.
3. Enable On-site Registration (Optional): Select the form to be used.
4. Configure Guest Info Display: Choose what data appears to the operator.

Arrival Desk Users

Create individual Eventact user accounts for each desk operator. While shared logins are possible, personal accounts are recommended for better control. Once the Arrival Desk and user accounts are set up, you can share the Arrival Desk link with the event check-in desk operators.

Running the Desk on Event Day

Once the desk and its user accounts exist, everything else happens in the Arrival app itself. Desk operators log in, pick the project, set the desk's Printer ID and Desk ID, find attendees and print badges - all of it covered step by step in Arrival Operation: Check-in Desk Guide:

• Logging in, choosing a project, and preloading data for offline use
• Per-desk settings: Printer ID, Desk ID, Search Statuses, and camera
• Finding an attendee and printing a single badge
• Printing badges for a whole group

Arrival Kiosk

The Arrival Kiosk is a touch-optimized, self-service check-in system that streamlines attendee entry without staff intervention - see what it can do for the feature list.

Requirements:

• Device: Any laptop, PC, or tablet with a browser.
• Touch Screen: Recommended.
• Keyboard: Needed only for on-site registration.
• Scanner: Built-in or external camera.
• Internet: 2 Mbps download recommended.

Setup Steps

• Configure in Back Office:
  • Enable self-check-in via code or phone number.
  • Allow new registrations if needed.
  • Customize kiosk messages (welcome, error, reminders).
• Install Kiosk on Each Device:
  • Open the kiosk link from the back office.
  • Enter:
    • Kiosk ID
    • Printer ID
    • Event ID
    • Event password

Operation

Upon Arrival, attendees scan their QR code or enter their code/phone number. A badge is automatically printed once verified, and the registration status enables self-check-in.

Eventact Printer App

The Eventact Printer App is a Microsoft Windows application that controls printers and manages badge printing for the Eventact Arrival system. The app needs to be installed on a Windows machine and connected to a printer. In its settings, enter the Event ID, Password, and a unique Printer ID in the Eventact Arrival Network.

Requirements:

• Device: A Windows PC or notebook.
• Internet: 5 Mbps download / 2 Mbps upload recommended.
• Printer: any printer with a Windows driver. To pick a model, see Choosing a Badge Printer for Your Event.

Installation:

1. In the Eventact back office, navigate to registration > Arrival, locate the arrival printer download link, and click it.
2. Run the .exe file. Install .NET Desktop Runtime if prompted.
3. In the Arrival Printer App, the Options > Printer & Paper size menu, enter the following event details and printer details:
   • Event ID - see the arrival page in the back office.
   • Arrival Password - see the arrival page in the back office.
   • Printer ID - Choose a unique number to identify this printer in the event.
   • Printer - In the Printer dropdown menu, choose your physical printer.
   • Badge Size - Enter the exact width and height of your labels. These dimensions must match the Custom Paper Size in Windows Printer Preferences, or badges print misaligned - see badge alignment below.
   • Print Interval - How often the app polls for new badges. The default is 1000 ms; increase it if the venue network has high latency.

Tip: Use a local USB connection for best performance.

Printer Troubleshooting Tips

This is the troubleshooting reference for Eventact Arrival, whichever way you set it up.

Problem: the Eventact Printer App will not connect, or shows "Stopped"

• Confirm that the Event ID and Password in the Eventact Printer App match those shown in the back office (or at arrival.eventact.com under Settings > Printer). Check for stray leading or trailing spaces.
• Verify that the Windows machine running the app has an active internet connection.

Problem: the printer does not print badges, and you don't see the badge in the Eventact Printer App

• Confirm that the Event ID and Password in the Eventact Printer App match those in the back office.
• Confirm Printer ID - Confirm the printer ID matches those in the Arrival Desk and Arrival Kiosks.
• Verify Internet Connectivity: Ensure stable connections for all devices.

Problem: you see the badge in the Eventact Printer App, but the printer does not print it

• Pause Mode: Verify that the printer is not in pause mode.
• Connectivity: Ensure the printer is physically connected and not disconnected.
• Paper Jam: Check for any paper jams that might be preventing printing.
• Select Printer: Check that the physical printer is selected in the Eventact Printer options.
• Print Queue: Open the 'Print Queue' and delete any stalled jobs.
• Test Page: Print a test page to isolate the issue between Windows and the printer.
• Restart Spooler: If test page printing fails, restart the Windows Printer Spooler service. In the search box on the Windows taskbar, type services and then select Services. Find and double-click Print Spooler in the list of services. Select Stop, wait for the service to stop, and then select Start.
• Check Spooler Files: Check for corrupted files in the spooler directory.
• Unplug and restart your printer.
• Install the latest driver for your printer.
• USB Connection: If using a USB connection, try a different port or USB cable.
• Power Cycle: Unplug your printer and computer, wait a few minutes, and then plug them back in. Restarting can often fix temporary issues and restore functionality.
• Check for Errors: Look for error messages on the printer's display or Windows Event Viewer.

Problem: the badge prints cut off, or the text is not centred on the label

• The Custom Paper Size set in Windows Printer Preferences must match the label dimensions entered in the Eventact Printer App. A mismatch between the two is the most common cause of misaligned badges.
• Run the printer's own media calibration after loading a new roll, so it detects the label length correctly.
• Check that the label stock is seated centrally and the media guides are snug against its edges.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: The venue offers a shared high-bandwidth connection or separate low-bandwidth lines. Which is better for Arrival Stations?

A: A shared high-bandwidth connection is generally preferred. Here's why:

• Efficiency: A shared connection can more effectively handle the varying bandwidth demands of multiple devices, optimizing network resources.
• Performance: Better peak-time operation at any individual desk.

However, individual low-bandwidth lines may be more cost-effective and less prone to network congestion, making them ideal for smaller events.

Q: Can I customize the kiosk's appearance?

A: Yes. You can customize welcome messages and prompts in the Eventact back office under Arrival Settings. Branding, colors, fonts, and images are configured under Project > Design.

Additional Support

Please don't hesitate to contact our support team for further assistance. Your feedback is valuable to us as we strive to improve our resources.

Read more about the Eventact Check-in Software and Arrival App Prices.