CSV Formatting for Event Badge Printing: The 7 Rules

A badly formatted CSV is the most common cause of delayed badge printing. These 7 rules will save you hours of troubleshooting on event day. ## Rule 1: Use UTF-8 Encoding Always save your CSV as UTF-8. This ensures accented characters (José, Müller, François), Chinese names, and special symbols print correctly. **How to check:** Open the CSV in a text editor and look for the encoding option. In Excel, use **Save As** → **CSV UTF-8**. ## Rule 2: One Attendee Per Row Each row represents one attendee. No merged cells, no multi-line entries, and no blank rows between data. **Bad:** ``` First Name,Last Name,Company John,Smith,Acme Inc Jane,Doe,Widget Co ``` **Good:** ``` First Name,Last Name,Company John,Smith,Acme Inc Jane,Doe,Widget Co ``` ## Rule 3: Use Clear Column Headers Name your columns clearly and consistently: | Good | Bad | |---|---| | `First Name` | `FN` | | `Last Name` | `Surname` | | `Company` | `Org` | | `Job Title` | `Title` (ambiguous) | ## Rule 4: Separate First and Last Names Never combine names in one field. Badge templates need them separate for formatting. **Bad:** `Name: John Smith` **Good:** `First Name: John`, `Last Name: Smith` ## Rule 5: Handle Special Characters in Company Names Company names often contain commas, ampersands, and quotes. These break CSV parsing. **Solution:** Wrap fields in double quotes: ``` "Smith, Johnson & Co.",Director ``` ## Rule 6: Include a Unique Identifier Every row needs a unique ID, confirmation number, badge ID, or email address. This prevents duplicates and makes reprints easy. | Required Fields | Optional Fields | |---|---| | First Name | Company | | Last Name | Job Title | | Unique ID | Dietary Requirements | | | Registration Type | ## Rule 7: Sort Before You Send Sort your CSV alphabetically by last name before sending it to the printer. This makes physical badge organisation easier: 1. Pre-printed badges can be arranged alphabetically at the registration desk 2. Staff find names faster 3. You spot duplicates and missing entries more easily ## Bonus: Include a Test Row Add a row with your own name at the top of the CSV. Print this badge first to verify the template, font size, and alignment before printing 500 badges. ## Quick CSV Checklist Before sending your CSV to the badge printer, confirm: - [ ] UTF-8 encoding - [ ] No blank rows - [ ] Clear column headers - [ ] First and last names separated - [ ] Special characters escaped with quotes - [ ] Unique ID column present - [ ] Sorted alphabetically - [ ] Test row included **Need help with CSV formatting?** [Upload your attendee list](/badges/order-online/) and our system validates and formats it automatically.