Personalize with a spreadsheet: mail-merge labels, cards & badges

You need 200 name badges for a conference, or address labels for a mailing list, or numbered raffle tickets. Designing them one by one is out of the question. With data merge you design one piece, connect a spreadsheet, and Popcorn Editor generates every variation for you in a single pass.

Printers call this variable data printing. You'll know it as mail merge, and it works the same way here: columns in your spreadsheet become fields in your design, and every row becomes one finished label, card or badge.

What you'll make#

Any design where the layout stays the same but the words (or codes) change per copy:

• Name badges: first name big, company small, a QR code that encodes each attendee's ticket ID.
• Address labels: name and address on a sheet of peel-off labels.
• Numbered pieces: raffle tickets, gift cards or serialized product labels with a barcode per unit.

The whole flow runs in your browser, including the final print-ready PDF export.

Step 1: Prepare your spreadsheet#

Data merge reads a plain table: the first row is the field names, and every row below it is one record (one badge, one label).

Export it from Excel, Google Sheets or your CRM as a .csv, .tsv or .txt file. Or skip the file entirely: you can copy the cells and paste them straight into the editor.

Tip: Keep field names short and unambiguous (FirstName, Company, Ticket). They become the placeholder labels you'll see on the canvas.

Step 2: Design one master piece#

Set up a document at the finished size of a single label, card or badge, not the full sheet. The generate step lays copies onto a sheet for you later.

Design it exactly as you would any print piece: real trim size, bleed if color runs to the edge, and text kept inside the safe area. If you're new to that setup, Design your own product labels walks through it in full.

Use the longest realistic value while you design (a long name, a full address) so nothing overflows later.

Step 3: Import the data#

1. Open Insert in the menu bar and choose Data merge....
2. In the Data merge dialog, click Import a CSV file and pick your file, or drag the file onto the dialog.
3. No file handy? Click Paste data instead, paste the rows you copied from your spreadsheet, and click Load data. The first row is treated as the field names.

Once loaded, the dialog shows a summary like 200 records · 3 fields, plus Replace and Remove dataset actions if you need to swap or clear the data.

Note: Your rows stay on your device; they are not uploaded with the design. If you open the design on another computer, the dialog will ask you to Re-import the file before you can preview or generate.

Step 4: Drop fields into your text#

Under Fields, every column appears as a chip, like «FirstName».

1. Select the text frame that should hold the value (double-click into it to place the caret exactly where you want).
2. Click the field chip. With a text frame selected, the field is appended to that frame. With nothing selected, clicking a chip drops the field as a new text box you can position freely.
3. Repeat for every field: name in the headline, company in the subline, and so on.

Fields render as «FirstName» placeholders on the canvas and inherit whatever font, size and color you give them, so style them like any other text. You can also insert fields without opening the dialog: Insert then Data field lists your columns once data is loaded.

Tip: Mix fields with fixed text freely. A frame containing Hello «FirstName»! merges into "Hello Ada!" for row one, "Hello Grace!" for row two.

Step 5: Bind a barcode or QR code#

To give every badge or ticket its own scannable code:

1. Add a QR code or barcode to the design (see Create scannable QR codes & barcodes).
2. Select it. With a dataset loaded, the Properties panel shows a Data field dropdown.
3. Pick the column to encode, for example Ticket. The value you typed stays as the design-time sample; at merge time each record's own value is encoded. Choose None (fixed value) to unbind it.

Step 6: Preview real records#

Before generating anything, check a few rows against your layout.

1. In the Data merge dialog, click the eye toggle to switch from field names to real record data.
2. Step through records with the arrows, or type a record number. A small Record pill also appears at the bottom of the Canvas, so you can close the dialog and keep stepping; the canvas updates live.
3. Look for the usual suspects: the longest name in the list, empty cells, and codes that crowd their quiet zone. If a record overflows its text frame, the editor warns you that it may be clipped.

Step 7: Generate the output#

Click Generate... in the dialog footer. The Generate merged output dialog asks for two decisions: what to produce, and which records to include.

Under Output, pick the shape of the result:

Under Records, merge All, the Current record only, or a Range (say records 1 to 50 for a test batch).

For Label sheet (N-up), choose a Sheet size (SRA3, A3, A4, US Letter or Custom), then let Auto N-up fit as many copies as possible, or switch to Grid and set Rows and Cols yourself. Gutter and Margin control spacing in millimeters, and a live readout shows the plan, for example 9 sheets at 24-up.

Both PDF outputs include print settings right in the dialog: an Output profile (Generic CMYK and common press profiles), Bleed, and Crop & registration marks. The result downloads as a print-ready PDF, generated entirely in your browser.

If you pick New editable document, choose Bake field values (portable) for plain, shareable text, or Keep fields editable (needs the dataset) if you want the placeholders to stay live. For very large datasets, prefer a PDF output; hundreds of canvases make the editor work hard.

Tip: Generate a small Range first and proof one sheet on your office printer before committing the full run.

Next steps#

Your merged PDF still deserves the same checks as any print job: Export a print-ready PDF covers profiles, bleed and marks, and the preflight checklist catches problems before your printer does. For every option in detail, see the Data merge reference.