Bulk Name Tag Generator
Paste your list of names — straight from a spreadsheet if you like — and see them laid out on Avery 5395 name badge sheets, ready to print at true size. No labels handy? Turn on cut lines and use plain cardstock instead.
The labels to buy: Avery 5395
Avery 5395 — adhesive name badges, 2⅓" × 3⅜", eight to a US Letter sheet. There are dozens of Avery products and only a handful are actually name badges, so this is the one worth committing to memory. It is the most widely stocked, it is self-adhesive so nobody needs a holder or a lanyard, and it comes in packs small enough for one event.
Avery 8395 is the same size and layout, sold for inkjet printers rather than laser. If your shop has that one instead, it prints identically from this page. Anything sold as "compatible with Avery 5395" — WorldLabel OL5030, for instance — uses the same grid and works too.
How to print them so they line up
Label sheets are unforgiving: the artwork has to come out of the printer at exactly 100% of its size, or every badge drifts a little further from its backing down the page. Three settings do it.
- Scale: 100%. Some dialogs call this "Actual size". Never "Fit to page" or "Shrink to fit" — that is the single most common reason a sheet of labels comes out wrong, and it is on by default in several browsers.
- Margins: None. The sheet already contains Avery's own margins. If the browser adds its own on top, everything shifts down and right. Turn off headers and footers in the same panel while you are there, otherwise a URL prints across your badges.
- Test on plain paper first. Print one page, then hold it against an unused label sheet up to a window or a lamp. The printed boxes should sit exactly on the die-cut labels. This costs one sheet of paper and saves a pack of labels.
If you would rather hand the job to someone else — a print shop, or the one person in the office whose printer works — choose Save as PDF as the destination instead of a printer. The page geometry is fixed inside the PDF, so it travels safely.
Getting names out of a spreadsheet
Select the column of names in Excel or Google Sheets, copy, and paste into the names box. Spreadsheets put tab-separated text on the clipboard, so each row lands on its own line without any exporting or file uploading.
Copy two columns and the second one becomes the small line under each name — useful for a company, a class, a table number, or a volunteer role. You can also type it by hand as Jordan Avery, Volunteer.
Practical notes from actually doing this
- Print a few blanks. Someone always turns up who is not on the list. The count under the names box tells you how many empty labels are left on the last sheet.
- Cardstock beats paper if the badges are going in holders or getting handled all day. Plain paper curls and tears by lunchtime.
- Long names shrink automatically so they stay inside the badge, but a shorter name is always more readable. Use the name someone actually goes by.
- Laser toner smudges less than inkjet on the coated face of a label if anyone is going to be leaning on them.
Questions
Which labels should I buy?
Avery 5395 — adhesive name badges, 2⅓" × 3⅜", 8 to a sheet. It is the most widely stocked name badge label, it sticks on by itself so you do not need holders or lanyards, and every office supply shop carries it. Avery 8395 is the identical layout sold for inkjet printers, so either works.
Why did my labels print out of line?
Almost always because the print dialog was set to "Fit to page" or a scale other than 100%. Any scaling shrinks the sheet slightly and every label drifts from its backing. Set the scale to 100% (some dialogs call it "Actual size"), set margins to None, and print a test page on plain paper first — hold it against a real label sheet up to the light and the boxes should sit exactly on top of each other.
Can I use a spreadsheet?
Yes. Select the column of names in Excel or Google Sheets, copy, and paste it into the box — spreadsheets put tab-separated text on the clipboard, so the names arrive one per line automatically. If you copy two columns, the second becomes the smaller line under each name.
My list is written "Smith, John" and it split in half. How do I stop that?
Uncheck "Text after a comma is the second line", just under the names box. A comma is genuinely ambiguous — in "Jordan Avery, Volunteer" it separates a second line, and in a last-name-first roster it does not — so it is a switch rather than a guess. Tab-separated columns pasted from a spreadsheet are unaffected either way.
How do I get a PDF?
Press Print and choose "Save as PDF" as the destination in the print dialog. The PDF has the exact page geometry baked in, which makes it a good way to hand the job to someone else's printer.
What if I do not have label sheets?
Turn on cut lines and print onto plain paper or cardstock. You get the same badges with a dashed guide around each one to cut along. Cardstock holds up much better than paper if the badges are going on lanyards or getting handled all day.
Do the names get sent anywhere?
No. The tool runs entirely in your browser and there is no server behind it. The list you paste stays in the page and disappears when you close the tab — worth knowing if you are pasting a class roster or a guest list.
What would make this tool better? A device that's missing, a detail that looks wrong, an option you went looking for and didn't find — all of it is useful. Send a note.