ID Photos & Labels

Batch printing of member ID cards and library card labels

The Member ID Cards screen manages the printing of physical identity cards for library members. It uses a printed / not printed status flag on each member's photo to track which cards still need to be issued. When a new photo is uploaded to a member record, the system automatically marks it as not yet printed. This screen lets you print a batch, verify the results, and then confirm them as printed — saving paper and giving you a safety net if a print job fails.

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The Printed / Not Printed Concept

Every member photo in the system carries a flag indicating whether an ID card has been printed for that photo. This flag drives the entire workflow on this screen:

State	When it is set	What it means
● Not printed	A new photo is uploaded to a member in Maintain Members (via drag-and-drop, Upload, Camera, or bulk Import Photos)	An ID card has not yet been printed for this photo. The card will be included in the next print run if "Only new cards" is selected.
✓ Printed	You click Mark after a successful print run, with the "Mark as printed" checkbox ticked	An ID card has been printed for this photo. The card will be excluded from future runs (unless "Only new cards" is unchecked) until the photo is replaced or manually reset.

The key benefit is that you can print first, verify, then mark. If the print job fails, goes to the wrong printer, or produces poor-quality output, you simply don't click Mark — and all the affected cards remain flagged as not printed, ready to be included in the next attempt.

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Think of the Mark step as a deliberate confirmation. Print → Check the cards → Mark. Never mark before you've verified the cards are acceptable — you can always reprint, but marking prematurely means those cards will be excluded from the next batch.

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Standard Workflow

The recommended process for printing a batch of ID cards follows four steps:

Photos are uploaded

New member photos are loaded — individually via Maintain Members (drag-and-drop, Upload, or Camera), or in bulk via Routines → Member Routines → Import Photos. Each photo is automatically flagged as not printed.

Filter and configure the print run

On this screen, optionally select a Member Type and Category to limit the batch. Set your print options (double-sided, which fields to include, new-only filter). Click Print ID Cards.

Check the printed cards

Collect the printed sheets from the printer. Verify the photos, names, barcodes, and layout are correct before cutting and distributing the cards.

Mark as printed

If satisfied, tick the "Mark as printed" checkbox and click Mark. This sets the printed flag on all cards in the current filter selection, removing them from the next batch. If something went wrong, skip this step — the cards stay flagged as not printed and will be included in the next run.

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Filtering by Member Type and Category

The two drop-downs at the top of the screen let you limit the batch to a specific group. This is useful both for managing large schools (printing one grade at a time) and for staying within the 250-page limit.

Filter	Options	When to use
Member Type	{All Member Types}, Grade 1–10, Grade 12, Leavers, Part Time, Parents, Staff, Students, Teacher	Print one year group at a time — e.g. Grade 8 at start of term. Leave as {All Member Types} only for small libraries or if running a full-school reprint.
Member Category/Class	{All Categories}, then the class categories defined in your system (e.g. 7C, 7L, 7S)	Narrow to a single class within a grade. Note: the Category dropdown only populates with values after a Member Type is selected.

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Changing the Member Type selection automatically refreshes the Category dropdown to show only the categories used by members of that type. Select Member Type first, then Category.

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Marking and Unmarking ID Cards

The Marking and Unmarking section has two operations — both apply to the members currently selected by the Member Type and Category filters.

Marking and Unmarking ID Cards

Mark ID Cards as printed

Mark

Mark as printed

Mark all ID Cards as not printed

Unmark

Mark as not printed

Control	How to use it
Mark (as printed)	Tick the Mark as printed checkbox, then click Mark. All members in the current filter selection have their photo flagged as printed. This removes them from future new-card-only print runs. Use this after a successful print job.
Unmark (as not printed)	Tick the Mark as not printed checkbox, then click Unmark. All members in the current filter selection have their printed flag cleared — they will be included in the next print run. Use this when you need to reprint a whole group, or when photos have been updated but the flag was not automatically reset.

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You must tick the checkbox before clicking the button — the checkbox acts as a deliberate confirmation to prevent accidental mass-marking. Clicking Mark or Unmark without ticking the checkbox will have no effect.

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The Unmark operation is most useful at the start of a new year when you want to reprint all cards — for example after uniforms or class lists change. Select {All Member Types} and tick "Mark as not printed", click Unmark, then run a fresh full print.

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Printing ID Cards

ID cards are printed 5 per A4 page. Select your options, then click Print ID Cards. The system generates a PDF which opens in a new browser tab — print from there using your browser's standard print function.

Printing ID Cards

Double Sided

On by default

Print Member Type

On by default

Print Member Category

Off by default

Only new cards

On by default

Only cards with photos

On by default

Print Logo if no photo

Off by default

Print ID Cards

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Print Options Reference

Option	Default	What it does
Double Sided	✓ On	Prints the back of the ID card on the reverse side of the same page — the front contains the photo and name, the back contains library details or rules. Requires a duplex printer. Turn off for single-sided cards or if your printer does not support duplex.
Print Member Type	✓ On	Includes the Member Type name (e.g. Grade 8, Staff, Teacher) on the printed ID card. Useful for quick visual identification of member categories at the Front Desk. Turn off if you prefer clean cards without classification labels.
Print Member Category	Off	Includes the member's Category/Class code (e.g. 7C, G8 Green) on the card. Turn on if class groupings are important for your library — for example if cards are also used as class identification inside the school.
Only new cards	✓ On	Limits the print run to members whose photo is flagged as not yet printed. This is the core of the batch-management workflow — normally leave this on so you only print cards that have not been issued yet. Turn off only for a full reprint of all cards regardless of their printed status.
Only cards with photos	✓ On	Skips members who have no photo uploaded. Without a photo, the ID card is essentially blank — turn this off only if you want to print placeholder cards for members pending a photo, with the library logo (see next option) as a substitute.
Print Logo if no photo	Off	If a member has no photo, prints the library logo in the photo position instead of leaving it blank. Only relevant if "Only cards with photos" is turned off. Useful for libraries that issue cards to all members before photos have been taken.

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The default settings — Only new cards ✓, Only cards with photos ✓, Double Sided ✓, Print Member Type ✓ — are the right settings for the standard term-time ID card run. You rarely need to change them. The most common reason to adjust defaults is at the start of a new year (turn off Only new cards for a full reprint) or if your printer is not a duplex model (turn off Double Sided).

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Member Labels

Separate from the ID card print, the screen also offers a Print Labels function in the Printing Member Labels section. This prints smaller adhesive-style labels for the filtered group of members — typically used for library card stickers, folder labels, or name tags rather than full ID cards.

Printing Member Labels

Print Member Labels

Print Labels

The label format is configured in Parameters → General Parameters → Barcode Settings, which controls label dimensions, fields shown, and output format (PDF or ZPL for dedicated label printers). The Member Type and Category filters apply here too — select the target group before clicking Print Labels.

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Member Labels and ID Cards are independent outputs — printing labels does not affect the printed/not-printed flag on ID cards, and vice versa. You can print labels as many times as needed without affecting your ID card batch workflow.

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Page Limits and Large Print Runs

The system can print a maximum of 250 pages of ID cards in a single run. Since cards are printed 5 per page, this means a maximum of 1,250 cards per run. For a school with 484 members, the full membership fits within one run — but larger schools or combined print runs may exceed the limit.

If the system returns an error when clicking Print ID Cards, the most likely cause is exceeding the 250-page limit. Resolve this by using the Member Type or Category filter to split the print job into smaller batches — for example, printing one grade at a time.

Scenario	Approach
Full school reprint	Print one Member Type (grade) at a time. Mark each batch as printed before moving on. This also makes it easier to distribute cards to the right class teachers.
New term new photos only	Leave Member Type as {All Member Types} and keep "Only new cards" on. Only the unprinted photos are included — typically a much smaller number than the full school.
Staff cards only	Select Member Type = Staff. Staff cards often have a different design requirement — run them separately so you can adjust settings without affecting the student run.