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This article covers common problems with badge printing and PNG exports, and how to resolve them.

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Badge Looks Blurry or Low-Resolution When Printed

Cause: The employee’s profile photo was uploaded at low resolution. Fix:
  1. Open the employee record → Profile tab
  2. Upload a higher-resolution photo — ideally at least 600 × 600 px, recommended 1000 × 1000 px or larger
  3. The badge preview and export will automatically use the new photo
Source photo quality matters: Badge exports use a 4× pixel ratio, which means a 150 × 150 px source photo will appear visibly soft when the badge is printed at card size. Always use photos of at least 600 px on the shortest side.
The badge template elements (colors, QR code, text) are vector/crisp at all sizes — only raster photos can appear blurry.

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Employee Photo Is Missing on the Printed Badge

Possible causes and fixes:

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Company Logo Is Missing on the Printed Badge

Possible causes:
  • Logo not uploaded in Settings → Branding, or in Badge Designer → Branding tab
  • “Show Logo” toggle disabled in Badge Designer
Fix: Navigate to Badge Designer → Branding tab and upload or verify the logo. Ensure Show Logo is enabled in Structure & Elements.

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Badge Layout Is Cut Off or Clipped

Cause: Browser print margins are adding extra space, or the scale is too large. Fixes:
  1. In the browser print dialog, set Margins to None or Minimum
  2. In the Print Center Config tab, reduce Badge Scale to 90% or 95%
  3. Ensure Page Size in the Config tab matches the paper loaded in your printer
  4. Disable Fit to page or Scale to fit in the browser print dialog — always use 100%

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Colors Look Wrong or Washed Out When Printed

Cause: Browser is printing without background colors enabled. Fix: In the browser print dialog, look for an option called:
  • Background graphics (Chrome)
  • Print backgrounds (Firefox)
  • Background colors and images (Edge)
Enable this option before printing. Badge colors, gradients, and the QR code background all require background printing to be enabled.

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The Print Dialog Opens Blank or Shows No Badges

Cause: Browser blocked the window.print() call, or the badge rendering did not complete before printing started. Fixes:
  1. Click Print Badge again — sometimes browsers block the first popup
  2. Allow popups for access.essal.cloud in your browser settings
  3. Wait until the badge preview fully loads in the Print Center before clicking Print
  4. If using a slow connection, wait a few extra seconds — the badge renderer needs photos and the logo to load first

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ZIP Export Stalls or Does Not Complete

Cause: One or more employee photos failed to load, or the browser tab became inactive. Fixes:
  1. Keep the browser tab active and visible during export — some browsers throttle background tabs
  2. If progress stops (e.g. stuck at 5/20), refresh the page and try again with fewer employees
  3. Check your internet connection — each photo needs to be downloaded during rendering
  4. Try exporting in smaller batches (e.g. 25 at a time instead of all employees)

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Downloaded PNG Has No Photo or Broken Layout

Cause: The export ran before all images finished loading. Fix: In the Print Center, select the employee and wait until you can see their photo in the badge preview panel before clicking Download PNG. The export uses the same rendering pipeline — if the preview shows the photo, the PNG will too.

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PDF Export Tips

Essal Access does not produce a PDF directly — it uses the browser’s print-to-PDF feature. To save as PDF:
  1. Click Print Badge or Secure Download (bulk)
  2. In the browser print dialog, change the Destination / Printer to Save as PDF
  3. Click Save
For best PDF quality:
  • Set margins to None
  • Enable background graphics
  • Use 100% scale
  • Choose the same paper size as your Config tab setting

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Still Having Issues?

If none of the above resolves the problem, contact Essal Support with:
  • A screenshot of the Print Center showing the issue
  • The browser and version you’re using (Chrome / Firefox / Edge / Safari)
  • Whether the issue is with the browser print or the PNG/ZIP download