Your guide to running SmartCheckin.

Download SmartCheckin

SmartCheckin is a desktop app — install it, then open it and either activate your license or start your free trial. Version 1.0.0.

On first launch you get a free trial with no license key needed — see Getting started below. Want the license key and hardware kit that goes with it? Check out our hardware kit plans.

How it works

SmartCheckin has three parts you'll use day to day: a list of everyone you manage, a badge for each of them, and a scan screen for checking people in. In short:

1. You sign in to the desktop app.
2. You add each person once — by hand or all together from a spreadsheet — and print their badge.
3. Optionally, you take their photo so the app can recognise their face later.
4. When they arrive, you scan their badge and the camera confirms it's really them.
5. The check-in is saved with the date and time, so you can look it up any time.

Getting started

Free trial or license key

The first time SmartCheckin opens on a computer, you get a free trial — no license key needed yet. A banner at the top of the app shows how many days are left.

To activate a license at any point, select the trial banner (or open Activate directly), type your key in the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX, and select Activate. Each key can only be activated once, so keep it somewhere safe until then. Once activated, that computer remembers it — you won't be asked again, even after the trial would have ended.

Sign in

Enter the email and password for your account and select Login. If you don't have an account yet, ask whoever set up SmartCheckin for your organisation to create one for you.

Add an employee

From the Browse employees screen, select New employee. Fill in their name, role, date of birth, and email, then choose their badge type — QR code, barcode, or barcode (short) (see QR code or barcode?). Select Save employee when you're done.

The new person now appears in your list, ready for you to print their badge.

QR code or barcode?

Every badge shows a QR code or a barcode — whichever you pick is what a scan needs to match at check-in time.

You can change this at any time from that person's edit screen — their badge will use the new style the next time you print it. The short code is generated once per person and stays the same across reprints, and it's also printed as text under the barcode, so you can type it into the Badge code field by hand if a scanner isn't available.

Import a whole team from a spreadsheet

If you're onboarding many people at once, save a spreadsheet as a CSV file with these columns, then select Import CSV from the Browse screen and pick the file:

name,role,bd,email,code_type
Jane Doe,Front Desk,1994-03-02,jane@company.com,qr
Alex Kim,Warehouse,1989-11-20,alex@company.com,barcode

code_type is optional — leave it blank and SmartCheckin uses a QR code. Otherwise use qr, barcode, or barcode_short (see QR code or barcode?). A badge is generated for everyone in the file automatically, and a PDF with every badge downloads as soon as the import finishes.

Add a photo for face check-in

On the employee's edit screen, under Photo ID, select Choose and pick a clear, front-facing photo of them. This is what their face gets compared against when they check in at the Scan screen, so a well-lit photo works best.

This step is optional — you can still print and use their badge without one, but face verification at check-in won't work until a photo is on file.

Edit or remove someone

Select Edit on anyone's card in the Browse list to update their details, swap their badge type, or add/replace their photo. Select Delete at the bottom of that screen to remove them and their check-in history for good — there's no undo, so double-check before you confirm.

Print a badge

Open the person's edit screen and select Print badge. A ready-to-print PDF of just their badge downloads — send it to your printer like any other document.

Print every badge at once

From the Browse screen, select Export PDF. Every badge in your list is combined into a single PDF, one badge per page — handy before an event or when setting up badges for a new team.

Scan & verify

Open the Scan screen (in the top bar) whenever someone arrives to check in. It works in two steps:

1. Scan their badge into the Badge code field. A USB or Bluetooth scanner types the code in automatically, just like a keyboard — no need to click anything first.
2. The camera opens on its own, counts down from three, and takes a photo. If it matches the photo on file, the check-in is saved and you'll see a confirmation.

On-screen keyboard

Running SmartCheckin on a touchscreen without a physical keyboard? Select Keyboard off in the top bar to turn it on. Once enabled, a keyboard slides up automatically any time you tap into a text field — name, email, badge code, license key, or search. Tap Hide to put it away, and tap the small keyboard button in the corner to bring it back.

It's off by default on every new install, since most computers already have a keyboard. Select the same button (now labelled Keyboard on) in the top bar to turn it off again — your choice is remembered on that computer.

Check-in history

Select Checkins on anyone's card in the Browse list to see every date and time they've checked in, most recent first. Use the search box to jump to a particular date.

Troubleshooting

"Face does not match"

Try again with better lighting and the face centred in frame. If it keeps failing, the photo on file may be outdated or unclear — go to that person's edit screen and upload a new one.

Scanning the badge does nothing

Click into the Badge code field first so it has focus, then scan again — a scanner needs a text field selected to type into, the same as a keyboard.

I forgot my license key

License keys are issued once per device and can't be recovered from inside the app. Contact whoever provided your key.

The camera won't turn on

Check that your computer's camera permissions allow SmartCheckin (or your browser, on some setups) to use it, and that no other app is already using the camera.