The duplicate number is the thing that ruins a raffle
It happens the same way every time. Somebody prints 100 tickets, they sell out, so they print 100 more. Both books start at 1. Now two people hold ticket 47, and when 47 comes out of the hat there is no honest answer: redraw and it looks fixed, hand out two prizes and you are a prize short.
So the number a book starts at is a first-class setting here rather than an afterthought. Print the second book from 101 and the problem cannot occur. The tool shows the range it is about to print, checks it against anything you say you have already done, and refuses to build the PDF if they overlap.
There is a "start the next book" button that does the bookkeeping for you: it moves the start number past everything printed so far and records what you have just done.
The stub is the point
Two halves, the same number on both, a dashed line between. The buyer keeps one, the seller drops the other in the hat, and the match is what proves the claim.
The line between them is dashed rather than solid, deliberately. A solid line reads as "cut here", people cut the stub off at the point of sale, and by the time of the draw half of them are in a pocket somewhere. A dashed line reads as a tear, which is what it is.
And a name on the stub
The most common failure at a real raffle is not a duplicate number, it is nobody being able to find the winner. The number is called, it is called again, it is called a third time, and the person left an hour ago.
A line for a name and a line for a phone number takes two seconds at the point of sale and removes the problem entirely. Without a line printed on the ticket, nobody writes anything.
Two sellers, one raffle
Put a letter in front of the number and two people can sell at the same time without co-ordinating. A001 and B001 are different tickets, so both sellers can start at one.
The same trick handles a second book printed on a different colour of paper, which is how most large raffles are actually run: the colour is what you notice, and the letter is what settles an argument.
Whether it needs registering
Worth knowing before the day rather than after. In the UK the broad shape is:
- Tickets sold only at the event, drawn at the event, on the same day: normally an exempt incidental lottery, and no registration.
- Tickets sold in advance, or to the public generally: that is a lottery, and a small society lottery has to be registered with the local council first.
Registration is a short form and a modest fee, and the licensing team at your council deals with it constantly. It is a phone call rather than a problem, and it is much easier before you have sold anything.
Ten to a sheet, and why fit to page ruins them
Ten to an A4 sheet, so 200 tickets is 20 sheets. Set the printer to 100% or "actual size": fit to page shrinks everything by a few per cent to clear the printer's own margin, which moves the fold line away from the cut marks.
Print one sheet first and fold it. Two minutes of checking is cheaper than discovering the problem on sheet forty.
Everything is generated on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account.
Common questions
Why does a raffle ticket have two halves?
Because the match between them is the only thing that proves a claim. The buyer keeps one half, the seller drops the other in the hat, and the numbers agreeing is what settles it. A ticket printed as a single piece is a receipt, not a raffle ticket, because there is nothing to draw from.
What happens if I print the same numbers twice?
Two people hold ticket 47 and there is no right answer when 47 comes out. Redrawing looks like a fix and giving two prizes costs you a prize. It happens by printing a second book after the first one sells out, which is why the start number is a proper setting here and why the tool checks a new run against ranges you have already printed.
How do I print a second book?
Press "start the next book". It moves the start number past everything you have printed and records the range you have just done, so the two cannot overlap. If you are coming back to this later, type the ranges you have already printed into the box yourself.
What is the letter in front of the number for?
Two things. It lets two people sell at once without clashing, because A001 and B001 are different tickets. And it tells you which book a stub came from when the second book is on a different colour of paper, which is the usual way of running a big raffle.
Why are the numbers padded with zeros?
So 007 cannot be misread as 7 or 70 off a folded, crumpled ticket at the end of the night, and so the stubs stack tidily in the hat. The width comes from the highest number in your run, so a book of 100 gets three digits and a book of 9 gets one.
What are the lines on the stub for?
A name and a phone number. The commonest thing that actually goes wrong at a raffle is nobody being able to find the winner: the number is called three times and the person went home an hour ago. Two seconds of writing at the point of sale solves it, and without a line to write on nobody bothers.
Does my raffle need registering?
In the UK, a raffle drawn at a private event on the day, with tickets sold only at that event, is normally exempt. Selling tickets in advance or to the general public makes it a lottery, and a small society lottery has to be registered with the local council. It is a short form and a small fee. The licensing team at your council is the right people to ask, and they are used to the question.
The fold line printed in the wrong place.
Your printer is scaling the page. Set it to 100% or "actual size" rather than "fit to page", which shrinks the whole sheet by a few per cent to clear the printer margin and moves everything on it. Print one sheet and fold it before running the rest.