CertificateMaker Help

A complete guide to the certificate generator, from the first template to a batch of a hundred.

Last Updated: October 6, 2026

1. Getting Started

1.1 What you need

• A modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Opera) with JavaScript enabled
• Site data allowed for zerodataupload.com if you want saved templates and the history to survive closing the tab
• For a logo or a scanned signature, an image file (PNG, JPG, SVG or WebP) under 4 MB

1.2 The layout

The tool is one page in two halves. On the left, the editor in seven collapsible sections: Templates, Content, Typography, Colours, Border & Size, Logo and Signature. Click a section's heading to fold or unfold it. On the right, the Certificate Preview: the certificate at the paper's proportions, scaled to fit the window and redrawn with every change. On tablets and phones the preview sits above the editor. The toolbar above both holds Undo, Redo, History and Shortcuts on the left and Bulk (CSV), Duplicate, Print, PNG and PDF on the right.

2. Templates and Saved Designs

The Templates section lists five designs. Choosing one sets the title, the title colour and the accent colour, and tints the paper lightly:

• Achievement: "Certificate of Achievement", dark navy title, gold accent, cream tint.
• Course Completion: "Certificate of Course Completion", royal blue title and accent, sky tint.
• Award: "Award Certificate", deep brown title, gold accent, amber tint.
• Participation: "Certificate of Participation", dark green title and accent, mint tint.
• Appreciation: "Certificate of Appreciation", deep purple title, violet accent, lilac tint.

Everything a template sets can be changed afterwards in the other sections. Beneath the list, Save Template (Ctrl+S) keeps the whole design (template, border, paper, text, fonts, colours, logo and signature settings) under a name in this browser, and Load Template lists the saved designs with a Load and a Delete button for each.

3. Content and the Date

• Certificate Title: the large heading, printed in capitals with letter spacing.
• Subtitle: the line under the title, "This is to certify that" by default; leave it empty to drop it.
• Recipient Name: the largest text after the title, on its own line with a rule beneath it.
• Description: one or two sentences about what was achieved, completed or attended.
• Issuer Name: printed under the right-hand line in the footer.
• Date and Date Format: the date starts at today; the format is long (January 1, 2026), short (01/01/2026), ISO (2026-01-01) or European (1 January 2026).

4. Typography

• Title Font: Georgia, Times New Roman, Palatino, Book Antiqua, Arial or Segoe UI.
• Body Font: Georgia, Times New Roman, Arial, Segoe UI or Helvetica, used for everything but the title.
• Title Size (20 to 72) and Name Size (24 to 72), in pixels on the preview; the paper is 842 pixels wide in landscape A4.
• Text Alignment: centre, left or right for the title, subtitle, name and description. The footer stays spread across the bottom.

The fonts are the ones installed on your device. A device that lacks one shows the nearest substitute, so check the preview on the computer you export from.

5. Colours

Four colours, each with a picker and a hex field (type a value such as #c9a227 and press Tab or Enter):

• Title Colour: the title, and the inner line of the Classic and Elegant borders.
• Text Colour: everything else on the certificate, including the name, its underline and the signature lines.
• Background: the paper. White keeps the template's tint; any other colour replaces it with a plain paper of that colour.
• Accent: the border.

6. Border, Paper Size and Orientation

• Classic: a thick double rule in the accent colour with an inner line in the title colour.
• Modern: a plain rule in the accent colour with a thin pale inner line.
• Elegant: a dark band in the title colour with a thin accent line inside it.
• Minimal: a thin rule in the accent colour.
• Ornate: a wide ridged frame in the accent colour with a soft inner shadow.
• None: no border.

Paper Size is A4 or US Letter and Orientation landscape or portrait. The preview changes shape at once, the PDF is made at that page size, and Print sets the page to match.

7. Logo

Click the dashed box, or drop an image onto it, to place your organisation's logo above the title. It is shown at up to 120 by 80 pixels on the preview; a PNG with a transparent background looks best on a tinted paper. Remove Logo takes it off again. The file must be an image under 4 MB.

8. Signature

Three tabs choose how the signature is made:

• Draw: draw on the pad with the mouse or a finger. Clear wipes the pad (and takes a drawn signature off the certificate); Use Signature puts the drawing on the certificate. Click it as soon as the signature looks right: the pad is redrawn when the window changes size.
• Upload: choose an image of a signature, or drop it on the box. A PNG with a transparent background looks best.
• Type: type a name and choose Brush Script, Lucida Handwriting, Cursive or Segoe Script.

The signature sits above the left-hand line in the footer. Signature Label is the text under that line: "Authorized Signature" by default, or a role such as Principal or Director.

9. The Preview

The preview shows the certificate at the paper's proportions, scaled down to fit the panel; the note in its header says so. On a desktop the panel stays in view while you scroll the editor. The PDF, the PNG and the print always use the full page, whatever the window size. The certificate keeps its own colours whichever page theme is on, so the output is the same in the light and the dark theme.

10. PDF, PNG and Print

• PDF (Ctrl+Shift+F) draws the certificate at double resolution, places it on a page of the chosen size and orientation and downloads the file, named certificate_ plus the recipient's name. The PDF is a picture of the certificate, so it looks the same on any device.
• PNG (Ctrl+Shift+E) saves the same drawing as an image, about 1,700 pixels wide for a landscape A4, for a slide, a web page or a messaging app.
• Print (Ctrl+Shift+P) opens the browser's print dialog with only the certificate on the page and the page size and orientation set to match. Choose a printer, or "Save as PDF" for a second route to a PDF. If the border or the tint is missing on paper, tick "Background graphics" under More settings.

11. Bulk Certificates from a CSV

Design one certificate, then click Bulk (CSV) in the toolbar. Choose a CSV file, or drop it on the box: one recipient per line, the name in the first column. Other columns are ignored, quotes around a name are removed, and a first line that says "Name", "Names", "Recipient" or "Recipient Name" is skipped as a header. A plain text file with one name per line works too.

The window shows the first ten names and the count. Generate All (PDF) makes one PDF with a page for each name, using the template, text, logo and signature on screen, and shows the progress; about a quarter of a second per certificate on a desktop. The file is named certificates_bulk with the date. Each certificate is added to the history. Keep the tab in front until the download starts.

12. Duplicate, History, Undo and Redo

• Duplicate copies the certificate with "(Copy)" after the recipient's name and puts the cursor in the name field, ready for the next person.
• History opens a panel with the last twenty certificates you exported: the recipient's name, the template and the time. Click one to put its name and template back on the certificate.
• Undo (Ctrl+Z) and Redo (Ctrl+Y) step through the last fifty changes to the design: text, fonts, colours, border, paper, logo and signature.

13. Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac): undo; Ctrl+Y: redo
• Ctrl+S: save template
• Ctrl+Shift+F: PDF; Ctrl+Shift+E: PNG; Ctrl+Shift+P: print
• Ctrl+D: switch the page between the light and the dark theme
• Escape: close a window or the history panel

The Shortcuts button in the toolbar shows the same list.

14. Troubleshooting

• The certificate looks different on another computer: the fonts are the device's own. Export where you designed it; the PDF and PNG keep the look you saw.
• "Choose an image file" or "The image must be under 4 MB": save the logo or signature as a PNG, JPG, SVG or WebP under 4 MB and choose it again. UltraCompress Pro on this site shrinks an image in the browser.
• "Draw a signature on the pad first": Use Signature was clicked with an empty pad.
• "Enter a colour as six hex digits": a hex field holds something other than a # and six digits or letters a to f; the field goes back to the last colour.
• The PDF or PNG button does nothing: reload the page. If a toast says the file could not be made, remove the logo or signature and try again, then add a different image.
• The printed certificate has no border or tint: tick "Background graphics" in the print dialog, or use PDF.
• "No names found in the file": the CSV has no text in its first column, or every line is empty. Open it in a text editor and check that the names are first on each line.
• Saved templates vanished: cleared browsing data, a new profile or a different browser; they live in one browser profile on one device and cannot be recovered.