This guide is for course providers who want certificates in their own design. A certificate template is the reusable design: the background, your logo, your wording and the fields Cademy fills in for each learner, such as their name, the course and the dates. You make templates under Settings > Certificate Templates, then choose one in a course’s certificate settings.
Custom templates need Custom Certificates on your account. The Pro and Teams plans include it; on an Enterprise plan it depends on the features set up for your account. Check under Settings > Billing & Usage. The Cademy default certificate is available on every plan. Creating and editing templates needs a System Admin or Course Owner.
To choose the template for a course and turn on automatic certificates, see Set Up Automatic Certificates for a Course. To issue certificates yourself, see Issue a Certificate Manually or in Bulk.
Create a Custom Certificate Template
Go to Settings > Certificate Templates in the intended account.
Select Add Certificate. In Create Certificate, enter a clear template name, then select the final Create Certificate. This creates the template and opens its editor.
Open the paper-size and orientation control, labelled with the current format, such as A4 Horizontal. You can choose A4, Letter or Legal, horizontal or vertical. The choice applies to every page of the template.
Select Select Background for the current page. Choose an existing image, or use the upload area and wait for the upload to finish. Check the selected image, then select Confirm.
To add a separate image, such as a logo or signature, choose Add > Image, select the image block, then Select Image. Choose or upload the image, check it and select Confirm.
Add text and the learner’s details, as described below. Check every page.
Select Save. After the saved message, return to the template list and reopen the template to confirm the design and all pages were kept.
Example of the Certificate Templates page in Settings, with five templates and the Add Certificate button.
Editing a template changes certificates already issued with it. The PDF is created each time a certificate is opened, so later views show your edits. Already downloaded PDFs do not change. Some older certificates without a saved template follow the course’s current template, so changing the course’s template can affect them too.
Rename, Duplicate or Delete a Certificate Template
To rename a template, select its name or pencil icon, type the new name, click outside the name field and select Save. Reopen it to check. The template options menu has Duplicate and Delete...: read the named template in the dialog before confirming Duplicate Certificate or Delete Certificate, then check the template list.
Deleting a template removes it from normal template selection. It does not revoke certificates already issued with it, which stay available. A course already using that template can keep using it until you select a different one.
Use Your Own Accreditation Certificate Design Instead of the Template (Background)
If you already have a certificate design, for example one from your accrediting body, use it as the template’s background. Cademy then adds each learner’s details on top of it.
Save your design as an image file, such as PNG or JPG. The background picker accepts image files only, so a PDF or Word file cannot be selected.
Create a template as above and choose the paper size and orientation that match your design.
Select Select Background, upload the image, check it and select Confirm.
Use Add to place the learner’s name, the course name, the dates and any other fields over the blank spaces in your design.
Select Save. Then issue a test certificate to a test Registration and view it, as described in Set Up Automatic Certificates for a Course.
Each page has its own background, so a two-page design needs a background on each page.
Example of a customised certificate design. Badges, signatures and accreditation wording are content supplied by the provider; including them in a design does not establish accreditation by Cademy.
List of Certificate Field Names (Mail Merge Fields and Dynamic Values)
Certificates do not use the email Mail Merge tags. The template editor has its own fields, which Cademy fills in for each learner when the certificate is opened. For email tags, see Personalise Emails with Mail Merge Tags.
Select Add to insert a block. Besides Text and Image, the menu lists these fields under Dynamic Values. Each one becomes its own block that you can move, resize and style:
Student Name
Registration ID
Course Name
Certificate Issue Date
Certificate Expiry Date
Course Dynamic Value
Course Facilitator
Course Start Date
Course End Date
Example of a template’s editor with the Add menu open.
Add the Learner’s Name or Other Fields to Your Own Text (Insert Variable)
To mix fields with your own words in one line, such as “Awarded to” followed by the learner’s name, put them in a Text block:
Select Add, then Text. A new Text block appears on the certificate.
Select the Text block. Its formatting toolbar appears above it.
Type your text. Where a field should go, select Insert variable (x) in the toolbar and choose it.
The Insert variable (x) menu includes:
Student name
Registration ID
Course name
Certificate issue date
Certificate expiry date
Course start date
Course end date
Course facilitator
Course specific value
Educator name
CPD points
CPD hours
CPD points label
CPD hours label
Course specific value is the course’s certificate Dynamic Value, set in the course’s Certificates & CPD settings.
CPD fields are only in Insert variable (x). They are not listed under Add > Dynamic Values. They appear only when the account has the CPD feature and CPD is turned on under Settings > CPD, and they are at the bottom of the menu.
For example, add CPD points, type a space, then add CPD points label. A learner with 4 points then sees 4 CPD points. Points and hours use the Registration’s active CPD award. Before an award exists, they use the course’s current values only when Award CPD is on; otherwise they are blank. They are blank when the award was revoked, when that source has no value for the unit, or while CPD is turned off or not included in your account’s plan. The labels use the names saved under Settings > CPD. For more, see Set Up and Award CPD Points or Hours.
Change the Name or Date Format
Select a Student Name block and use Change Name Format to show Full Name, First Name or Last Name. Select a date block and use Change Date Format to choose YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD, DD/MM/YY, DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YY, MM/DD/YYYY or DDth MONTH YYYY.
When a Field Is Blank or Shows the Wrong Name
Certificate Expiry Date is blank when that certificate has no saved expiry date. Changing the course’s expiry setting does not change an existing certificate’s saved expiry.
Course Dynamic Value is blank when the course has no Dynamic Value.
Course Facilitator can show more than one facilitator.
Registration ID can be blank on older certificates that are not linked to a Registration.
The learner’s name is the First Name and Last Name saved on their Contact in your account. To correct it, open the learner’s Registration, expand Contact Info, change First Name or Last Name, then open the certificate again and check it. Already downloaded PDFs do not change.
Display a Certificate Number as a Dynamic Field (Registration ID)
Certificate templates have no certificate number field. To print a unique reference, add Registration ID: choose Add > Registration ID, or insert Registration ID with Insert variable (x) inside a Text block, for example after “Certificate number:”.
The Registration ID shows Cademy’s internal ID for the learner’s Registration, a long code. It is not the shorter Registration Code (such as REG-12) shown at the top of an open Registration. You cannot set your own numbering, and two certificates for the same Registration show the same Registration ID.
Date on the Certificate Is Not Centred: Align and Position Text
Every field and piece of text sits in its own block. Alignment works inside the block, so a date can look off-centre when its block is not in the middle of the page, even if the text is centred.
Select the date block, or any other text block. Its formatting toolbar appears above it.
Select Align Center. The toolbar also has Align Left and Align Right.
Drag the block so it sits in the middle of the page, and drag its edges to resize it. A block as wide as the text above it lines up most easily.
If the text is too small or runs outside the block, open Text fit and choose Wrap and shrink to fit, Wrap onto multiple lines, Shrink to fit on one line (the default) or No constraint (allow overflow).
Select Save, then view an issued certificate to check the result.
The same toolbar sets the font, size, colour, bold and underline.
Add More Pages to a Certificate (Up to 10)
Select the plus-icon Page control to add a blank page after the current page.
Use the Previous Page and Next Page arrows beside the page indicator to move between pages and check each page’s background and content.
Open Page Options to choose Duplicate Page, Move Left, Move Right or Delete Page. To delete, check the page in the confirmation before selecting the final Delete Page.
Select Save, reopen the template and check its page count, order and content.
A template can have up to 10 pages. The last remaining page cannot be deleted. When a certificate is issued, all pages are combined into one PDF in the order shown in the editor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Templates and Design
Can I issue certificates without a custom template?
Yes. The Cademy default certificate is available on every plan. It uses a standard A4 horizontal design with the learner’s full name, course name, issue date, your name and logo, and the course’s Dynamic Value.
Can each certificate page have a different background?
Yes. Backgrounds and content belong to individual pages. Paper size and orientation apply to the whole template.
Can I add the course location or venue to a certificate?
Not automatically. Certificate templates have no location, venue, address, Public note or Private / internal note field. In a custom template, select Add > Text and type a fixed venue or address; it appears on every certificate that uses that template. The course’s Dynamic Value is saved on the course, so it is the same for every date and venue. If one course runs at different venues, leave fixed location text off automatically issued certificates. When issuing by hand, you can choose a separate template for each venue. For location setup and note visibility, see Set the Course Venue or Online Joining Link.
Will an issued certificate change if I edit its template?
Yes. Later views use the linked template, so edits can change certificates already issued. Previously downloaded PDFs do not change.
Can I use one template for several courses?
Yes. Choose the same template in each course’s Certificates & CPD settings. Use Course Dynamic Value or the course name field for wording that differs between courses.