A certificate of completion is a document that says a person finished a course, a training, or a program. Schools, training teams, online course creators, and event organizers give one at the end, as proof and as a small reward.
This guide covers what to put on it, sample wording you can copy, the size to print, and how to make one for every person on a list. To make one now, use the free certificate generator.
Completion is not certification
A certificate of completion says that someone took part and finished. A professional certification says that someone passed an assessment against a standard, usually set by an independent body, and it often expires. So write what the person did, such as “completed 12 hours of training”, and do not call it a certification or a license.
The value of a certificate of completion comes from the organization that gives it. Put your name on it, and give people a way to check it.
What to include
- The title. “Certificate of Completion”, in the largest type after the name.
- The name of the person. Check the spelling against your list.
- A line before and after the name, such as “This certifies that” and “has completed”.
- The course or the program, with its level or length: “Advanced Excel, 12 hours”.
- Your organization, with the logo.
- The date of completion.
- A signature, with the name and the role of the signer.
- A certificate number, so that you can confirm the certificate when someone asks.
You can also add the grade or the result, the place, the credit hours, and a QR code that opens a page where people can check the certificate.
Sample wording
Copy a line and change the details in brackets.
- Online course. This certifies that [Name] has completed [Course name], a [6]-week online course with [24] hours of lessons and a final project.
- Workshop. Presented to [Name] for completing the [Workshop name] workshop on [date] in [city].
- Employee training. This certifies that [Name] has completed [Training name] and met the requirements of the [Company] training program.
- Safety training. [Name] has completed [8] hours of [topic] training, including a practical exercise, on [date].
- Internship. This certifies that [Name] has completed an internship as [role] at [Company], from [start date] to [end date].
- Volunteer program. Presented to [Name] in recognition of [40] hours of volunteer work with [Organization] in [year].
Size and layout
- Paper. A4 (210 × 297 mm) in most countries, and US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) in the US and Canada. Landscape is the usual layout, and portrait works too.
- Pixels for print. At 300 DPI, A4 is 2480 × 3508 pixels and US Letter is 2550 × 3300 pixels. A smaller image prints blurry.
- Screen. For email or a LinkedIn post, a landscape image about 1600 pixels wide is enough.
- Margins. Keep text at least 10 mm from the edge, because many printers do not print to the edge.
- Fonts. Use two at most: a serif or script font for the name, and a simple font for the rest.
Make one in a minute
The free certificate generator has four templates, two of them A4 at 300 DPI. Type the name and the details, and download the PNG. You need no account, and the image has no watermark.
Make one for every person on a list
Typing names one at a time works for five people. For 30 or 3,000, automate it. There are two ways with Bannerify.
From a spreadsheet
Copy a certificate template from the gallery and give the layers that change clear names, such as name, course, and date. Put your list in a CSV or XLSX file, with one column per layer and one row per person. The Bulk page matches the columns to the layers, makes one certificate per row, and gives each one a hosted image URL. Export the results as a new spreadsheet, and send the links with a mail merge. Bulk generation has the details.
From your course platform
When the certificate must go out as soon as a person finishes, call the PDF generation API from the webhook of your course platform or form tool:
import { Bannerify } from "bannerify-js"
const bannerify = new Bannerify(process.env.BANNERIFY_API_KEY!)
// Runs when a student finishes the course, for example in a webhook handler.
const { result: pdf, error } = await bannerify.createPdf("tpl_your_certificate", {
modifications: [
{ name: "name", text: student.name },
{ name: "course", text: course.title },
{ name: "date", text: "14 October 2026" },
{ name: "number", text: `CERT-${enrollment.id}` },
],
})pdf holds the file, ready to attach to an email. Without code, Zapier or n8n do the same: a new completion in your form or course tool starts the flow, Bannerify makes the certificate, and the next step emails it.
Make it easy to check
A certificate number is enough for most courses. Keep a list of the numbers you gave, and confirm one when an employer asks. For more trust, add a QR code that opens a page on your site with the name, the course, and the date. In Bannerify, a QR code layer takes its value from the spreadsheet or the API, like a text layer.
Try it
Make a certificate now, free and without an account. When you need one for every student, copy the template into Bannerify. The free plan includes 100 generations a month, and PRO is $29 a month for 10,000. Details on pricing.
