What Information Should Be Included On A Digital Certificate?

Digital certificates are the equivalent of a paper certificate and contain similar information with the addition of helpful digital features. Planning what information should be included on the digital certificate in advance will simplify the design process and prevent key information being forgotten.

Planning a Digital Certificate

Consider the traditional degree design, it includes the name of the institution, the name of the student, the degree and major they studied, sign off from authoritative bodies, and the date of the award.

An example of a traditional certificate presented to a candidate called Kevin Woods — Certificate Example

This information is core to understanding who the named award belongs to, what they studied, and where they studied. This information also makes up the basis of a digital certificate and with freedom of design, issuers can add further details too. Custom branding is added to help identify the issuing authority at a glance, decorative assets are used to help certificates stand out when shared, and QR code support provides an always-available live link to the hosted credential online.

An example of a digital certificate award for a certificate of excellence awarded to a candidate called Jordan Smiths — Digital Certificate Example

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Digital Certificate Templates

Certificate templates are freely available for issuers to use as the base for their design or as a reference for creating a new design. Core attributes that are included in the available templates include the recipient name, the course name, the credential ID, and the date. There is a library of templates to choose from in different orientations and paper sizes depending on the needs of the issuer. The Accredible platform also includes a library of additional core attributes to use alongside the attributes that appear on certificate templates including:

Issuer Name
Course Description
Recipient ID
Recipient Email
Expiry Date

Custom Attributes

Custom attributes are another feature of digital certificates that automate the process of adding further information. Custom attributes are created by the issuer to pull through uploaded data for the recipient, course, or issuer information. Examples include:

Issuer Details
Issuer Contact
Recipient Contact
Recipient Grade
Course Tutor
Membership Level
Signature of Authority
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Attributes make the automation of issuing credentials quick and simple. Certificates don’t need to be manually managed and spelling errors or name changes can be approved in a few clicks, without the cost of reprinting and reposting.

Designing a Digital Certificate

The Certificate Designer available through the Accredible digital certificate platform has made it easy to create fantastic-looking digital certificates. The drag-and-drop interface is simple for beginners to use and the design tool includes visible guides for helping to position elements on the page or against additional elements in the design.

As the digital certificate acts as a representation of achievement ‘out-in-the-wild’, issuers may choose to seek the assistance of a graphic designer. If the design process is being kept in-house, here are some suggestions to ensure a quality digital certificate design.

Sizing Elements

Certain information included in the digital certificate design holds greater importance than others. For example, the name of the recipient and the name of the course are two key pieces of information. The copy used to link these elements together is of less importance. Examples of this copy include:

“Has been awarded the achievement of”
“Is hereby designated”
“Has successfully completed all the requirements to be recognized as”
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The linking copy and any information of low importance on digital certificates should be a smaller font size and weight (how thick or thin characters appear). This allows key information to be the focus of the certificate and should be displayed in a larger size and/or weight.

For attributes and custom attributes, the font can be set to automatically scale depending on the length of the generated information. This prevents longer names or course names getting cut off for exceeding the design size constraints or overlapping other elements on the certificate. To set automatic scaling, select the text-box of the target attribute, click ‘Size’ in the design toolbar and check the box for ‘Enable Text Scaling’.

High Quality Elements

Logos, decorative elements, and background images are easy to upload into the designer for use in digital certificate designs. All uploaded image files should be correctly sized to ensure the element appears cleanly in the design without blur or distortion. This is particularly important if issuers intend for their certificate designs to be print-ready for display or presentation.

Minimum background sizes for documents should be at least:

1056 x 816 pixels for US-Letter Landscape or 3418 x 2668 pixels for HQ printing
816 x 1056 pixels for US-Letter Portrait or 2668 x 3418 pixels for HQ printing
1123 x 794 pixels for A4 Landscape or 3626 x 2598 pixels for HQ printing
794 x 1123 pixels for A4 Portrait or 2598 x 3626 pixels for HQ printing
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It is not recommended to upload images that greatly exceed the minimum size recommendations. This can lead to loading issues online or cause the PDF render to fail when a recipient downloads their certificate.

In Summary

Designing a digital certificate requires thought about what information the certificate needs to include and how to balance the design elements. Key elements to remember when designing a digital certificate:

Digital certificate designs should be recognizable as belonging to the issuer
Image files should be optimally sized when adding branding or additional decorative elements
Included imagery and decorative icons should be relevant to the award
Background sizes should be the optimal size depending on high quality printing needs
Information of high importance should appear larger or bolded
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Further step-by-step guidance for using the Accredible Certificate Designer is available in our Knowledgebase:

How to create a digital certificate design
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Try the Accredible Certificate Designer with a trial account for up to 20 unique recipients or receive a full demo of the Accredible platform by reaching out to the sales team.