How to Make a Certificate of Completion (Wording, Design and Bulk Printing)
What to put on a certificate of completion, appreciation or achievement, example wording, design tips, and how to create one for every participant at once.
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A certificate is the finishing touch on a training course, internship, workshop or competition — and often ends up on LinkedIn, giving your organisation free visibility. It only takes a few minutes to make a good one.
What a certificate should include
- Organisation name and logo
- Certificate title — of Completion, Achievement, Appreciation, Participation, Excellence
- Presentation line — "This is to certify that"
- Recipient's full name — spelled exactly as they want it
- What it's for — course title, programme, award or contribution
- Optional details — duration, hours, grade, location
- Date of completion or issue
- Signatures — name and title of one or two signatories
- Certificate number — useful for verification and records
Example wording
Completion: "This is to certify that Aisha Rahman has successfully completed the UAE VAT & E-Invoicing Masterclass, a 12-hour programme conducted 2–4 October 2026 in Dubai."
Appreciation: "This certificate is presented to Rahul Menon in sincere appreciation of his outstanding contribution to the 2026 Customer Experience Programme."
Internship: "This is to certify that Sara Ali has successfully completed an internship in Finance & Accounts from June to August 2026."
Create one — or fifty — for free
- Open the free Certificate Generator.
- Choose a template (Classic, Modern, Elegant or Bold) and your colours.
- Add your organisation, logo, the course and the signatories (upload signature images if you have them).
- For a group, tick Bulk mode and paste the names, one per line.
- Click Download PDF — choose Save as PDF, landscape, margins None.
Bulk mode produces one certificate per page with consecutive certificate numbers.
Design tips
- Name is the hero — biggest text after the title.
- Two fonts at most — a serif or script for the name, a clean sans-serif for details.
- Brand colours for borders and accents, not large blocks of colour that waste ink.
- Leave white space — crowded certificates look cheap.
- Print on 200–300 gsm card for a premium feel.
Verification
Printed certificates can be forged. If credibility matters (training providers, professional bodies), issue certificates from a system with a verification page or QR code.
Issuing certificates automatically
Pyalm Learn issues certificates automatically when learners complete a course — with quizzes, assignments and progress tracking — under your brand. Running a live event instead? Pyalm Ticketing handles registration and check-in.
Related free tools
Certificate Generator | Seal Generator | Resume Builder | QR Code Generator | All free tools