Making Your Own Template

Follow these instructions to easily create your own certificate template.

Step 1: Start a New Template:

There are 2 ways to create your own template:

1. Select the "Design My Own" option in the Certify'em template selector. This will create a (mostly) blank template that you can begin editing.

2. Create a brand new Google Slides file directly in Google Drive, or copy someone else's (for example, copy  one of the creative certificate templates available at SlidesMania). You will then select it in Certify'em (described in Step 4 below).

Step 2: Setup Your Template: Google Slides operates much like MS PowerPoint. Customize the first (and only) slide of your presentation to reflect information about your certification and organization, such as a congratulatory message and logo. 

Step 3: Add Merge Tags: The information about your exam-taker (their Full Name, optional Other Identifiers) as well as their score and Certificate ID can be inserted into your certificate using merge tags. Just include any or all of the merge tags below in your template. When sending our a certificate, Certify'em will make a copy of your template and substitute actual values for these merge tags before emailing the copy to the exam-taker as a PDF file.

An image of an example certificate template with merge tags appears below:

For more information on using the {{QR Code}} merge tag, see here.

Step 4: Select Your Template in Certify'em:
If you clicked the "Design My Own" option in Step 1, you can skip this step as your new template has already been selected for you.

Once your template is ready, return to your exam and use the "Change Template" link in the Certify'em controls. This will open the template selector. 

From there, select the first option called "Select Existing". 

You will see a list of all presentation files in your Google Drive. Click on your template file and then click the "Select" button.

IMPORTANT: While your Microsoft Powerpoint (PPT) presentations may appear in this list for selection, they will not work with Certify'em and users will not receive certificates if you chose a PPT file as your template. Only Google Slides presentations may be used by Certify'em.

Step 5: Test It: To test out your new template, click on the "Email Me Sample" link in the Certify'em controls.

Tip: To quickly open your template (for making changes), just click on its picture in the controls