Verify Certificate Authenticity
with QR Codes
With the Certify'em Platinum plan, you can include a QR code with your certificates to help others verify its authenticity.
If someone scans the code with a camera on their mobile device, they'll be directed to a page on certifyem.com that shows information about the certificate including:
- Name of Participant ("Issued To")
- Certificate ID
- Date Issued ("Issued On")
- Email of person who issued the certificate ("Issued By")
- A preview of what the certificate looks like
For an example of how this works, try scanning the QR code in the sample certificate below (a larger version of the QR code is also shown for convenience).
Scanning the QR code on a certificate will lead to a page like the one shown below:
Instructions
To include a QR code on your certificate, open your certificate template and add the merge tag {{QR Code}} where you want the QR code to appear.
Note that:
The QR code image will be placed such that its' top-left corner matches the top-left corner of the textbox containing the merge tag.
The width of the QR code image will be equal to the width of the textbox containing the merge tag. The height of the QR code image will equal the width (it's a square).
Common Issues
My {{QR Code}} merge tag does not get replaced with a QR code
Check that you have spelled the merge tag correctly. Also ensure you have an active Certify'em Platinum plan for the Google account you're using.
When I scan the QR code, I see a message that a "Certificate preview is not available"
This message is showing because in the Advanced Options you chose the "Share via" option "Email - Certificate not stored". Because certificates are not being stored in your Google Drive, a preview of the certificate cannot be shown. Note that other information about the certificate (i.e. Issued To, Issued By, Issue Date, Certificate ID) will still be displayed at the top-right.
If you want certificate previews to be available going forward, you will need to change the "Share via" option. Previews will still be unavailable for any certificates issued prior to this change.
When I scan the QR code, I see a "You need access" message from Google Drive
This message appears because your school or business is using Google Workspace, and has chosen to prevent you from sharing your Google Drive files (such as issued certificates) with anyone on the web. This prevents a preview from being shown as the preview is actually showing the saved certificate in your Google Drive. To resolve this, you will need to discuss this with your I.T. department to see if they can make an exception for the account from which you share certificates.
Once your organization has made this change for you, you will still need to go back and manually share prior certificates such that they are visible in this way (see image below). Certificates issued from that point forward will be shared properly, and will not require any additional steps.
Certificate files in Google Drive need to have "Viewer" access for "Anyone with the link" in order for them to show in the preview on certifyem.com when the QR code is scanned.