Generate PDF Certificates for Your Online Course

Completion certificates add real value to online courses. They motivate students, provide social proof, and make your course feel professional. Here's how to generate them automatically with DocuForge.

The Template Approach

Create a certificate template once, then fill it with student data for every completion:

const certificate = await docuforge.fromTemplate({
  templateId: 'tmpl_certificate',
  data: {
    studentName: 'Jane Doe',
    courseName: 'Advanced React Patterns',
    completionDate: 'March 7, 2026',
    instructorName: 'John Smith',
    certificateId: 'CERT-2026-0307-001',
  },
});

Designing the Certificate

Use HTML and CSS to design a certificate that matches your brand. DocuForge supports landscape orientation, custom fonts, background images, and QR codes for verification:

<div style="text-align: center; padding: 60px;">
  <h1 style="font-size: 48px; color: #1a1a1a;">Certificate of Completion</h1>
  <p style="font-size: 24px; margin-top: 40px;">{{studentName}}</p>
  <p>has successfully completed</p>
  <p style="font-size: 28px; font-weight: bold;">{{courseName}}</p>
  <p>{{completionDate}}</p>
  {{qr:https://verify.example.com/{{certificateId}}}}
</div>

Batch Generation

For course cohorts, use DocuForge's batch API to generate all certificates at once:

const batch = await docuforge.batch({
  templateId: 'tmpl_certificate',
  items: students.map(s => ({
    data: { studentName: s.name, courseName, completionDate, certificateId: s.certId },
  })),
});

Verification with QR Codes

The {{qr:url}} placeholder renders a QR code that links to a verification page. Students can share their certificates and recipients can verify authenticity by scanning the code.

Next Steps

• Add certificates to your LMS webhook flow
• Store certificate records in your database for verification
• Let students download certificates from their dashboard