In this article, you will learn how to create a certificate that will be automatically given to students upon completion of your course in iSpring Learn.
The article consists of two parts:
  • In the first part you will create a generic PDF certicate without personal information.
  • In the second part of the article you will learn how to add form fields to the pdf certificate that will be filled in by iSpring Learn.

Create a Generic Certificate in Microsoft Office

The easiest way to create a certificate is to use a Microsoft Office template.

  1. In Microsoft PowerPoint, open the File tab.



  2. Choose New from the menu.

  3. Type "certificate" in the Office.com templates search field and press Enter.

    The program will list all available templates that contain the keyword "certificate" in their descriptions.



  4. Double-click a template that you like.



    PowerPoint will download and open the selected template.



  5. Modify the certificate to your liking.
  6. Make sure to fill in all text placeholders or delete those that will be later replaced with form fields for iSpring Learn to fill in.
    Note: iSpring Learn currently supports three form fields: user name, course title, and completion date.

When your certificate is ready, you should save it as pdf:

  1. Open the File tab on the PowerPoint ribbon.



  2. Click Save As.



  3. Choose "PDF (*.pdf)" in the Save as type drop-down menu.



  4. Click Save.

Add Form Fields to Personalize Your Certificate

OK, now you have a generic certificate. You can use it in your course, but it's static. For example, if you typed your course title in this certificate, it won't do for other courses that you may add in future. So it's more convenient to create a certificate that will include some information inserted dynamically right before a student downloads it.

iSpring Learn currently recognizes four form fields and Field ID's that you created in the User Profile field section.

The four pre-set form fields are: 

  • NAME - the name of a student that completed your course
  • COURSE_NAME - your course title
  • DATE - the date when a student completed your course
  • TIME_ONLY - the time when a student completed your course (date value not included)
  • DURATION  - the amount of time a given student spent on completing your course
  • EXPIRATION_DATE - the certificate expiration date (Specify the expiration period when adding a new certificate in iSpring Learn. The expiration date will be automatically calculated starting from the date when the certificate was issued.)
  • AWARDED_SCORE - awarded score points
  • PASSING_SCORE - passing score (the field is empty if it is not specified)
  • CERTIFICATE_ID - unique identifier for every certificate awarded to a student.

Please check how to create a new custom field and Field ID in the User Profile Fields article. 

To add form fields to your pdf certificate, please install Adobe Acrobat DC software.

Note: Do not mix it up with Adobe Acrobat Reader - it's just a viewer of pdf files, and you need a pdf editor.

To add form fields to your PDF certificate, please install Adobe Acrobat DC, which allows you to edit PDF files. 

  1. Launch Adobe Acrobat DC on your computer.



  2. Click File, then choose the Create option and select Create Form from the menu.



  3. Next, click Select a file



  4. Locate your static certificate on your computer and hit the Open button.



  5. Now that you have chosen a certificate to edit, click Start



  6. Your certificate will be opened. 



  7. First, let's edit the placeholders from the original template using the toolbar located on the right pane. In the example below, we have put a static value as the instructor's name (it will be constant, not variable) and used the dynamic DATE value for another field (the date of the course's completion will be inserted there).



  8. Second, we will add a new text field that was not previously available in the certificate template. To do this, right-click, choose Text Field, select an area where the field will be located and insert the value. In this example, we have added the NAME form field (the name of the learner who completed the course will appear here).



  9. Finally, save this dynamic certificate to your device.

  10. Now upload the new certificate to your iSpring Learn portal and choose to issue it upon course completion. When the certificate is delivered to users, they will see their names, date of completion, and any other custom form fields.