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Free Certificate Generator
Make a certificate

Free tool

Free certificate maker

Pick a design, type the details, download the file. It runs in your browser, it costs nothing, and nothing you make carries a watermark.

  • No signup
  • No watermark
  • PDF & PNG
  • Free for commercial use

Free certificate maker

Best on a screen at least 900px wide. Certificates render at print resolution and are yours to use commercially. Fair-use limit: 10 downloads an hour, 40 a day.

Powered by CertSeal.com

Need certificates your recipients can verify? CertSeal issues them in bulk from a spreadsheet, puts a unique verification link and QR code on every one, and emails them out for you.

Make verifiable certificates

How it works

Make a certificate in three steps

  1. 01

    Pick a design

    The generator below opens on one that suits certificates. Swap it for any other in the library if you'd rather.

  2. 02

    Write the details

    Recipient name, the citation, the date, and who is issuing it. The preview updates as you type, so you see how a long name will sit before you commit.

  3. 03

    Download and print

    A print-ready PDF for printing and filing, or a PNG for email and chat. No account and no watermark.

What to write on a certificate

The wording carries more weight than the border. These are patterns that read well out loud at a ceremony and still make sense pinned to a wall five years later.

  • Neutral and formal

    This is to certify that Jordan Ellis has successfully completed Advanced Project Management on 14 March 2026.

  • Warm and personal

    Presented to Jordan Ellis in recognition of the care, persistence, and good humour brought to Advanced Project Management.

  • Hours-based training

    Jordan Ellis has completed 16 hours of instruction in Workplace First Aid, meeting all assessment requirements on 14 March 2026.

  • Course with a grade

    Awarded to Jordan Ellis for completing Data Analysis Foundations with a final result of Distinction.

  • Attendance only

    This certifies that Jordan Ellis attended The Future of Remote Work, a one-day conference held on 14 March 2026.

  • Team or group award

    Presented to the Atlas Launch Team for delivering a complete platform migration three weeks ahead of schedule.

  • Volunteer service

    In grateful recognition of Jordan Ellis, who gave 120 hours of volunteer service to Riverside Community Kitchen during 2026.

  • Children and school

    Jordan is awarded this certificate for Most Improved Reader, Term 2 — for reading every single night, even the hard books.

  • Internal recognition

    Presented to Jordan Ellis for outstanding contribution to Customer Support, Q1 2026.

  • Milestone or anniversary

    With appreciation for ten years of service to Northgate Health, from all of us — Jordan Ellis, 2016–2026.

Worth knowing

Why not just use Word?

  • Text boxes drift the moment you change a name from 'Amy Lu' to 'Konstantinos Papadopoulos', and you find out after printing.

  • Fonts you have installed are not fonts the print shop has, so the file that looked right on your laptop comes back wrong.

  • Word and Docs export at screen resolution by default. Blown up to A4, the border goes soft and the seal turns to mush.

Templates

Designs that suit certificates

Open any of these to edit it on its own page, or switch to it inside the generator above.

Browse all completion templates

Size, format, and printing

Getting it onto paper

  • Size

    A4 (210 × 297 mm), which also prints on US Letter without scaling artefacts. Most designs come in landscape and portrait.

  • Paper

    Plain paper is fine day to day. For anything presented in front of people, 160–250 gsm gives the certificate enough weight to feel like an object. Matte photographs better than gloss.

  • PDF or PNG

    PDF if it will be printed or filed — the text stays sharp at any size. PNG if it's going into an email, a chat app, or a social post, where a PDF attachment is friction.

Common mistakes

What goes wrong, and how to avoid it

  • Spelling the recipient's name wrong

    The single most common problem, and the only one that makes a certificate worthless. Copy names from the source system, never retype them, and check accents and hyphens against the original.

  • Writing the date ambiguously

    03/04/2026 is March in the US and April almost everywhere else. Spell the month out: 3 April 2026.

  • Leaving the signature line blank

    An unsigned certificate reads as a draft. If you have no signature image, set the line as a printed name and title — that's still better than empty space.

  • Claiming more than you can back up

    'Certified' and 'accredited' mean something specific. If no accrediting body is involved, 'certificate of completion' is the accurate and safer phrase.

Frequently asked questions

About the free certificate maker

Is this certificate maker really free?
Yes. Choose a design, edit it, and download a PDF or PNG at no cost, with no account and no watermark on the file. There is a fair-use cap of 10 downloads an hour and 40 a day to keep the service up for everyone.
Do I need to create an account?
No. Nothing is stored against you and no email address is asked for. The trade-off is that your design isn't saved either — once you close the tab, it's gone.
Can I use these certificates commercially?
Yes. Certificates you make here can be issued by a business, a school, a training provider, or a nonprofit, including for paid courses.
Can I add my own logo?
Not in the free maker — logo upload, custom fonts, and brand colours are part of a CertSeal account. The free tool covers the text fields on the design you pick.
What file do I get?
A print-resolution PDF sized for A4 (which also prints cleanly on US Letter), or a PNG if you'd rather email or post it. Both are watermark-free.
Can I make 200 of them at once?
Not here — this tool makes one at a time. Bulk generation from a spreadsheet is what CertSeal's paid plans are for.

Other makers

Making a different kind of certificate?

Need more than one at a time?

Bulk issue from a spreadsheet, add a verification URL and QR code to every certificate, and email them out automatically. That's what CertSeal does.

Try CertSeal free Keep using the free generator