5 Easiest Ways to Create a Certificate of Participation

What is the best way to create a certificate of participation? Let us clear up your doubts.

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Sergey Butko

Updated: February 20, 2024

8 min read

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A participation certificate is a great way to appreciate someone's hard work. They can also be used as a reward for someone who has done something remarkable. The best way to create them? 

Make it yourself, hire a professional, or use an online generator. This article will clear your doubts. But first…

What is a certificate of participation?

A certificate of participation award is a document confirming that someone took part in an event. Providing this kind of appreciation is a way to demonstrate gratitude for someone's effort and dedication. It can be in both digital and paper versions.

How to make certificate of participation?

We've got you covered if you are hesitant about those options because we’ve considered all the options' pros and cons.

Spoiler: Certifier is the easiest and fastest way to make certificates of participation. Take a look for free.

#1 Design your certificate of participation yourself

All you need is graphic software and a printer. Sometimes, a text-processing program like Word works. However, it takes time and energy.

In addition, a text editor lacks a lot of functions necessary for creating practical credentials like templates or decorative elements. You can create a simple document, but you need to look around if you want something special for your recipient. It's not the best option, though!

Once your certificate is ready, printing it out professionally would make the difference. A professional printing service will take care of the quality of the documents, so you don’t need to worry that something goes wrong with the final product.

#2 Use the certificate of participation template available online

There are many online templates that you can use to create your certificate of participation. When you type in a browser “participation certificate template,” you will find plenty of them-formal, informal, colorful, or neutral tones, you name it. 

However, the templates found on the internet have some drawbacks. For example, you can have it in PDF or JPG format when downloading a random one. So you need to open the document in some editing software to upload a text there anyway. Also, the elements on the PDF or JPG templates cannot change their positions.

Library of participation certificate templates.

There is a solution for that! You can check out the Certifier certificate template library. It’s the place where you can find many well-designed certificates that cover the norms. They can be customized, and you can download them to Canva, Figma, Word, or Google Slides!

#3 Use a professional and intuitive certificate maker (the fastest way!)

Here is our favorite way to create certificates of participation. Imagine that you can do that in a matter of minutes with an appropriate certificate maker. However, consider these features before choosing a certificate builder for creating a certificate of participation.

  • It is a tool designed for creating a certificate, so there are no unnecessary features like in the case of text editors or graphic platforms.

  • Creating a certificate of participation is quick and easy with pre-made templates.

  • A good generator should allow you to send the certificates to the recipients in bulk. 

  • You can choose the quality and format best for printing.

Creating certificate of participation in certificate maker.

If you would like to take a broader look at tools for certificate generation, check this out: 8 Best Tools to Create Certificates Online for Free

#4 Use graphic design tools 

There are many free tools available for making graphics, with a decent set of tools for designing. However, pay attention to these points:  

  • There could be a lot of features not necessarily helpful in creating outstanding certificates. 

  • A graphic design platform has a rich gallery of various graphical elements that you can find relevant.

  • Most often, you can’t mass generate certifications, and they have no option to distribute them in bulk.

  • You can find a certificate of participation template there, but it depends on the platform. Unfortunately, some platforms may not provide the templates.

#5 Hire a designer

It is hard to come across something unique using easily accessible templates. So one of the ways to provide a fantastic certificate of participation award is by hiring a professional. A designer would listen to your needs and design a high-quality, custom, printable participation certificate. However, not everyone can afford to hire someone. Unfortunately, it can cost a lot of money.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating your certificate of participation

If you’ve decided to create your certificate of participation, those tips will help you make it perfect. 

Include the name of the event or activity

It’s one of the basics but worth mentioning. You should include the name of the event or activity on your participation certificate so that people who see the certificate for the first time know what this certificate is for. Try to be as concise as possible and not clutter the document with extra words. More doesn’t always mean better.

Include the date of the event or activity

The date is also one of the critical pieces of information that you should remember. Include the day, month, and year of the event. It is often placed in the bottom corner and in a relatively smaller font than the recipient's name or the name of the event or activity.

Make sure the certificate is easy to read and understand

And also make it scannable. So those who are looking at the certificate could find important information in seconds. To make it clear and easy to understand, include only necessary data with reasonable spacing. Try not to overuse colors and fonts because they might visually overwhelm the document.  

It’s good to write more relevant info in a slightly bigger font, for example, the recipients’ and event’s names. The rest, like the organizer’s name, the date, and the certificate ID, could be smaller. 

Use high-quality paper for your certificate of participation

The high-quality paper helps the document last longer, so your participants can feel the satisfaction of a completed task for years. Also, the poor-quality paper would make the certification look unprofessional.

Also, details always matter – Your participants will undoubtedly appreciate the quality. 

Consider adding a photo or image

To create a more customized certification, add a photo or an image. If you use a certificate generator, it should have an image gallery or at least the function of uploading images from your device. Look through the pictures gallery to find pictures that refer to the topic of an event.

Let's customize the certification by adding a picture to match the event's theme. But, of course, images or photos are decorative, so it’s better to keep them at a reasonable size.

Add a personal message

If you feel like it, add a personal message. A certificate of participation will have a more sentimental value with an included personally written note. It is a nice accent for your recipients. It could be a quote that refers to the event or maybe the most important message from the activity or meeting you want your participants to keep in mind.

Use high-quality images

No matter how good the rest of the certificate is, a poor picture can spoil the perception of the whole document. So if you upload a photo or an image, pay attention to its quality to deliver as official-looking certificate as possible.

Proofread for any errors

Even if you check yourself if there aren’t any errors, it is always good to ask someone to proofread your certificate to catch any typos or logical errors. Two heads are better than one, right? If it’s not possible to ask someone for help, there are some handy tools for correcting grammar mistakes on the web.

Design your digital certificate of participation with Certifier

A robust tool will also make your certificate well-designed, high-quality, and super easy to make. It sounds like a mission impossible, but it is not! Let us introduce Certifier

Certifier is an online certificate maker. Thanks to a solid set of features, it is excellent for building a certificate for any occasion: football award certificate, certificate application, certificate issuance, or any other event certificate.

Best solution for creating certificates of participation.
  • Add your branding, logo, signatures, personal message, or images to customize it. Uploading your graphics is also possible. Move the default elements and add new ones wherever you want to create a unique certificate for your participants. In the Designs tab, you will find various fonts and colors.

  • You get many ready-made custom certificate templates. They are great if you do not have much time to customize the certificate of participation design. In addition, most of the templates are universal, so they can be adjustable for any occasion by changing the default text.

  • Certifier also offers a beautiful certificate layout. There are many choices so everyone can find something they like. When nothing takes your fancy, you find a certificate border layout in the Designs tab and design it as you want.

With Certifier you can make your certificates in 5 easy steps. It is a tool designed for making certificates with a user-friendly interface. That is why the process of creating is straightforward and satisfying.

Send certificates of participation in bulk

Certifier allows sending certifications in bulk. That is a fantastic feature for those who want to send credentials via email to certificate recipients. Thanks to dynamic attributes, you can send a certificate in minutes. All you need to prepare is a CVS file with participants' names and email addresses.

Distributing and managing participation certificates within Certifier dashboard.

You can manage issued certificates. Once you send the certifications using an online certificate maker, there is often no way to get back to editing them. But with Certifier, it is a piece of cake. The Certificates tab allows you to manage the documents and correct any mistakes if necessary.

If you want to know more about dynamic attributes and a certificate sender, this article might be helpful.

Customize the design

Choose orientation and paper size and provide the best quality possible. Most certificates are the standard A4 size (8.3x11.7), but you can also choose the US letter size (8x11). Both orientations are available: landscape and portrait. It’s all up to your preference. You can ensure the best printing quality thanks to Certifier’s printable certificate. 

Add a QR code to your Certifier documents. QR codes and Unique Indicating Codes provide better security and verification possibilities.

Get insight into certificate analytics

See the analysis of your digital credentials. Once you send the credentials, you get insights into their performance – how many people opened and shared them on social media. For example, on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.

You can make a certificate for any occasion you want. Certifier allows you to generate diplomas and other award certificates. For example:

  • ​Certificate of Attendance

  • Certificate of Achievement

  • Certificate of Completion

  • Certificate of Participation

  • Certificate of Excellence

  • Certificate for Webinars

  • Certificate for Online Course 

And more!

Once you're satisfied with your certificate of participation, print it out and present it to the recipient. They'll be sure to appreciate your thoughtfulness.

The choice is yours

We’ve presented to you five easy ways to create a certificate of participation. First, choose what works best for you. But, in case you still hesitate, we recommend using a certificate software service. You can get unique templates professionally and send them in bulk to your recipients when choosing a good one.

So there is no need to spend a fortune on a project from a designer. 

Certifier is ideal for building participation credentials. It provides beautiful certificate design and tones of solid features every certificate provider needs: analytics of sent documents, automated congratulatory email, dynamic elements for mass certificate creation, and many more! So sign up to Certifier for a professional award certificate and start creating beautiful documents.

Sergey Butko avatar

Sergey Butko

Tech entrepreneur. Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe. At Certifier, Sergey’s work focused on revolutionizing the way credentials, certificates, and badges are issued and managed through cutting-edge APIs and software infrastructure.

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