The certificate

Course Settings → Certificate is where a course's certificate is switched on, signed and designed. Only the course's creator sees the page, because every certificate carries your signature. A change reaches certificates issued after it; the ones already issued keep the design they were issued with.

How to set up the certificate

1. 1.

   Open Course Settings and choose Certificate.

2. 2.

   Switch Completion certificate on.

3. 3.

   Type your name under Your name, then choose a Style for it, or Draw it.

4. 4.

   Choose the layout, border, typeface, colour and paper, and watch the preview.

5. 5.

   Choose Save changes.

What you can change

Signature

Your name in one of 5 handwriting styles, or drawn with a mouse, a finger or a pen. Your title adds a line under your name, up to 40 characters.

Layout

Centred or Left-aligned, in Landscape or Portrait. Landscape is how most certificates are shown on screen and on LinkedIn.

Border

10 borders, from None to Guilloche and Art deco. A border never moves anything on the certificate.

Typeface

10 typefaces for the title, the student's name and the course. The small print stays in ACADA's own type.

Colour

The 12 colours of ACADA's palette, the course's own first. Lines take the colour as it is, and text a deeper shade, dark enough to read on the paper.

Paper

White or Ivory.

What it shows

What it took and Skills each add a line under the date. The verification page lists both either way.

What stays the same on every certificate

• The title, Certificate of Completion, which section 4 of the Course Content Policy fixes.
• The ACADA mark and name, the student's name, the course and the date, where every design puts them.
• The code, the verification address, the number and the seal, so anyone checking a certificate knows it.
• There are no lines of your own besides your title, and no background pictures or uploaded fonts.

Rules and limits

• Each certificate keeps the design and the signature it was issued with. The preview says how many have been issued.
• Your title must be true, as section 4 of the Course Content Policy says.
• Collaborators do not see this page, and the database refuses a change from anyone but you.
• Long name and title in the preview shows the longest name and course a certificate can hold.

If something goes wrong

"Sign the certificate: type your name…"

Type your name under Your name.

"Draw your signature, or choose one of the typed styles."

Draw in the box, or choose a typed style.

"That stroke made the signature too long to keep…"

Choose Undo, or Clear and sign again with fewer strokes.

"Only the course's creator can change its certificate…"

The page is the creator's alone; ask them to make the change.