Bonjour!

Nowadays, if you have information that could help other people in your domain, share it! Whether it’s a masterclass or a more developed course, our advice is that you make it available. And provide proof ;)

Truth be told, a course without a certificate is more likely to be abandoned than vice-versa. So, if you’re in a situation where you provide an online course but you find it a hustle to generate certificates, we have the solution for you.
Abyssale allows you to generate custom certificates for your online courses and it only takes a few minutes and a couple of clicks to get them.

Online courses: where do we stand?

The past 2 years, online schooling and course certifications have bloomed. Change was imposed by the sanitary situation, but also long due. More and more people add online courses and certifications to their resumés and LinkedIn profiles, because traditional education simply isn’t enough anymore.

Udemy, Coursera, OpenClassrooms, are names you are all familiar with. Who hasn’t started an online course because they just had to have those “SEO Skills” they always wanted but that are never taught in any business school, ever. Other platforms, such as Hubspot or SemRush, that are not dedicated to online education, also provide courses and certifications.

Nonetheless, abandonment rates for online classes are surprisingly high. According to a 2019 study called “The MOOC Pivot”, carried at MIT, abandonment rates for online courses averaged at 96% over the past five years!!!  The main reason why people don’t finish a class is that they lack interaction and at some point, even though the information is interesting, motivation just disappears.
More to it, completion rates are almost exclusively limited to courses that offer certificates. So, if you’re providing an online course but no certificate, you’re missing out.

Generate custom certificates step-by-step

Connect to and organise your space

The first thing you have to do is connect to your Abyssale account. So far so good.

Next, you’ll want to create a folder that is dedicated to generating certificates. Let’s name it “Certificates”, to avoid all confusion. Go to “My banners” and click on “Create folder” and you’re good to go.

Generate certificates based on a banner

Before you can add banners to your folder, you must create a template. You will use that to generate all future certificates. Use these simple steps to create your template:

  • Click on My Templates and name your template
  • Once you’re in, the editor tools will appear on your left
  • Click on Format and then on Add New Format. Next, select between the Predefined formats or Custom dimensions

At the moment, there is no Predefined format to generate certificates so we suggest you create a custom format.

  • Choose the width and the height. Our recommendation is a standard 1000 px width and 760 px height.  
  • Choose the format name and then hit Create Format
Create a custom format for your certificate
Create a custom format for your certificate

Small tip : If your custom certificate is destined to be printed, maybe aim for a higher resolution like 2000 px width and 1520 px height (yes, some people still like their printed diplomas)

Customise your banner

Once you’re in the editor, you can upload your visuals that will stand as a certificate for your class or you can build it directly in the editor using the tools at your disposal. For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll use a free template found online.

  • Click on Upload Image and select the picture from your computer
  • You can also import your visual from Unsplash
  • On your right, you can modify the details of your layout, in terms of Position, Size, and Rotation
Add a free template image as a background
Add a free template image as a background

On the top grid, you can personalize the banner as much as you like. Add a logo, a button or even a text zone.

To have a custom certificate for all your graduates, you must, of course, add some personalized information. For this tutorial, we’ll add 3 text layers (Name, date and location)

  • Click on the Text icon on your top left
  • Select the typo, size, weight, alignment, etc. from the bar menu on your right  
  • Input your message and then click Save on the blue button on the top right of your screen, then, click on Confirm.
Our certificate template with the text layers we need
Our certificate template with the text layers we need

Generate banners for your custom certificates

Once you have created your design, you can start generating your custom certificates.

First, click on Generate Banners so that you can start a funnel and follow the next steps:

  • Fill in the Operation Name. Just to have fun, we’ll call this one operation Generate Certificate
  • Select the formats that will be used for that generation
  • Click on Creation Method:

    1) Choose to Create from Scratch and create a feed by filling your content manually
    2) The second option is a CSV Import
    3) Do an Airtable base Import with our Airtable App

Since we have done extensive documentation on the second and third options, we will dedicate this tutorial to the first creation method.

Create a generation task
Create a generation task

Generate your custom certificates from scratch

We opted to do a step-by-step on the Create from Scratch option, as the others depend on your data volume and integrations.

  • click on Add Row to input as many rows as you need certificates
  • add extra images or text fonts from the options in the table, depending on your needs
  • hit the Save and Close button on your top right
Create a spreadsheet
Create a spreadsheet

After that, you will be redirected to the page where you can start generating your custom course certificates.

Your task is ready to generate your custom certificates
Your task is ready to generate your custom certificates

Final steps into your custom certificate generation

After you click on Save & Start Generating, your custom certificates will start generating. Your banners will be generated one by one and will wait for you in your folder.

  • You can then click on View banners to see all the banners you just generated
  • Select the visuals you want to move to your certificate folder by clicking and dragging your mouse over them.
  • Hit the Move To button (bottom right) and organize your certificates in your folder. You will not only have a neat vision of your assets but will also remove clutter from your “My Banners” tab.
Your certificates are now generated and ready to be shared
Your certificates are now generated and ready to be shared
  • Once you have moved your banners to your folder, feel free to Export the certificates you need when the situation demands it. Just select your banners and click the Export button on the bottom right and choose the size

There you have it! You managed to generate custom certificates in a few easy steps.
We hope it will bring extra value to your online class. À bientôt on Abyssale 💙