Template Designer

Use the visual certificate designer to build your certificate layout in Evencia.

Overview

The Certificate Designer is a visual editor where you create and edit the layout of a certificate template. You place elements — text, images, shapes, and QR codes — on a canvas that represents the printed page, and position each one exactly where you want it.

Opening the designer

To create a new template: on the Certificates page, select Create Template.
To edit an existing template: on the template card, select the pencil icon.

The designer opens in full-screen mode.

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Certificate Designer — overview

Designer layout

The designer has three main areas:

Area	What it does
Left sidebar	Add elements, manage layers, set the target guests, set the background, and toggle the template status.
Canvas (centre)	The preview of your certificate. Drag, resize, and rotate elements here.
Right inspector	Edit the properties of the selected element, insert placeholders, and set certification conditions.

Step 1 — Name your template

At the top of the designer, enter a name for the template in the text field (for example, "Attendance Certificate" or "Speaker Certificate"). This name is used to identify the template in the list and when generating certificates.

Step 2 — Choose a page size

Next to the name, select a paper size from the list:

Option	Dimensions
A4 landscape	297 × 210 mm
A4 portrait	210 × 297 mm
Letter landscape	279 × 216 mm
Letter portrait	216 × 279 mm
A5 landscape	210 × 148 mm
A5 portrait	148 × 210 mm
Custom	Enter your own width and height in millimetres

The canvas resizes to match your choice.

Step 3 — Set the background

In the left sidebar, find the Background section.

Color — pick a solid background colour using the colour picker.
Image — upload an image file (JPG, PNG, or WebP, maximum 10 MB) to use as the certificate background.

If you choose an image, a preview appears in the sidebar. To replace it, upload a new file.

Step 4 — Choose which guests receive this certificate

In the Target guests section of the left sidebar, select the scope:

Option	Who receives the certificate
All	Every guest registered for the event.
Tag	Only guests who have a specific tag assigned. Select the tag from the dropdown.
Workshop	Only guests who attended one or more specific workshops. Select the workshops from the list.

Step 5 — Add elements to the canvas

In the left sidebar, find Add element and select the type of element you want to add:

Element type	What it does
Text	A free text block. You can type any fixed text or insert placeholders.
Participant Name	Pre-filled with the `{{participant_name}}` placeholder — displays the guest's full name.
Event Name	Pre-filled with the `{{event_name}}` placeholder — displays the event name.
Image	A static image (logo, signature image, decoration). Upload the file in the inspector.
QR Code	A QR code that encodes the certificate's verification link by default. Anyone can scan it to verify the certificate.
Signature	A placeholder for a signature image. Upload the image in the inspector.
Stamp / Seal	A placeholder for an official stamp or seal image. Upload the image in the inspector.
Shape	A rectangle or circle. Choose the colour and style in the inspector.

The new element appears in the centre of the canvas. You can then move, resize, and edit it.

Step 6 — Position and resize elements

To move an element: Click and drag it to the desired position on the canvas. A pink guide line appears when the element snaps to the centre of the page (you can hold Alt to bypass snapping, or turn off the Magnet toggle in the toolbar).

To resize an element: Select the element, then drag one of the four corner handles (blue dots at each corner). For images, signatures, and stamps, the aspect ratio is locked by default — drag any corner and the element resizes proportionally.

To rotate an element: Select the element, then drag the amber dot that appears above it. Rotation snaps to 15-degree increments. Hold Alt to rotate freely.

To nudge an element precisely: Select it and press the arrow keys. Hold Shift for larger steps.

Step 7 — Edit element properties

When you select an element, the right inspector shows its properties.

Text, Participant Name, Event Name

Property	What to set
Content	The text to display. You can type free text or click a placeholder in the Placeholders panel to insert it.
Font family	The typeface for this text block.
Size (pt)	The font size in points.
Color	The text colour.
Alignment	Left, centre, or right alignment.
Bold	Toggle bold styling on or off.

Shape

Property	What to set
Shape	Rectangle or circle.
Color	The fill colour of the shape.

Image, Signature, Stamp

Upload an image file from your computer. The image is embedded directly in the template. Use the Aspect ratio locked / unlocked button to control whether resizing maintains the image's original proportions.

QR Code

Property	What to set
Encoded value	The data the QR code will encode. By default this is `{{certificate_number}}`, which becomes the certificate's verification link. Leave this as-is unless you have a specific reason to change it.

Position, size, and rotation (all elements)

At the bottom of the inspector, you can enter exact values:

Field	What it controls
X	Horizontal centre position in millimetres from the left edge.
Y	Vertical centre position in millimetres from the top edge.
Width	Element width in millimetres.
Height	Element height in millimetres.
Rotation	Rotation angle in degrees (0–359).

Step 8 — Insert placeholders

Placeholders are special codes that Evencia replaces with real guest and event data when generating each certificate. They appear in the Placeholders panel on the right side of the designer.

Standard placeholders:

Placeholder	What it shows on the certificate
`{{participant_name}}`	Guest's full name
`{{first_name}}`	Guest's first name
`{{last_name}}`	Guest's last name
`{{email}}`	Guest's email address
`{{tag_name}}`	The name of the guest's tag
`{{event_name}}`	The name of the event
`{{event_start_date}}`	The event's start date
`{{event_end_date}}`	The event's end date
`{{certificate_number}}`	The certificate's unique number
`{{issue_date}}`	The date the certificate was generated
`{{year}}`	The year the certificate was generated

Form data placeholders: If your event uses registration forms, additional placeholders appear based on the fields in those forms (for example, a guest's company or job title). These are shown below the standard list.

To use a placeholder:

Select a text element on the canvas.
In the Placeholders panel, click the placeholder you want to insert.
It is added to the end of the element's content.

You can also type placeholders directly into the Content field of a text element.

Step 9 — Set certification conditions (optional)

Conditions let you control who is eligible to receive a certificate. If a guest does not meet the conditions, their certificate will not be generated automatically — it will be marked as Conditions Not Met instead.

In the Certification Conditions section on the right sidebar:

Select Add condition.
Choose the condition type from the list:

Condition type	What it checks
Checked in to event	The guest must have scanned in at the event.
Minimum time at event (minutes)	The guest must have spent at least a set number of minutes at the event.
Minimum workshops attended	The guest must have attended at least a set number of workshops.
Attended specific workshops	The guest must have attended one or more specific workshops you select.
Minimum time in workshops (minutes)	The guest must have spent at least a set number of minutes across workshops.

For conditions that require a number, enter the minimum value (1–10,000).
For conditions that require specific workshops, select the workshops from the list.
If you add more than one condition, choose whether ALL conditions must be met or ANY one condition is enough. This choice only appears once you have two or more conditions. If you leave it unset, Evencia defaults to ALL (AND).

To remove a condition, select the trash icon next to it.

What happens when a guest doesn't meet the conditions

If a guest does not meet the conditions at the time of bulk generation, their certificate is not created — their status is set to Conditions Not Met instead of Generated. You (or another authorised staff member) can still issue the certificate manually using Force Generate, which bypasses the condition check for that one guest. See Generating certificates.

The conditions are also what powers the "Requirements Not Met" outcome on the public verification page — if a certificate record exists but was never generated because conditions weren't met, anyone checking it sees exactly which conditions failed.

Editing conditions after certificates have already been generated

Changing or adding conditions on a template does not retroactively affect certificates that were already generated — those guests keep their existing certificate and status. The new conditions only apply the next time you run a bulk generation or force-generate a certificate for that template.

Step 10 — Set the template status

At the bottom of the left sidebar:

Setting	What it does
Active	An active template can be used to generate certificates. Inactive templates are hidden from bulk generation.
Default template	Marks this as the main template for the event. Only one template can be the default at a time. The star icon appears on the default template card.

Step 11 — Save the template

Select Save (when creating a new template) or Update (when editing an existing one) in the top-right corner of the designer.
You are taken back to the Certificates page.

Canvas tools

Layers

The Layers panel in the left sidebar lists every element on the canvas, ordered from front to back. Select an element in the list to select it on the canvas. Use the up/down chevron buttons to move elements forward or backward in the stack.

Rulers and grid

Toggle Rulers and Grid using the switches in the canvas toolbar at the bottom. The grid helps you align elements visually. You can set the grid spacing (in millimetres) using the Grid (mm) selector.

Magnet snap

When the Magnet toggle is on, elements snap to the horizontal and vertical centre of the page while dragging, shown by a pink guide line. Hold Alt while dragging to bypass the snap for that movement.

Zoom

Use the + and − buttons in the toolbar to zoom in and out. Select the percentage number to reset to 100%. Select the Fit to screen icon to automatically fit the canvas in the available space.

You can also use Ctrl + scroll wheel to zoom, and Ctrl + 0 to reset zoom.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + Z	Undo
Ctrl + Y or Ctrl + Shift + Z	Redo
Ctrl + D	Duplicate selected element
Delete or Backspace	Remove selected element
Arrow keys	Nudge selected element (0.5 mm steps)
Shift + Arrow keys	Nudge selected element (5 mm steps)
Ctrl + scroll	Zoom in / out
Ctrl + 0	Reset zoom to 100%
Ctrl + =	Zoom in
Ctrl + −	Zoom out

Duplicating and deleting elements

With an element selected:

Select Duplicate (the two-overlapping-squares icon in the inspector header) to create a copy offset by 5 mm.
Select Delete (the trash icon in the inspector header) to remove the element.