Recipe: course certificate

Goal: when a learner completes a course on your platform, a personalized certificate is generated and emailed to them.

You’ll use: serif fonts, default values, the export API from a webhook handler.

1. Design the certificate

1. Create a template named Certificate of completion.

2. Frame — a large rectangle with a transparent fill, a 6 px stroke in a muted gold (#b08d57), corner radius 24. Add a second, thinner dashed rectangle inside it for an engraved look.

3. Heading — Certificate of Completion in Crimson Text, 72 px, centered.

4. Body — in Merriweather 32 px:

   This certifies that participantName has successfully completed courseTitle on completionDate.

   Set participantName in bold 56 px so it stands out.

5. Signature area — a thin rectangle as a line, with instructorName underneath.

6. Configure the variables:

   Variable	Required	Default
   participantName	✅
   courseTitle	✅
   completionDate	✅
   instructorName		The Academy Team
   certificateId

2. Generate it on completion

A typical webhook handler (Express here) — generate, then email:

app.post('/webhooks/course-completed', async (req, res) => {
  const { learner, course, completedAt, enrollmentId } = req.body;

  const pdf = await fetch(
    `https://app.imprime.io/api/export/${process.env.CERTIFICATE_TEMPLATE_ID}/pdf`,
    {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'x-api-key': process.env.IMPRIME_API_KEY!,
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        participantName: `${learner.firstName} ${learner.lastName}`,
        courseTitle: course.title,
        completionDate: new Date(completedAt).toLocaleDateString('en-US', { dateStyle: 'long' }),
        certificateId: `CERT-${enrollmentId}`,
        // instructorName omitted → "The Academy Team"
      }),
    },
  );

  if (!pdf.ok) return res.status(502).json({ error: await pdf.text() });

  await mailer.send({
    to: learner.email,
    subject: `Your certificate for ${course.title}`,
    attachments: [
      { filename: 'certificate.pdf', content: Buffer.from(await pdf.arrayBuffer()) },
    ],
  });

  res.sendStatus(204);
});

Tip

Generation usually takes well under a second, but it is capped at 30 seconds. In a webhook, consider pushing the job to a queue so retries don’t depend on the caller.

3. Variations

• One template per course — duplicate the design and change the artwork; store the template ID on the course record.
• Several languages — one template per language, selected from the learner’s locale.