How it works
Alva Courses draws each certificate as a PDF from your design: a background image you upload, with elements placed on top — your logo, plus the student name, course name, issuer name, completion date and grade, which fill in for every learner. There are no free-text fields, so fixed wording belongs in the background image.
Until a design has both a background image and at least one placed element, certificates use the built-in layout instead: fixed "Certificate of Completion" wording in English, with your logo, issuer name, the student's name, the course name and the date.
Customise the design
1. Open certificate settings
In the Shopify admin, open Alva Courses, go to Settings → Email Settings and, under Certificate Email Template, click Edit Certificate Template. You can also click Customize in the Certificates card on a course's Settings → Learning tab. On the Certificates page, leave the Course dropdown on Use store default to edit the design every course falls back to, or pick a course to give it its own design.
2. Add your logo and issuer name
Upload your logo under Logo, and under Issuer enter the name to print on certificates — usually your store or brand name. The built-in layout prints both automatically; on your own design you place them in the next step.
3. Upload a background and place the details
Under Certificate Design, upload a Background Image of at least 400 × 300 px and up to 5 MB, with any fixed wording, border or signature already in the artwork. Then click Customize Certificate Layout.
Use Add Element to place Student Name, Course Name, Issuer Name, Date, Grade (filled in on courses that require evaluation) and Logo (listed once you have uploaded a logo). Drag each into position, give text its font (Helvetica, Times New Roman or Courier), size, alignment, bold or italic and colour, then click Done.
4. Save and test
Save from the save bar. The designer shows placeholders such as [Student Name], so click Download Test Certificate to see a sample PDF — it is built from your saved settings, so save first. New certificates use the saved design as soon as a student completes the course.
What learners see
When a learner finishes the course, Alva Courses issues their certificate with their name, the course name and the completion date filled in. They can download it as a PDF from the course player, ready to share or print.
See also
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Last updated 2026-10-08