Custom Certificate Printing for Awards and Achievements
Custom certificate printing creates professional documents for recognizing achievements, qualifications, memberships, and important milestones. Personalize each certificate with your organization’s branding, recipient details, and award information, while choosing papers and finishes that suit anything from workplace recognition to formal ceremonies.
Create Certificates Worth Presenting
Designed for schools, businesses, training providers, associations, and event organizers, custom certificates can be configured for individual recipients or larger recognition programs. Choose your size, paper, finish, and personalization options, then place your order and email your artwork or design brief by replying to your Order Confirmation email.
-
Make every achievement meaningful with certificates designed for awards, qualifications, recognition, and commemorative occasions.
-
Choose from multiple paper stocks, thicknesses, sizes, and finishes to match your presentation requirements.
-
Personalize names, award details, branding, and designs across certificates within the same printed order.
Choose from Premium Metallic Foil Certificate Finishes
Our metallic foil certificate printing adds an elegant, eye-catching finish that helps every achievement stand out. Available in gold, silver, and bronze, each foil colour creates a premium presentation that's ideal for academic awards, employee recognition, professional qualifications, and commemorative certificates.
Metallic foil can be used to highlight names, borders, logos, seals, signatures, and decorative elements, creating certificates that feel more prestigious and memorable. Whether you're recognizing outstanding performance or celebrating important milestones, foil printing adds a professional finishing touch.


Gold Foil Certificates
Perfect for graduation certificates, corporate awards, and prestigious achievements. Gold foil creates a luxurious finish that's ideal for employee recognition, academic excellence, and milestone celebrations.


Silver Foil Certificates
Ideal for professional qualifications, training certificates, and academic awards. Silver foil delivers a clean, contemporary appearance that's perfect for modern certificate designs.


Bronze Foil Certificates
A popular choice for participation certificates, appreciation awards, team recognition, and community programmes. Bronze foil adds warmth and distinction to certificates celebrating achievement at every level.
Custom Certificate Printing for Every Occasion
Whether you're recognizing academic success, rewarding employee achievements, presenting professional qualifications, or celebrating personal milestones, we offer custom certificate printing to suit every occasion.
Every certificate can be personalized with your own branding, colours, wording, logos, and premium finishing options, helping you create professional certificates that reflect your organization and leave a lasting impression.
From single designs to multiple certificate variations, our online certificate printing service makes it simple to produce high-quality certificates quickly and professionally.


Certificate of Achievement Printing
Celebrate completed goals, educational success, employee milestones, and training achievements with professionally printed certificates designed to recognize accomplishment.


Award Certificates
Recognize outstanding performance, academic excellence, employee recognition, competitions, and special achievements with professionally printed custom award certificates.


Business Certificates
Print professional certificates for company qualifications, accreditations, training programmes, licensing, memberships, and official business documentation.


Certificate of Appreciation Printing
Recognize volunteers, employees, donors, customers, and community members with professionally printed certificates of appreciation for outstanding contributions and service.


Certificate of Authenticity Printing
Provide proof of authenticity for artwork, photography, limited editions, collectibles, and premium products with professionally printed certificates of authenticity.
Choose the Perfect Paper for Your Printed Certificates
The paper you choose plays an important role in the quality and presentation of your printed certificates. Whether you’re producing academic certificates, employee awards, professional qualifications, training certificates, or membership certificates, the right paper stock helps create a document that’s designed to be valued, displayed, and remembered.
Our range includes premium coated, uncoated, textured, recycled, and speciality paper stocks, allowing you to create certificates that reflect the importance of every achievement. Explore the paper options below to compare finishes, weights, and textures, and discover the ideal material for your next custom certificate printing project.
What Size Should I Choose for Printed Certificates?
The most popular size for printed certificates in Canada is Letter size (8.5 × 11 inches), making it an excellent choice for academic certificates, employee recognition awards, professional qualifications, training certificates, and membership certificates. It's a familiar format that's easy to frame, store, and present at award ceremonies.
We also print certificates in a wide range of other sizes, including Half Letter, Legal, Government Letter, square formats, and fully custom dimensions to suit your project. Smaller certificates are ideal for children's awards, participation certificates, and promotional inserts, while larger formats create a more impressive presentation for graduations, corporate events, and formal award ceremonies.
In addition to standard portrait and landscape layouts, we can also produce custom die-cut certificates in unique shapes and sizes. If your certificates will be displayed in presentation folders, frames, certificate holders, or award packs, we recommend confirming the finished dimensions before placing your order to ensure the perfect fit.
What Paper Stock Works Best for Certificates?
Choosing the right paper stock is one of the most important decisions when printing certificates. A heavier paper or card stock helps create a premium feel, making certificates suitable for presentation, framing, long-term display, or keeping as a permanent record of achievement.
Smooth silk and uncoated paper stocks are among the most popular choices, providing a professional finish that's ideal for certificates featuring logos, signatures, borders, and detailed typography. For more distinctive designs, we also offer premium stocks including recycled, Colorplan, and textured papers, which are well suited to award certificates, professional qualifications, certificates of authenticity, and commemorative documents.
If recipients will need to write or sign the certificates, uncoated or textured paper stocks are usually the best option. For certificates with metallic foil, lamination, or other premium finishes, we offer a range of compatible materials, including silk, gloss, uncoated, recycled, and Colorplan papers.
If you're comparing paper options, our guide to gloss, silk or uncoated paper explains the differences between the most popular finishes, while our guide to paper thickness in PT helps you understand how paper thickness influences the look and feel of your printed certificates.
Can You Print Individual Names on Each Certificate?
Yes. We can personalize each certificate using data merge, making it easy to print unique names, award titles, course dates, grades, departments, membership numbers, or other variable information on every certificate.
Simply provide your artwork along with a spreadsheet containing the details for each recipient, and we'll merge the information into your design to produce individually personalized certificates. This service is popular with schools, colleges, universities, training providers, businesses, sports clubs, charities, and event organizers that need consistent certificate designs with personalised recipient information.
For the best results, we recommend supplying a well-organized spreadsheet with each piece of variable information in its own clearly labelled column, such as First Name, Last Name, Award Title, Course Date, or Grade. A clean data file helps ensure the merge is completed accurately and allows us to proof your certificates before production.
Can I Write on My Certificates After They Arrive?
Yes, but it depends on the paper stock and finish you choose.
If you plan to add names, signatures, dates, or other details by hand after your certificates have been printed, we recommend selecting an uncoated or other non-laminated paper stock. These materials are much easier to write on using standard ballpoint, rollerball, or fountain pens, making them ideal for certificates that require manual completion.
Certificates with lamination have a sealed surface, which makes them much more difficult to write on with everyday pens. While some specialist permanent markers may work, we don't recommend laminated certificates if handwritten information is an important part of your project. Our foil certificates also include a soft-touch laminate on the foiled side, so it's worth considering where any handwritten details will appear before placing your order.
If every certificate requires personalised information, such as a recipient's name, course title, or completion date, data merge is often the best solution. We can print this information directly onto each certificate, creating a professional, consistent finish while eliminating the need to write on them by hand.
Can I Add Foil to My Certificates?
Absolutely. Metallic foil is one of the most popular finishing options for custom certificates, adding a premium, eye-catching finish that's perfect for award certificates, professional qualifications, academic achievements, employee recognition, and certificates of authenticity.
Foil can be applied to borders, logos, crests, award titles, official seals, signatures, and other decorative design elements to create a more prestigious presentation. We offer 12 metallic foil colours, including gold, silver, bronze, rose gold, and holographic, giving you plenty of options to complement your artwork. All of our foil certificates are finished with a soft-touch laminate on the foiled side, helping achieve crisp foil detail while adding a luxurious feel.
If you're looking for a different premium effect, we also offer raised Spot UV, which creates a clear, tactile gloss finish that highlights selected areas of your design. To compare the available finishes, browse our foil colours or explore our gold foil certificate printing page for more inspiration.
Should I Add Laminate to My Certificates?
Lamination is an excellent way to protect your printed certificates from fingerprints, scuffs, moisture, and everyday wear, making it a popular choice for certificates that will be presented at events, displayed, or kept as long-term keepsakes.
We offer a choice of matt, gloss, and soft-touch lamination on compatible paper stocks. Matt lamination provides a smooth, low-reflective finish, gloss lamination enhances colour and creates a vibrant appearance, while soft-touch lamination delivers a luxurious, velvety texture that's particularly popular for premium certificates. If you choose metallic foil, a soft-touch laminate is included on the foiled side as part of the finishing process.
However, lamination isn't always the best option. If recipients need to write, sign, or add information to the certificates after printing, an uncoated, unlaminated paper stock is usually a better choice. Before deciding, consider how your certificates will be used - whether they'll be framed, presented at an awards ceremony, stored in a presentation folder, or completed by hand - as this will help determine the most suitable finish for your project.
Can Certificates Be Printed in Custom Shapes?
Yes. While most certificates are printed in traditional portrait or landscape formats, we can also produce square certificates and custom die-cut shapes to create something more distinctive.
Standard rectangular certificates remain the most popular choice because they're easy to frame, store, and present. However, custom-shaped certificates are ideal for children's awards, branded recognition programmes, promotional certificates, special events, certificates of appreciation, and other creative projects where you want to make a lasting impression. We also offer rounded corners in 3.5mm, 6mm, and 16mm radii, providing a softer, more contemporary finish without the need for a fully custom shape.
If you're planning a custom die-cut certificate, your artwork will need to include a clearly defined cut line, along with the correct bleed and safe areas to ensure an accurate finish. Our guide on how to supply artwork for kiss and die cutting explains how to prepare your files for professional die-cut printing.
How Quickly Can You Print Certificates?
Our standard production time for custom certificates starts from 2 working days after your artwork proof has been approved, depending on the paper stock, quantity, artwork, and finishing options you've selected.
Orders that include metallic foil, lamination, die-cutting, rounded corners, variable data printing, or other specialist finishing processes may require additional production time. If you need your certificates sooner, we also offer a Rush Service on eligible products. We recommend contacting us before selecting this option so we can confirm whether your required turnaround can be achieved.
If you're ordering certificates for a graduation ceremony, award presentation, training course, school event, corporate recognition programme, or another time-sensitive occasion, it's a good idea to allow enough time for artwork preparation, proof approval, production, and delivery before your event.
For more information about shipping and delivery times, please visit our delivery and returns information page, or get in touch if you're working to a tight deadline.
How Should I Set Up Certificate Artwork for Print?
For the best print results, your certificate artwork should be supplied at the correct finished size with bleed, safe areas, and all important text and design elements positioned safely away from the trim edge.
Certificates often feature decorative borders, logos, crests, official seals, signatures, and carefully centred layouts, so accurate artwork setup is particularly important. Borders positioned too close to the edge can appear uneven after trimming due to normal production tolerances. Leaving adequate spacing around borders and fine decorative details will help ensure your finished certificates have a balanced, professional appearance.
If your design includes metallic foil, raised Spot UV, die-cutting, rounded corners, or variable data printing, these elements should be supplied on separate artwork layers or clearly identified within your files. If you're personalizing certificates using data merge, make sure the placeholder areas allow enough room for longer names, job titles, or award descriptions without affecting the layout.
If you're preparing your own artwork, our guide on how to check your artwork for print provides a practical checklist to help you avoid common setup issues before submitting your files for professional certificate printing.
Can Aura Print Design My Certificates for Me?
Yes. If you don't have finished artwork, our in-house design team can create a professional certificate based on your brief. Whether you're producing certificates for schools, businesses, training providers, charities, sports clubs, membership organizations, or award ceremonies, we'll help turn your ideas into a print-ready design.
Simply send us your certificate wording, logo, brand colours, signatures, award categories, event details, and any examples or inspiration you'd like us to follow. If your certificates require personalization, such as individual names, course titles, or completion dates, we can also incorporate variable data printing into the design. Once we've prepared your artwork, we'll send you a proof to review and approve before production begins.
To achieve the best results, it's helpful to include as much information as possible in your design brief. Let us know who the certificates are for, how they'll be presented, and any premium finishes - such as metallic foil or raised Spot UV—that you'd like to include. If you're unsure what information to provide, our guide on how to write a design brief explains everything our designers need to create a certificate that's tailored to your requirements.
Are Eco-Friendly Certificate Paper Options Available?
Yes. We offer a wide selection of eco-friendly paper stocks for custom certificate printing, including recycled, Kraft, cotton, rag, wheat, and cannabis papers. These sustainable options allow you to create high-quality certificates while supporting your organization's environmental goals.
For most projects, recycled paper is the most popular choice because it offers a clean, professional appearance that's well suited to award certificates, training certificates, professional qualifications, employee recognition, and academic achievements. It provides a familiar look and feel while reducing environmental impact.
If you're looking for something more distinctive, our Kraft, cotton, rag, wheat, and cannabis papers each have their own unique character and texture. These speciality stocks are ideal for certificates that need a more natural or handcrafted appearance. Keep in mind that the paper you choose can influence the final print result. For example, Kraft paper has a natural brown tone, wheat paper has a warmer colour, and textured papers such as cotton and rag can create a softer printed finish.
If sustainability is an important part of your project, we recommend selecting your paper stock before finalising your artwork. Designing with the chosen material in mind helps you achieve the best possible print quality while making the most of its unique characteristics.
To learn more about our environmentally responsible printing materials, read our guide to choosing sustainability and our eco-friendly printing options.
The most popular size for printed certificates in Canada is Letter size (8.5 × 11 inches), making it an excellent choice for academic certificates, employee recognition awards, professional qualifications, training certificates, and membership certificates. It's a familiar format that's easy to frame, store, and present at award ceremonies.
We also print certificates in a wide range of other sizes, including Half Letter, Legal, Government Letter, square formats, and fully custom dimensions to suit your project. Smaller certificates are ideal for children's awards, participation certificates, and promotional inserts, while larger formats create a more impressive presentation for graduations, corporate events, and formal award ceremonies.
In addition to standard portrait and landscape layouts, we can also produce custom die-cut certificates in unique shapes and sizes. If your certificates will be displayed in presentation folders, frames, certificate holders, or award packs, we recommend confirming the finished dimensions before placing your order to ensure the perfect fit.
- SKU
- certificates-ap-can






































