· Image Automation API Team · Tutorials

How to Generate Certificates Automatically with Make.com and an Image API

Build a no-code workflow that generates personalized certificates automatically using Make.com and an image automation API. No engineering required.

Issuing certificates by hand does not scale. The moment you have more than a handful of recipients, manually editing a design file for each name becomes the bottleneck. This guide shows how to generate personalized certificates automatically using Make.com (formerly Integromat) and Image Automation API, with zero code.

By the end you will have a workflow that takes a row of data, whether from a form, a spreadsheet, or a course platform, and produces a finished certificate image or PDF ready to email or store.

What You Will Build

The automation has three moving parts:

  • A trigger that fires when someone completes a course, fills a form, or is added to a sheet.

  • An Image Automation API call that swaps the recipient name, date, and course title into your certificate template.

  • A delivery step that emails the certificate or saves it to cloud storage.

Step 1: Design the Certificate Template

Sign in to Image Automation API and create a template at certificate dimensions, typically 1414x2000 pixels for portrait or the reverse for landscape. Add these layers:

  • Background design, border, and any seals or logos.

  • A text layer named recipient_name.

  • A text layer named course_title.

  • A text layer named completion_date.

  • Optional: a unique certificate ID layer for verification.

The layer names matter. They become the keys you reference in the API call, so keep them lowercase and consistent.

Step 2: Set Up the Make.com Scenario

In Make.com, create a new scenario and add your trigger module. Common triggers for certificates include:

  • Google Sheets: Watch Rows, when a new row is added.

  • Typeform or Google Forms: Watch Responses.

  • Teachable, Thinkific, or another LMS: course completion webhook.

Whatever the source, the goal is the same: each event carries the recipient data you need.

Step 3: Add the Image Automation API Call

Add an HTTP module set to make a POST request. Point it at the render endpoint:

POST https://api.templated.io/v1/render

Set the Authorization header to your API key, and the body to JSON that maps your template layers to the trigger data:

{ "template": "your_template_id", "layers": { "recipient_name": { "text": "{{trigger.name}}" }, "course_title": { "text": "{{trigger.course}}" }, "completion_date": { "text": "{{formatDate(now; 'MMMM D, YYYY')}}" } } }

The double-brace tokens are Make.com mappings that pull values from the trigger step. When the scenario runs, each one is replaced with real data before the request is sent.

Step 4: Deliver the Certificate

The API returns a URL to the rendered certificate. Add a final module to deliver it:

  • Email: use the Gmail or Email module, attach the rendered file, and send to the recipient address from the trigger.

  • Storage: use the Google Drive or Dropbox module to archive every certificate.

  • Both: chain the modules so you email and archive in the same run.

Step 5: Test and Activate

Run the scenario once with test data and confirm the certificate renders with the right name, course, and date. Check that the email arrives with the attachment. Once it works, switch the scenario on and set the schedule (instant for webhooks, or every 15 minutes for polling triggers).

Common Questions

Can I generate PDFs instead of images?

Yes. Image Automation API can output PDF as well as PNG and JPEG, which is the preferred format for printable certificates. Just set the output format in the render call.

How many certificates can I generate at once?

Make.com processes one row per scenario run, so a 500-row spreadsheet produces 500 certificates across 500 runs. For very large batches, the API also supports direct batch rendering if you prefer a code-based approach.

Wrapping Up

This pattern works for far more than certificates. The same Make.com plus Image Automation API combination handles badges, event tickets, personalized social images, and any other on-demand visual. Once the template and scenario are set up, the whole pipeline runs untouched.

Start with a free Image Automation API account, design your certificate template, and connect it to Make.com to automate your first batch in under an hour.

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