Certificate Designer
Learn how to use the Certificate Designer to create and automate dynamic, branded Certificates of Authenticity using a visual editor, AI tools, and Liquid data.
Certificate Designer — User Guide
What this app does
The Certificate Designer turns every product proof into a beautifully designed Certificate of Authenticity (or ownership, qualification, provenance — whatever fits your brand).
You design the certificate once, in the visual designer. Each customer who scans a SmartLinks proof then sees a personalised, full-page certificate with their unique serial number, owner name, and any other data you choose to include. They can download it as a PDF or print it.
Getting Started
- Open the admin panel for your collection.
- Pick a starting template — Classic, Modern, Vintage, Minimalist or Royal.
- Tweak it in any of three ways:
- Templates panel (left) — pick a different preset.
- Design controls (right) — fine-tune copy, colours, fonts, border, seal.
- AI designer (bottom-left) — type what you want in plain English: "make it more royal", "add gold accents", "change the title to Diploma of Mastery".
- Click Save. Your design is now live for every proof in this collection.
The three panels
Left — Templates + AI
- Templates — Click any preset to swap the entire design. Confirm before applying (it overwrites your current choices).
- AI designer — Conversational helper. Describe a feel ("make it darker"), a specific change ("change the signature line to 'Master Distiller'"), or an evolution ("more elegant"). The AI updates the design directly.
Centre — Live preview
A scaled live preview of your certificate using sample proof data. What you see is what customers will see (with their own data substituted in).
Right — Detailed controls
Design tab
| Section | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Content & copy | All text on the certificate (title, subtitle, body, signature, footer). Liquid placeholders supported. |
| Data fields | The grid of dynamic fields (Serial, Issued On, etc.). Add, remove, or change which proof data they pull from. |
| Typography | Display and body fonts. Curated Google Fonts list. |
| Colours | Background, text, accent and muted colours. HSL strings. |
| Layout & border | Orientation (landscape/portrait), border style (none/single/double/ornate/rounded), border width. |
| Seal | Toggle the round seal, customise its text, optionally add an image. |
Facets tab
Per-facet overrides. If your products have facets like tier=gold or category=premium, you can override specific design fields just for those products. For example, gold-tier products can use a gold accent colour while everything else stays default.
Liquid placeholders
Anywhere you see a text field, you can use Liquid syntax to pull in live data:
| Placeholder | Example output |
|---|---|
{{ collection.name }} | Acme Distillery |
{{ product.name }} | Reserve Single Malt 2023 |
{{ proof.id }} | prf_8a3f29 |
{{ proof.serialNumber }} | 00142 / 02500 |
{{ proof.owner }} | Alice Chen |
{{ proof.createdAt }} | 2024-09-14 |
{{ attestation.<key> }} | Any attestation field on the proof |
{{ now }} | Today's date |
Defaults: Use {{ proof.owner | default: "—" }} to show a fallback when the field is empty.
Day-to-day usage
Once configured, every customer who lands on a SmartLinks proof page sees the certificate. They can:
- View it in the browser (auto-fitted to their screen).
- Download it as a PDF (Download PDF button).
- Print it directly (Print button uses native browser print with optimised margins).
No further admin action is needed per certificate — they're generated on the fly.
FAQ & Troubleshooting
Q: I changed the design but customers still see the old one. A: Did you click Save? Unsaved changes are noted in the top bar ("· unsaved changes"). After saving, customers see the new design immediately on next page load.
Q: A field says "—" or shows the raw {{ ... }} text.
A: The proof doesn't have data for that field. Either pick a different field, use the default Liquid filter (e.g. {{ proof.owner | default: "Anonymous" }}), or check that the data was set when the proof was created.
Q: The PDF download looks pixelated. A: This usually means the certificate has very large or unusual dimensions. Stick to the supplied orientations (landscape A4 or portrait A4) for best results.
Q: The AI designer says it can't help. A: The AI designer needs your collection context (collectionId in the URL). If you opened the admin without that context, the AI won't activate. The visual controls still work normally.
Q: How do I use a different design for some products?
A: Open the Facets tab in the admin and add an override key like tier=gold. Then customise the fields you want to differ. Products matching that facet will use the override; everything else uses the default design.
Q: Can I add my own logo to the seal? A: Yes — under Seal, paste an image URL. Use a hosted URL (Imgur, your own CDN, or an SL.asset URL). Square images work best.
Q: Can the certificate be more than one page? A: No — certificates are intentionally single-page (A4) so they print cleanly and read at a glance.