CertFusion Knowledge Base: How to Use CertFusion

CertFusion is a versatile platform designed to simplify the creation, customization, and distribution of professional certificates. This guide provides step-by-step instructions to help you navigate and utilize CertFusion's features efficiently.

🔖 Getting Started

Access CertFusion

Navigate to CertFusion's website.
Click on the Pricing button to create a new account or Login if you already have one.

🔖 Creating a Design

Follow these steps to create and customize your certificate design in CertFusion:

Create a Design

Navigate to the "Designs" section on your dashboard.
Click "Create Design".
Enter a name for your new design.
After naming, you will be redirected to the drag-and-drop editor to start designing.

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Select a Template

In the editor, choose a pre-designed template as a starting point.
Templates are categorized for different use cases like academic, professional, or event-based certificates.

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Customize the Template

Use the drag-and-drop editor to:
- Edit text fields (e.g., name, title, date).
- Upload and position your logo or images.
- Adjust fonts, colors, and layout to match your branding.

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Save Your Design

Once your design is ready, click "Save".
Your saved design will now be available for certificate issuance.

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🔖 Managing Recipients

Add Recipients Individually

Navigate to "Recipients".
Click on "Add Recipient" > Manually Add.
Select a List on the Right Panel
Enter the recipient's name and email address.
Click "Add" to add recipient to your list.

Bulk Upload Recipients

Prepare a CSV with recipient details.
Navigate to "Recipient".
Click on "Add Recipient" > "Import via CSV"".
Select a List on the Right Panel and upload your CSV file.
Upload your file and map the necessary fields.
Click "Import" to add recipients to your list.

🔖 Issuing Certificates

Issue Certificates

Navigate to "Recipients".
Select the list of recipients you want to issue certificates to and click "Issue".

Resend Email

Navigate to "Recipients".
Select the list of recipients you want to resend email to and click "Resend Email".

🔖 Custom Email Message

Personalize the certificate notification your recipients receive — subject line, body copy, sender name, and reply-to address — so every email feels like it came from your brand and your voice, not a generic template.

Available on the Standard and Growth plans.

Open the Email Settings

Navigate to Certificate Templates and open the design you want to customize.
Click the three-dot menu (⋯) on any template
Select Settings

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Customize Subject and Body

Edit the Subject line (up to 200 characters).
Edit the Body using the rich text editor — bold, italic, strikethrough, lists, links, and headings are supported (up to 5,000 characters).
Click "Preview" in the editor toolbar to see exactly how the email will render.
Click "Save" to apply your changes, or "Reset to Default" to revert to the built-in template.

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Use Dynamic Variables

Wrap variables in {curly braces} and they'll be replaced with each recipient's data when the email is sent.

Standard variables:
- {recipient_name} — the recipient's full name
- {recipient_email} — the recipient's email address
- {certificate_name} — name of the certificate template
- {download_link} — URL to download the certificate
- {verify_link} — URL to verify certificate authenticity
- {issuer_name} — your organization name
- {certificate_uuid} — unique certificate identifier
- {issued_date} — date the certificate was issued
Custom field variables appear automatically based on the custom fields defined on your design, in the format {custom.field_name}.
Click any variable in the Email Customization panel to copy it to your clipboard.

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Customize Sender Name and Reply-To

Sender Name — the display name shown as the "From" name in recipients' inboxes (e.g. "CertFusion Certificates").
Reply-To — the address recipient replies are routed to (e.g. "support@yourdomain.com").
Leave either field blank to use the default.

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If you have Custom SMTP active, the Sender Name is taken from your SMTP configuration's "From name" instead of this field. Reply-To still applies on top.

🔖 Custom SMTP

Send certificate emails from your own SMTP server so recipients receive them from your domain, with full control over deliverability, From address, and headers.

Available on the Standard and Growth plans.

Configure Your SMTP Server

Navigate to "Custom SMTP" in the user menu (top-right).
Enter your SMTP server details:
- SMTP host (e.g. smtp.yourprovider.com)
- Port (typically 587 for TLS or 465 for SSL)
- Encryption — TLS, SSL, or None
- Username and Password for authentication
- From address — the email address that will appear as the sender
- From name — the display name shown in recipients' inboxes
Click "Save".

Saving alone does not activate your SMTP. Your status will show as Inactive until you successfully send a test email.

Send a Test Email

After saving, click "Send test email".
CertFusion will deliver a test message to your account email through your SMTP server.
On success: your status flips to Active and all future certificate emails will be sent through your SMTP server.
On failure: the error message is shown directly on the page so you can correct your settings and try again.

Disable or Delete

Disable — pauses your custom SMTP. Certificate emails revert to CertFusion's default mailer. Your saved credentials are preserved so you can re-test later.
Delete — removes your SMTP configuration entirely.

Interaction with Design Email Settings

When custom SMTP is active, the Sender Name field under each Design's Email Sender Settings is ignored — the From name comes from your SMTP configuration instead. The Reply-To field still applies on top, so you can keep replies routed to a different address (e.g. support@yourdomain.com).

🔖 Integrations

CertFusion offers integrations to automate certificate issuance: