Creating Beautiful Certificates with Autocrat, Google Forms, and Google Sheets in 7 Steps

Welcome educators! Today, I’m excited to show you a streamlined process for creating beautiful certificates using Autocrat, Google Forms, and Google Sheets. Whether you’re looking to recognize student achievements, distribute awards, or celebrate milestones, this tutorial will guide you through each step, ensuring you can easily generate certificates tailored to your needs.

Step 1: Finding or Creating Certificate Templates

First things first, you’ll need a certificate template. There are several ways to find or create templates:

• Online Templates: Many websites offer free certificate templates. A few great resources include Canva and Slides Mania. Paula over at Slides Mania has some wonderful options.
• Canva: Canva is a fantastic tool with numerous templates available. You can customize these templates to fit your needs and save them for future use. Educators can access Canva Pro for free using their educator email.
• Google Slides: You can also use Google Slides to create your certificates. Design your slide, then download it as a PowerPoint file. Once downloaded, upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Slides to customize further.

Step 2: Preparing Your Google Form

The next step involves setting up a Google Form to collect information about the recipients. Here’s how:

1. Create a Google Form: Start by creating a new Google Form where you’ll gather the necessary details about each recipient. For example, for a “Student of the Week” certificate, you might collect the student’s full name and email address.
2. Form Fields: Ensure your form includes:
   • Timestamp: Automatically generated by Google Forms.
   • Recipient’s Name: The name to appear on the certificate.
   • Recipient’s Email: If you plan to email the certificate.

Sharing this form with colleagues allows multiple people to input data easily, centralizing information in one place.

Step 3: Linking Google Form to Google Sheets

Once your form is set up and responses start coming in, they will be automatically recorded in a linked Google Sheet. Here’s what to do next:

1. Access Responses: Open your Google Form and click on the “Responses” tab. From there, click on the green Sheets icon to create a new Google Sheet or link to an existing one.
2. Organize Data: In the Google Sheet, ensure the columns correctly reflect the information from the form: Timestamp, Student Name, and Student Email.

Step 4: Installing and Setting Up Autocrat

Autocrat is a powerful Google Sheets add-on that automates the creation and distribution of documents. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Install Autocrat: Go to the Google Workspace Marketplace, search for Autocrat, and install it.
2. Launch Autocrat: In your Google Sheet, click on “Extensions” > “Autocrat” > “Launch.”

Step 5: Configuring Autocrat

With Autocrat installed, it’s time to configure it to generate your certificates:

1. Create a New Job: Click on “New Job” in Autocrat and give it a name, such as “Student of the Week Certificate.”
2. Select Template: Choose the Google Slides template you prepared earlier. Make sure the placeholders for the data (e.g., <<Full Name>>, <<Timestamp>>) are correctly set in the template.
3. Map Data: Map the data from your Google Sheet to the placeholders in your template. For example, map the “Student Full Name” column to the <<Full Name>> placeholder in the template.
4. Set Output Options: Choose how the final certificates will be named and saved. You might use the recipient’s name for easy identification and save the files as PDFs.
5. Select Destination: Choose a specific folder in Google Drive where all generated certificates will be stored.
6. Email Settings: Configure Autocrat to automatically email the certificates. Use the recipient’s email collected in the form and customize the subject and body of the email. Include dynamic fields to personalize each email.

Step 6: Automate the Process

To ensure this process runs smoothly and automatically:

1. Form Trigger: Enable the “Run on Form Trigger” option. This setting ensures Autocrat runs each time a new form response is submitted.
2. Time Trigger: Set a time trigger to run Autocrat at regular intervals (e.g., every 12 hours) to handle any new entries that might not have been processed immediately.

Step 7: Testing and Finalizing

Before rolling this out on a larger scale, test the setup:

1. Submit a Test Response: Fill out your Google Form with test data.
2. Check Google Sheet: Verify that the response appears correctly in your Google Sheet.
3. Run Autocrat: Manually run Autocrat to ensure it generates the certificate correctly and emails it to the recipient.
4. Review Certificate: Check your email to see the received certificate. Ensure all details are correctly filled in and the certificate looks as expected.

Additional Tips and Tricks

• Variety of Templates: Create multiple certificate templates for different occasions. Teachers can then choose from a variety of designs to suit different achievements.
• Personalized Messages: Customize the email message sent with each certificate. Personal messages can make the award more meaningful to the recipient.
• Backup: Keep a backup of all generated certificates in a dedicated Google Drive folder. This way, you can easily reprint or resend certificates if needed.
• Badge Creation: Extend this process to create badges for various achievements. Badges can be distributed electronically or printed and handed out in person.

Conclusion

With this guide, you can effortlessly create and distribute beautiful certificates using Autocrat, Google Forms, and Google Sheets. This automated process saves time and ensures consistency, allowing you to focus on celebrating your students’ achievements. As an educator, your work is invaluable, and recognizing your students’ efforts is a wonderful way to motivate and encourage them. Happy certifying!