Create Printable Award Certificates

MyCertificateTemplates.com provides many free templates, but if you need to create a more traditional certificate, we have created a template to work with commercial certificate paper. Use this template to create a custom award certificate using certificate paper (parchment paper with a border). This blank, borderless template makes creating a professional-looking award a simple task. Two versions of the template are available: a Microsoft Word document and a PDF document.

Blank Certificate Template for Creating Your Own Certificate

We created the certificate to allow all text to be edited in both .doc and .pdf formats. Simply enter the desired text and print. If you need to create multiple certificates, change the name of the recipient and any other unique details between each print. The template includes optional text for the signature. You may either enter your name in the supplied font or delete the text to sign by hand after printing.

How to Create a Certificate

The template includes fields for entering details for nearly any kind of certificate. To fill out the template do the following:

  1. Enter a title for the certificate. This will be something like "Employee of the Month" or "Certificate of Participation".

  2. Replace the text "<Line 1>" with a brief phrase such as "presented to" or "this certifies that".
  3. Replace "<Name>" with the name of the recipient.
  4. Use "<line 2>" through "<line 4>" to describe the award. Break up the text however you want, and feel free to omit one or more lines if you don't need them.
  5. Replace "<Date>" with the date of the award. The template allows ample space for any date format, so use the one you prefer.
  6. Replace "<Signature>" with the signature of the person giving the award. Alternatively, delete this text and sign by hand once the certificate has been printed.

Certificate Wording

Since the template is blank, you will need to come up with the wording for the certificate yourself. Luckily, this is pretty easy. If you need ideas for how to word a certificate, please browse our selection of templates. They provide many ideas on what to include in different kinds of certificates.

The Certificate After Printing

Below is a scanned image of a sample print we did with this template. Your results will look better on the actual printout than they do in the scan. Click on the image below to view a larger image.

Employee of the Month Certificate Printed from Our Template

What Kind of Certificate Paper?

Our template is designed to work with 8.5 x 11 certificate paper. We have tested the template with Geographics paper, but it should work with any paper with the same dimensions.

Alternatively, you could add a certificate border to the Word document and print on standard printer paper. There are some certificate borders in various colors here.

Make Your Certificate Stand Out

Our template looks great with certificate paper alone. However, if you want a more professional presentation for your awards, you may want to consider presenting the certificate in a frame, holder, or plaque. Another easy idea is to add an award seal sticker in the blank space to the left or right of the text.