Digital Badges: Design, Issue, and Share

Time to read: 8 minutes

Overview

Digital badges are square PNG images that recipients can share on LinkedIn, add to email signatures, and display anywhere they want to show off their achievement. Badges are separate from PDF credentials — they are compact, shareable graphics designed for digital use.

What you can do:

• Design a custom badge in the same Design Studio used for credentials
• Choose from 72 professional SVG badge templates across 8 industry styles
• Customize colors with per-slot color pickers
• Link a badge design to a credential category and auto-generate badges on issue
• Show the badge on your public verify page instead of the default status seal
• Recipients receive their badge as an inline image in their issue email

Requires: Pro plan (ob3_badges feature)

How It Works — Quick Summary

1. Design — Create a badge design in the Design Studio (Badge canvas type)
2. Configure — Assign the badge design to a credential category; optionally enable auto-generation
3. Generate — Badges are created automatically on issue, or manually on demand
4. Share — Recipients get their badge by email; it also appears on the verify page

Part 1 (Admin): Design a Badge

Badges are designed in the same Design Studio as credentials. The key difference is the canvas type.

Open the Design Studio

1. Go to Design Studio in the left navigation (/credentials/generator)
2. In the canvas size toggle at the top of the editor, click the Badge button (medal icon)

Plan note: The Badge button shows a lock icon on Free and Basic plans. Only Pro plans can create badge designs.

Choose a Template

1. Click the Templates icon in the left toolbar
2. The template gallery switches to show badge templates — 72 SVG templates grouped by industry

3. Click a template thumbnail to apply it to the badge canvas instantly
4. Each template comes with 2–3 color slots (e.g., Body, Accent, Shadow)

Customize Colors

With a badge template active and no element selected, the color toolbar appears above the canvas — one color swatch per slot.

• Click a swatch to open the color picker
• Drag in the picker for a live preview on the canvas
• Close the picker to commit the color change (supports undo)

Edit Text Elements

When you select a badge template, its embedded text elements (recipient name, credential title, organization name, etc.) are automatically placed on the canvas as editable elements.

• Click any text element to select it and edit its content, font, size, color, and alignment
• Text elements behave exactly like text in a standard credential design
• Dynamic attribute tokens like {{recipient.name}} and {{certificate.title}} are replaced with real data when the badge PNG is generated

Save the Badge Design

1. Click Save in the top right corner
2. Give the design a clear name (e.g., "Workshop Badge 2026", "Membership Badge")

Badge designs are stored separately from credential designs and wallet card designs. You can have multiple badge designs.

Part 2 (Admin): Configure a Category to Use a Badge

Once a badge design is saved, link it to a credential category so it can be used for badge generation.

Assign a Badge Design to a Category

1. Go to Categories in the left navigation
2. Click the three-dot menu on the category row → Edit, or open the category drawer
3. In the drawer, find the Badge Design section
4. Select your saved badge design from the dropdown

Enable Auto-Generate on Issue

Below the badge design picker, there is an "Auto-generate badge on issue" toggle.

• On — A badge PNG is generated automatically every time a new credential is issued in this category
• Off — No badge is generated automatically; admins generate badges manually on demand

Note: Auto-generate only fires when both a badge design is selected and the toggle is on. Selecting a design alone does not trigger auto-generation.

Email timing: When auto-generate is on, badge generation runs synchronously before the issue email is sent — so the recipient's email always includes their badge if one was successfully generated.

Part 3 (Admin): Show Badge on the Verify Page

By default, the public verify page shows a status seal (the circular animated icon). You can replace the seal with the credential's badge PNG.

1. Go to Settings → Customization (or ?tab=customization)
2. Find the Badge on Verify Page toggle
3. Turn it on
4. Save your settings

When this is on, any credential that has a badge PNG generated will show the badge on its verify page instead of the status seal. The top validity banner (green/red/amber) is not replaced.

Requires: Pro plan. The toggle is locked on Free and Basic.

Part 4 (Admin): Generate Badges

There are four ways to generate badge PNGs for your credentials.

Automatic — On Issue

Set up in Part 2. Fires when a new credential is issued and both the badge design and the auto-generate toggle are configured on the category.

Manual — Single Credential

1. Go to Credentials in the left navigation
2. Find the credential you want
3. Click the three-dot action menu on the credential row
4. Click Generate Badge (or Regenerate Badge if one already exists)

The badge PNG is generated and attached to the credential. If a badge already existed, the old one is deleted and replaced.

Bulk — Multiple Selected Credentials

1. Go to Credentials
2. Check the boxes next to the credentials you want to badge
3. The bulk action bar appears at the bottom — click the Badges button in the Generate group
4. Badge generation runs sequentially for each selected credential

The Badges button is only visible when your plan has the ob3_badges feature.

Batch — All Credentials in a Category

Use this to backfill badges for an entire category at once — useful when you add a badge design to an existing category that already has many credentials.

1. Go to Categories
2. Click the three-dot action menu on the category row
3. Click Generate Badges
4. The system queues badge generation for all credentials in that category that do not yet have a badge PNG — credentials with an existing badge are skipped

The endpoint returns immediately and runs generation in the background. Depending on the number of credentials, this may take a few minutes.

Part 5 (Recipient): How to Use Your Digital Badge

Recipients do not need a CertLister account to receive or use their badge.

In Your Issue Email

When an admin issues a credential and your category is configured to generate badges, your badge appears inline in the issue email you receive.

The email includes:

• A preview of your badge image
• A Download Badge button — click it to save the PNG file to your device

On the Verify Page

If the issuing organization has enabled "Show badge on verify page", your badge appears on your credential's public verify page — the same page linked from your email and shareable URL.

Share on LinkedIn

On the verify page, click Add to LinkedIn Profile. This opens LinkedIn's certification add flow pre-filled with:

• Credential title
• Issuing organization name
• Issue and expiry dates
• A link to your verify page

Add to an Email Signature

You can add your badge to a Gmail or Outlook email signature using the badge image you downloaded.

Gmail:

1. Open Gmail → Settings → See all settings → General → scroll to Signature
2. Click the image icon in the signature editor and upload your badge PNG
3. Resize it to about 80–100 px wide
4. Link the image to your verify page URL so anyone who clicks the badge can verify it

Outlook:

1. Go to File → Options → Mail → Signatures
2. In the signature editor, click the image icon and insert your badge PNG
3. Right-click the image → Hyperlink → paste your verify page URL

Tip: Keep badges small in email signatures — 80 px wide is a good size. A larger badge can push your signature below the fold.

Plan Availability

Upgrade at https://app.certlister.com/billing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to create a badge design before I can generate badges?

A: Yes. Go to the Design Studio, switch to the Badge canvas type, choose a template, and save your design. Once saved, you can assign it to a category.

Q: Can I have different badge designs for different credential categories?

A: Yes. Each category has its own badge design picker. You can assign a different badge design to each category — for example, one style for workshop completions and another for annual memberships.

Q: What happens to existing credentials when I add a badge design to a category?

A: Existing credentials are not automatically badged. Use the Generate Badges batch action on the category (three-dot menu → Generate Badges) to backfill badges for all existing credentials in that category.

Q: Can a recipient download the badge from the verify page?

A: The badge is displayed on the verify page, and recipients can right-click the badge image to save it. A dedicated download button on the verify page is coming in a future update. Alternatively, recipients can always download the badge from the Download Badge button in their issue email.

Q: What format is the badge?

A: Badges are 900 × 900 px PNG files. This is a standard format compatible with LinkedIn, email signatures, and most digital platforms.

Q: What happens if I regenerate a badge?

A: The previous badge PNG is deleted from storage and a new one is generated using the current badge design and colors. Any verify page showing that credential will immediately show the new badge. If the recipient had already downloaded the old badge, they would need to download the new one.

Q: Can I remove a badge from a credential?

A: Yes. In the credentials table, open the three-dot action menu on the credential and click Remove Badge. The badge PNG is deleted and the credential reverts to showing the status seal on the verify page.

Q: Does generating a badge affect the PDF credential?

A: No. Badges and PDF credentials are independent. Generating a badge does not change or regenerate the PDF.

Q: What is the difference between a Digital Badge and an OB3 credential?

A: A digital badge is a branded PNG image — a visual asset recipients use for sharing and display. An OB3 credential is a cryptographically signed .jwt file that proves authenticity and can be verified programmatically. They serve different purposes and are configured separately. See the Open Badge 3.0 (OB3) Credentials help article for details on OB3.

Troubleshooting

The Badge canvas type is locked in the Design Studio

Cause: Your organization is on a Free or Basic plan.

Solution: Upgrade to Pro at https://app.certlister.com/billing.

The "Generate Badge" action is not visible on credentials

Check:

1. Your organization is on the Pro plan and has the ob3_badges feature
2. You have the Admin or Manager role — User role cannot generate badges
3. Hard-refresh the page if you just upgraded

The batch "Generate Badges" option is missing from the category menu

Cause: The category has no badge design assigned.

Solution: Open the category drawer, assign a badge design, and save. The batch action will then appear in the three-dot menu.

Auto-generate is on but the badge is not appearing on new credentials

Check:

1. The category has a badge design selected in the drawer — the toggle alone is not enough
2. The badge design was saved successfully in Design Studio
3. Check the organization plan — ob3_badges must be active

The badge on the verify page is not showing, even though the credential has a badge

Check:

1. The Show badge on verify page toggle is on in Settings → Customization
2. Hard-refresh the verify page to clear cached content

The badge image looks stretched or blurry

Badge templates are designed at 900 × 900 px. Stretching the image beyond its native size in an email signature or on a webpage will reduce quality. For email signatures, use a display size of 80–120 px wide.