Prepare Your Google Form

Before Smart Certificates can generate certificates, it relies on data collected through a Google Form. Designing your form carefully ensures smooth placeholder mapping and accurate certificate generation.

Form Design Best Practices

Follow these recommendations when building your form:

• Use clear, descriptive question titles
  These titles will be used as merge tags (e.g., {{Full Name}}). Avoid ambiguous or overly long titles.

• Be consistent
  Stick to a uniform naming style for placeholders (e.g., title case like Full Name or snake case like full_name, but not both).

• Avoid duplicate question titles
  Each merge field must have a unique label to prevent conflicts.

Supported Question Types

The following Google Form™ question types are supported for use as merge tags:

Question Type	Merge Support	Notes
Short Answer	✅ Yes	Ideal for Name, Email, ID, etc.
Multiple Choice	✅ Yes	Captures selected option text
Checkboxes	✅ Yes	Merges all selected options, comma-separated
Dropdown	✅ Yes	Captures selected value
File Upload	✅ Yes	Special handling required (see below)

File Upload Questions

If you want to include images in your certificate — such as participant photos, ID cards, or organization logos — you can use File Upload questions in your Google Form.

Steps to Configure:

1. Add a File Upload question to your form.
2. Limit the file types to images only (e.g., JPG, PNG).
3. Inform respondents that their uploaded image may appear on the certificate.
4. During template setup, map the file upload field to an image placeholder in your Google Slides™ template.
5. Use a clear placeholder name such as:
   • {{Photo}}
   • {{Profile Picture}}
   • {{ID Image}}

📝 Note: The image will be automatically scaled proportionally to fit the placeholder box in your certificate design.

🔐 Important: Uploaded files must have “Anyone with the link can view” access.
Otherwise, the certificate generator won’t be able to insert the image.

Information Commonly Collected

Make sure your Google Form includes the essential fields required for generating personalized certificates.

Recommended Fields:

• ✅ Full Name – Used for personalizing the certificate title
• ✅ Email Address – Required for sending the certificate via email
• ✅ Course or Event Title – Specifies the subject of the certificate
• ✅ Completion Score or Result – Useful for including achievements or performance
• ✅ Date of Participation – Indicates when the course/event was attended
• ✅ Uploaded Photo (optional) – Can be merged into the certificate if using an image placeholder

Example: Well-Structured Google Form

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Once your form is complete and responses begin coming in, you can connect it to a certificate template and start generating certificates.