Create a Certificate of Authenticity
📄 Paper Size
🎨 Artwork Details
🏛️ Certification Details
🖼️ Photo, Signature & Seal
🔗 QR Verification Code (optional)
Certificate of Authenticity
Untitled Artwork
This certifies that the work described below is an original, authentic creation by the Artist
Quick answer: Pick a theme and paper size, fill in the artwork, artist, and certification details, optionally add a photo, signature, and QR code, then click Print / Save as PDF. The preview panel above is the print layout - built with a high-end CSS print stylesheet and a dynamically injected @page rule, so there is no separate "print engine" that might render differently. Your browser converts the real HTML text into a genuine vector PDF (via its native Save-as-PDF option) - not a rasterized screenshot - and nothing is ever uploaded anywhere.
- Cost: Free, unlimited certificates, no signup.
- Where it runs: 100% in your browser — no upload, no server storage.
- Core tech: High-end CSS print stylesheet with true WYSIWYG preview-to-print matching.
- Output: Real vector-text PDF via native browser Print-to-PDF, plus an optional PNG export.
- Paper sizes: US Letter and A4, portrait or landscape.
- Not included: Legal or appraisal-grade authentication — see alert box below.
⚖️ Not a Legal Authentication Service: This tool produces a clean, professional certificate document - it does not itself verify authenticity. That responsibility remains with the issuing artist, gallery, or appraiser. Keep this certificate alongside receipts and provenance records.
🎨 Preserve Colors When Printing: This certificate uses print-color-adjust: exact so gold/foil backgrounds print correctly - most browsers strip background colors by default unless a page requests this explicitly.
🖨️ Real Text, Not a Screenshot: Choosing "Save as PDF" in your browser's print dialog produces genuine vector text - sharp at any zoom, selectable, and searchable - unlike tools that flatten a page into an image.
✅ Privacy: Your certificate data, including any photo or signature you upload, is processed locally — it is never uploaded, transmitted, or stored anywhere.
🚀 Design It, Then Print It — No In-Between Step
What you see in the preview above is exactly what prints, thanks to a shared CSS print stylesheet. Nothing leaves your device.
✅ 100% Private: Your certificate, including any photo or signature, is generated locally in your browser using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. No data is ever uploaded to a server or stored anywhere.
Note: Your certificate data will be cleared once your session ends or you clear/reset the app.
How to Create a Printable Certificate of Authenticity
Choose a Theme & Paper Size
Pick a luxury theme and select US Letter or A4, portrait or landscape.
Fill in Artwork & Artist Details
Enter the title, artist, medium, dimensions, year, and edition number - or mark it as one-of-a-kind.
Add Certification Details
Set the certificate ID, issue date, issuing gallery, and a provenance statement.
Print or Save as PDF
The preview matches the printed page exactly, so what you see is what you get.
🔒 Your Certificate Never Leaves Your Device
Most online certificate generators upload your artwork and artist details to a server to render a PDF. This tool builds the entire certificate using a CSS print stylesheet that renders identically on screen and on paper, and your browser's own Print-to-PDF feature handles the export. There is no upload step, no server-side rendering, and no network request that contains your certificate data.
Common Uses for a Certificate of Authenticity
Original Paintings
Give collectors a formal certificate documenting the medium, dimensions, and year of an original painting.
Limited Edition Prints
Record edition numbers like "12 of 50" so collectors know exactly how rare their print is.
Handmade Craft & Etsy Sellers
Add a polished authenticity certificate to handmade goods alongside a branded mailer sticker for a cohesive unboxing experience.
Fine Art Photography
Document photographic prints with edition numbers, printing method, and paper type.
Sculpture & Ceramics
Certify one-of-a-kind sculptural or ceramic pieces with the one-of-a-kind original toggle.
Gallery & Studio Sales
Issue a consistent, branded certificate for every sale from a gallery or independent studio.
Why Use This Certificate of Authenticity Generator?
- True WYSIWYG: The same HTML/CSS renders the live preview and the printed page - no surprises.
- Real Vector Print Output: Save as PDF from your browser for sharp, selectable, searchable text.
- Four Luxury Themes: Gold Foil, Museum Black & White, Modern Minimal, Kraft Eco Craft.
- Regional Paper Sizes: US Letter for the United States, A4 for Europe and beyond.
- Vector Authenticity Seal: An SVG-based curved-text seal that stays crisp at any size.
- Optional QR Verification: Link to a portfolio or provenance page for extra buyer confidence.
- Edition-Aware: Handles both limited editions and one-of-a-kind originals.
- 100% Free & Private: No account, no watermark, no server storing your data.
Certificate of Authenticity Generator – Complete Guide
The handmade and independent art market has grown rapidly across the United States and Europe, with buyers increasingly expecting the same care and documentation once reserved for gallery sales - even for a single limited-edition print bought from an artist's website or an Etsy shop. A well-designed certificate of authenticity signals professionalism, supports resale value, and gives collectors a tangible record of what they own and who made it.
What Makes a Good Certificate of Authenticity?
A strong certificate clearly identifies the artist, the artwork, and the specific piece being certified. At minimum, that means the artwork title, the artist's name, the medium, dimensions, the year it was created, and - for reproductions - an edition number. This tool includes all of those fields, plus a certificate ID, issue date, issuing gallery or studio, a customizable provenance statement, an optional artwork photo and signature, an optional QR verification code, and a vector authenticity seal.
How This Generator Actually Works
Unlike tools that build a separate "export" version of a document using a different rendering pipeline than the on-screen preview, this generator uses a single HTML structure - the certificate sheet - styled by one CSS stylesheet that governs both the screen view and the printed page. As you fill in the form, JavaScript updates the text, images, and visibility of elements directly inside that same certificate element. When you choose your paper size and orientation, the tool dynamically writes a matching @page CSS rule into the document, so the physical printed page size always matches what you selected. When you click Print / Save as PDF, the browser's window.print() function opens the native print dialog, where choosing "Save as PDF" converts the certificate's real HTML text into genuine vector PDF text - not a picture of text - because the browser's print engine is drawing actual characters, fonts, and vector shapes directly onto the PDF page.
Native Print-to-PDF vs Canvas Screenshot Tools
| Aspect | Native Print-to-PDF (this tool) | Canvas/Screenshot-Based Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Text sharpness | Sharp at any zoom level | Can blur when zoomed or enlarged |
| Selectable/searchable text | Yes | No - it's a flattened image |
| Preview accuracy | What you see is exactly what prints | Preview can differ from the exported image |
| How it's made | Browser draws real HTML text as vector PDF objects | The page is captured as a raster image, then embedded |
Choosing a Paper Size: US Letter vs A4
| Region | Recommended Size | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
| United States, Canada | US Letter | 8.5 × 11 in (215.9 × 279.4 mm) |
| United Kingdom, Europe, most other regions | A4 | 210 × 297 mm (8.27 × 11.69 in) |
| Framed / display certificates | Either, Landscape | Wider layout suits a horizontal frame alongside the artwork |
Security and Privacy Considerations
- No Data Upload: Every field you fill in, and any photo or signature you upload, stays on your device and is read using the browser's local File API.
- No Server Processing: Rendering, QR generation, and PDF export all run entirely as client-side JavaScript and native browser features.
- No Storage: Nothing about your certificate is saved once you close or refresh the tab.
- No Account Needed: There is no login, tracking of your certificate content, or usage cap.
Browser Compatibility and Technical Requirements
This Certificate of Authenticity Generator works in modern browsers that support:
- CSS
@pageand print media queries: To control paper size, orientation, and print-only layout. print-color-adjust: To preserve background colors and gradients when printing.- File API / FileReader: To read an uploaded photo or signature locally.
- SVG
<textPath>: For the curved-text vector authenticity seal. window.print(): For the native Print / Save-as-PDF flow.
Supported Browsers:
- ✅ Chrome/Edge 76+
- ✅ Firefox 55+
- ✅ Safari 13.1+
- ✅ Mobile Chrome (Android), Mobile Safari (iOS) — print/share supported
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Explanation: Many browsers strip background colors and images by default when printing to save ink, unless the page explicitly requests otherwise. Solution: This tool already sets print-color-adjust: exact, but some browsers also require enabling "Background graphics" in the print dialog's "More settings" section - check that option is turned on.
Explanation: Some print dialogs default to "Fit to page" scaling, which can resize your content. Solution: In the print dialog, set Scale to "Default" or "100%" rather than "Fit to printable area."
Explanation: JPG images don't support transparency, so a white background will show. Solution: Use a PNG with a transparent background for your signature scan whenever possible.
Explanation: The QR code option needs to be enabled and requires a valid link in the URL field to generate. Solution: Turn on "Include a QR code," then enter a complete URL starting with https://.
Explanation: Very long text takes up more vertical space, especially on a portrait orientation with a large signature/seal footer. Solution: Shorten the title or statement text, or switch to landscape orientation, which offers more horizontal room.
Frequently Asked Technical Questions
Question 1: What is a "high-end CSS print stylesheet" and why does it matter here?
Answer: It refers to a CSS setup specifically written for the print medium - using @media print, @page, and print-specific color handling - so that the exact same markup used for the on-screen preview also produces an accurate, well-formatted printed page, rather than relying on a separate export/render pass that risks looking different from the preview.
Question 2: How does the tool control the physical paper size?
Answer: Whenever you change the paper size or orientation dropdowns, JavaScript writes a new @page { size: ... } rule into a dynamically managed <style> tag in the document head, so the browser's print engine outputs a page matching your exact selection - US Letter or A4, portrait or landscape.
Question 3: How is the vector authenticity seal drawn?
Answer: The seal is inline SVG using <textPath> elements, which bind text to invisible curved paths so each character follows the arc automatically - this is native vector text handled entirely by the browser's SVG renderer, so it stays crisp at any size and prints just like the rest of the certificate's text.
Question 4: How is the QR code generated without a server?
Answer: This tool uses QRCode.js, an open-source client-side library that encodes your link directly into a QR pattern and draws it locally, without ever sending the URL to a server to generate the image.
Question 5: Why is there also a "Quick PNG Export" option if Print-to-PDF is better?
Answer: Print-to-PDF gives the best quality for official documents, but a quick raster PNG (generated locally using html2canvas) is convenient for pasting into an Etsy listing, email, or social post where a PDF isn't practical - it's provided as a clearly-labeled convenience option, not a replacement for the primary print flow.
Question 6: Does this tool need an account, server, or API key?
Answer: No. The CSS print stylesheet, SVG seal, QRCode.js, html2canvas, and window.print() all run as ordinary browser features and JavaScript already loaded by this page — you never need an account or any API key to use it.
Glossary of Terms
- Certificate of Authenticity
- A document issued alongside an artwork or collectible that records key identifying details - artist, title, medium, dimensions, and edition - to support its authenticity and provenance.
- Provenance
- The documented history of ownership and origin of an artwork, used to support claims about its authenticity.
- Limited Edition
- A print or reproduction produced in a fixed, predetermined quantity, often numbered as a fraction such as 12/50.
- Print-to-PDF
- A browser feature that converts a webpage's real HTML text and layout directly into a PDF document using vector text, rather than capturing a rasterized image of the page.
- WYSIWYG
- What You See Is What You Get - a design approach where the on-screen preview is rendered from the exact same markup and styles used for the final printed or exported output.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, completely free with no watermark, no signup, and no limit on how many certificates you create or print.
No. The entire certificate, including any photo or signature you add, is built and rendered entirely inside your browser using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Nothing is transmitted over the network.
When you use Print and choose Save as PDF, your browser converts the certificate's real HTML text directly into vector PDF text - it is not a rasterized screenshot, so the text stays sharp at any zoom and remains selectable and searchable.
This tool produces a professional, well-formatted certificate document, but it does not itself verify or guarantee an artwork's authenticity - that responsibility remains with the issuing artist, gallery, or appraiser. Keep it alongside receipts, provenance records, or appraisal documents for stronger backing.
Yes. Enable the QR code option and enter a link to your portfolio, a provenance page, or any verification record, and a scannable QR code is generated locally and placed on the certificate.
Use US Letter if you are printing in the United States, and A4 if you are printing in Europe, the UK, or most other regions. This tool supports both, in portrait or landscape, and adjusts the printed page size to match automatically.
Yes. You can upload a scanned or photographed signature and a photo of the artwork, both of which are embedded directly into the certificate locally in your browser.
Yes. Choose from four built-in themes - Gold Foil Classic, Museum Black & White, Modern Minimal, and Kraft Eco Craft - to match your brand or the style of your artwork.
Final Thoughts
A thoughtfully designed certificate of authenticity turns a simple sale into a lasting keepsake — and a stronger record for future resale. This tool builds that certificate using a genuine CSS print stylesheet so your preview and your printed page always match, with no server ever seeing your artist or buyer details.
Fill in your artwork details above and print your first certificate!