Credential format · Digital badges
A badge is a mark. It should still carry the whole record.
A square mark for a profile, an email signature, or a wall of achievements. Issue it with a certificate or on its own, under the same public page, credential ID, and credit.
- Badge canvas
- 1024 × 1024
- Recipient file
- PNG
- With a certificate
- One issue
- Achievement image
- OB 3.0
The format
One credential, two shapes
A badge is not a second product, a second URL, or a second credit. It is one of the designs a credential can carry. That is what keeps the public page, the verification, and the recipient's record joined up.
ACME University
Certificate of Participation
This is to certify that
Priya Nair
of
IIT Madras
has successfully participated in theACME Hackathon 2026
Registrar
12 Mar 2026
Date
Certificate page
Badge mark
| Part | What it means |
|---|---|
| Issue | One recipient, one credit, one public ID, one verification page. A combined certificate and badge is one issue. |
| Primary design | One design leads the public page and represents the credential image. Star the badge to make it the hero, or keep the certificate page first. |
| Badge-only | No page design, no PDF. The badge is the hero, the download is a 1024 px PNG, and the public page still carries the details and proof. |
| Combined | A certificate page and a badge mark issued together. Recipients get one LinkedIn entry, one public page, and a ZIP with both files. |
| Issued record | The badge design, its position, and its published version are frozen on the recipient's credential. Later edits affect new issues; reissue updates an existing one. |
| Corrections and revocations | Both apply to the credential, not to the artwork alone. A corrected badge page keeps its ID; a revoked badge page stays online but stops verifying as valid. |
Design
Built for the size it will actually be seen
A badge is read at 64 pixels in a profile row, not at full size on a wall. The canvas, presets, and editing model are set up for that constraint rather than treating the badge as a shrunken certificate.
Four native starts, or your own
Seal, Ribbon, Card, and Diamond are built from editable vector shapes. Upload a finished shield or a Canva background when the mark needs its own silhouette.
A 1024 square canvas
Design at 1024 × 1024 and download at 1024 px. The square holds its shape in a profile row, an email signature, a wallet grid, and a website block.
Transparent or solid
Use a transparent background when the mark needs to sit on another surface, or a solid field when it needs a strong silhouette against a light page.
Two lines, not a paragraph
Keep the achievement short and the issuer visible. A badge that needs a paragraph is a certificate; the detail belongs on the public page and in the credential.
A normal design
Text, images, shapes, Attributes, and the same editor as a page design. Use a placeholder for the achievement name, or keep one fixed mark for a cohort.
QR only when it earns its place
A QR is off by default on a badge because it forces a per-recipient render. Add one when the badge will be printed and the scan is the point.
Bring your own artwork
Upload a finished background or import a Canva design, then place editable Attributes over it. The badge does not have to start from a preset.
Publish on its own
The badge has its own draft and published version. A certificate can be live while the badge is still being refined, and the badge can publish without touching the page.
Distribution
The surfaces a badge is built for
The point of a badge is that it travels. The product gives the recipient a clean file and a permanent page, then stays out of the way of where they put it.
| Surface | What happens |
|---|---|
| Public credential page | The badge is the hero when it is primary, or sits in the thumbnail rail beside the certificate. The page carries the award, issuer, dates, and verification. |
| One entry under Licenses & certifications, with the title, issuer, dates, and a link back to the page. LinkedIn shows the entry, not the artwork. | |
| Email signature or website | The recipient downloads a 1024 px PNG. There is no embed widget in this release, so the image is the portable asset. |
| Issue email | The default issue template can include a badge image through the `badge_png_url` merge tag. It stays empty when the credential has no badge. |
| Recipient portal | Badge-primary credentials use a square thumbnail in the recipient's credential grid, so a mark does not get cropped into a landscape frame. |
| Downloads | A 1024 px PNG on its own, or the full ZIP with the credential JSON, the assembled PDF when pages exist, and every badge PNG. |
Proof
The image is not the proof. The credential is.
A badge image can be copied. The claim is the signed credential behind it, and the page is where a person reads that claim.
Hackathon Winner
Issued by ACME University
| Part | What it means |
|---|---|
| Achievement image | The badge design is written into the signed credential as the achievement image, so a compatible reader can connect the mark to the data. |
| Signed credential | Open Badges 3.0 under the W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0 context, signed with the workspace's Ed25519 key. It carries the issuer, recipient, achievement, criteria, dates, and status. |
| Status | New credentials carry a Bitstring status list entry. Expiry and revocation are read from the credential's status, not from the picture. |
| Blockchain anchor | Optional on Pro. A fingerprint is committed to Ethereum's Base L2 and timestamped on Bitcoin. The signature still proves authenticity; the anchor adds an issuer-independent timestamp. |
| Baked metadata | Not in this release. The PNG does not carry the credential inside its file metadata; the signed JSON is the credential, and the QR points to the page. |
Where it fits
The achievements a certificate alone makes awkward
Badges are most useful when the achievement is real but small, repeated, or meant to be seen in a row. These are the cases the format is built for.
Winners and finalists
A hackathon can issue a certificate for participation and a badge for the winning team, under one credential and one link. The badge is the part people post.
Speakers and volunteers
A conference has roles that are not completion: speaker, volunteer, judge, organiser. A badge gives each role a mark without inventing a certificate for it.
Course completion
A learner gets the certificate page and a badge they can put in an email signature or portfolio. When the course needs a transcript, add the page to the same credential.
Cohorts and departments
A programme can issue one badge per cohort or level while keeping the certificate wording consistent. The badge is a design variant, not a separate programme record.
Issuing
The same list, the same issue, one credit
You do not maintain a badge campaign beside the certificate campaign. The badge is a design on the credential, so the list, the email, the public page, and the credit are shared.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Create | Choose Certificate, Badge, or both. The format picker seeds the right designs and makes the badge primary when the credential is badge-only. |
| Design | Open the Pages rail, select the badge, and start from a preset, a blank canvas, or your own artwork. Publish it when it is ready. |
| Import | Use the same CSV, Excel, pasted rows, API, or LMS trigger. The badge does not need a separate recipient list. |
| Issue | One credit issues the credential with every attached design. Badge PNGs are rendered at 1024; page designs render at their authored size. |
| Deliver | The issue email links to the public page. The default template can show the badge through `badge_png_url`; the certificate link remains the primary action. |
| Update | A correction keeps the page and ID. A reissue applies the latest published designs. Adding a badge to an existing certificate is a design change, so it needs a reissue for recipients who should receive it. |
Scope
What this release does not include
A few boundaries worth knowing before you choose Verifycate.
- There is no employer-recognised badge network. Open Badges 3.0 makes the credential portable; it does not make an employer recognise it.
- There are no learning pathways, prerequisites, stacking rules, collections, or a public badge directory.
- There are no Apple or Google Wallet passes.
- There is no embed widget or live badge wall in this release; the recipient downloads a PNG.
- Badge metadata is not baked into the PNG. The signed JSON is the credential, and the QR points to the page.
- There is no separate badge product or badge template marketplace. A badge is a design on the same credential, with four native presets and your own artwork.
Feature questions
- Can I issue a badge without a certificate?
- Yes. Choose Badge when you create the credential. The badge is the only design, the public page uses it as the hero, and the recipient downloads a 1024 px PNG. There is no PDF because there is no page to print.
- Can I add a badge to an existing certificate?
- Yes. Open the certificate's design workspace, add a Badge, design and publish it, then reissue the recipients who should receive it. Existing issued credentials do not change until you reissue them, and a reissue spends a credit.
- Does a badge cost another credit?
- No. A certificate and a badge issued together, or a badge on its own, use one credit for the issue. Blockchain anchoring, if enabled, adds its own credit. The badge is a second design, not a second issue.
- Will the badge appear on LinkedIn?
- Recipients add the achievement to Licenses & certifications, which shows the title, issuer, dates, and a link to the credential. LinkedIn does not display the badge artwork in that section. A combined certificate and badge produces one LinkedIn entry, not two.
- Can I download the badge as a PDF?
- No. A badge is a mark, so it downloads as a 1024 px PNG. PDFs are generated from page designs only. A combined credential can still download its certificate pages as a PDF.
- Is the badge image the credential?
- No. The image is the visual mark. The credential is the signed Open Badges 3.0 JSON, and the public page is the readable record. Copying the image does not copy the proof; the page and credential ID are what a verifier checks.
- Can I use my own badge artwork?
- Yes. Upload a finished background or bring in a Canva design, then add editable Attributes on top. The canvas is 1024 × 1024, and a transparent background is supported when you want the mark to sit on another surface.
- Do badges expire or get revoked?
- They follow the credential. Set an expiry date and the page reports the badge as expired after it passes. Revoke the credential and the badge page reports it as revoked, with recipient details masked and downloads hidden.
Next format
Digital certificates
The page people read, print, and file. Multi-page credentials, corrections, expiry, and revocation sit on the same record.
Explore certificatesUse case
Hackathon certificates
Winners, participants, mentors, and volunteers — a certificate for the record and a badge for the share.
See the hackathon workflowStart issuing
Give the achievement a mark people will actually post.
Start with 300 free credits. Issue a badge on its own, or send it with the certificate from one list, one page, and one credit.
Related: digital badge, Open Badges 3.0, micro-credential.