A guide to the finish.

Your first real batch

1. Create an account and save your recovery code somewhere private.
2. Verify the email from CohortMark. You can edit designs and courses while waiting.
3. Open Templates and replace the sample issuer name with your own. Add a logo if you have one.
4. Create a course, choose its template, and set the issue date and optional expiry date.
5. Open Issue a batch. Enter people in the form, upload Word, Excel, TXT or CSV, or paste roster text. Review imported columns before loading the form.
6. Review the roster and sample PDF. Confirm you are authorized to issue the records and use the recipient data.
7. Issue once. Download the ZIP, or select records for certificate email notifications.

CSV format

name,email,reference
Alex Morgan,,COHORT-001
Sam Rivera,,COHORT-002

Email and reference are optional. Use a unique reference when two people have the same name. Do not upload financial, medical, identity-document or minors’ records. Each batch supports up to 100 recipients.

Previews and issued records

A preview is marked SAMPLE and is not an issued credential. Issuance saves a snapshot of the course and template. Editing the template later does not change existing certificates.

Delivery states

• Queued: waiting for the next sending attempt or provider capacity.
• Provider accepted: the email service accepted the message. This does not establish inbox delivery.
• Failed: sending could not be completed after retries, or the provider rejected it. Check the address and share the link manually; a corrected address needs a corrected record.
• Suppressed: the recipient disabled certificate notifications.

Recovery

Use the reset-email link on the sign-in screen. If email is unavailable, use your saved recovery code and email address. Recovery signs out other sessions and replaces the recovery code.

Billing

Studio is CAD $19.99 each month, renewing until cancelled. Open Billing → Manage subscription to see invoices, update payment details or cancel. Cancellation takes effect at the paid period’s end. No annual commitment or overage fees. A failed payment can return the account to Starter; issued records remain.

Record checks and privacy

Verification links are unlisted and excluded from indexing, but anyone holding a link can view its recipient name, course, issuer and status. Share them thoughtfully. Recipient email addresses and internal references are not shown on the verification page. The reference may appear on the PDF, so do not use a confidential identifier.

Company training and renewals

Open Company training to import employee CSVs, create versioned training modules, assign them and record assessed completions. The employee ID is the stable import key. Omitted optional columns retain their existing values; blank included values clear them. Missing employees are kept. Use status inactive to archive someone. A one-day validity expires at the end of the completion date in UTC.

Employee histories stay private. Certificate QR links expose only their individual issuer record. Digital badge PDFs and A4 print sheets are available from current records. Print at Actual size / 100%, check front/back alignment, then trim and laminate. The QR record, rather than the printed copy, establishes current record status. Course leads can upload authorized PNG/JPEG signature images. For templates requiring recipient acknowledgement, each recipient needs an email address and receives a private, expiring signing link. The recipient reviews the record, types their matching name, optionally draws a signature and consents before badge download. This is an acknowledgement recorded through possession of the email link; it is not independent identity verification or a cryptographic PDF signature.

Need help?

Email [email protected] with the record ID and a description. Never send passwords, recovery codes or a complete recipient roster.

Enter a roster without CSV

In Issue a batch, choose Enter people. Type a full name, optional email and reference in each row, then select Add person for another person. Select Validate roster, review every name and the PDF preview, then confirm issuance. In Company training, select Add / import people to enter employee IDs, names and optional details in the same form. Preview the changes before applying them.

Import TXT, Word or Excel

Choose Upload a document. Supported formats: .txt, .tsv, .csv, .doc, .docx, .xls and .xlsx. Use a roster-only file up to 256 KB, up to 100 people and 20 source columns. Documents are read temporarily on this server; uploaded files are not retained. Confirmed record fields are saved only after the final review.

1. Use one person per row. Excel and Word tables should have a heading row. TXT can contain one full name per line, or tab/comma/semicolon/pipe-separated columns. Save text as UTF-8.
2. Select the correct Excel worksheet, choose whether the first row contains headings and match each source column to its destination field.
3. Select Load into the editable form, correct any missing IDs or incorrect fields, then validate or preview. Importing alone does not issue certificates or save employees.

For certificates, name is required; email and reference are optional unless recipient acknowledgement requires an email. For employees, employee_id and name are required. Optional columns are email, department, job_title and status (active or inactive). Use stable internal IDs, never government identity numbers. Excluded optional fields keep existing values; included blank fields clear them. Missing employees remain in the register.

Keep leading-zero IDs as Text in Excel. Replace formulas with values, remove merged cells and unrelated headings, and avoid images or scanned rosters. Password-protected and macro-enabled documents are unsupported. DOCX is preferred over legacy DOC. Check the extracted form against your source before confirming.