Free Certificate Templates

Awarding a certificate is a great way to recognize people for their work, service or accomplishment. It’s a great motivation tool, too. And if you’re the one receiving a certificate, the experience can be rewarding.

I just stumbled upon this website called Certificate Street that contains tons of free certificate templates. All templates are grouped into categories such as sports, business, schools, etc. They also have free blank certificate templates which can be customized for different occasions and events. Furthermore, there’s a category for “relationships” which I think is a good idea. Sometimes we forget to thank those who are dearest to us and giving them a certificate can be a unique way to express our gratitude.

Certificate Street is really a great tool not only for school teachers and volunteer coordinators, but also for companies and families. I like the story of how this website was born. The web owners were looking for a certificate to hand out to their students, but couldn’t find the perfect one. So, they started to create their own.  I can totally relate to their story. Most of the time, I would need a certificate for some people I’d like to thank, but I usually end up not finding the right design or the right words that match my need. I want the certificate to feel personal and not just another certificate template, so that the person receiving it would feel really special.

Certificate Street offers unique and creative certificate designs that are lively and colorful which are available in .PDF format. Their certificate designs do not contain the usual common clip arts or borders that you see on the web or in an MS Office suite. The site is also very easy to use. No need for registration, account sign in or passwords. Just download the certificate template you like, fill out the needed text and print.

I think my only two suggestions are to include the ability for the user to change the font and to include a mail merge function, which would be great for anyone giving out more than 10 certificates. Also since I love pets, maybe there should be a category for animals/pets? But then again, who am I to complain? The site is 100% free...and I love it!


Related post: For other free templates, check out my post on Free Brochure Maker and Free Name Tag Creator.

Free Printable Graph & Line Paper

Need graph paper for a calculus project fast? Ran out of music sheet template? No worries, you can easily get some from Printable Paper, a website that offers hundreds of free lined paper to download and print.

Printable Paper is an awesome tool, especially for students who use a lot of graph and other lined papers for school projects and assignments. Its got polar, octagon and hexagon graph paper and isometric paper, while their selection of grid paper come in a variety of square dimensions and line thickness.

If you are a musically-inclined person, or someone who composes arrangements, this website offers free printable music paper that comes with various number of staves. They also have chord and tablature paper.

The website also offers free printable penmanship paper, which is useful if your child is just learning. These penmanship papers are best for handwriting practices.

All free printable paper styles are available in PDF format and come in letter, legal and A4 sizes. Also, if you see a type of graph or line paper you need, but it's not available on the website, you can always let the developers know about it, and maybe soon, they will have it on the site.

Free Brochure Maker

 Here's a useful tool for small businesses and organizations that have little or no budget in producing company print collaterals.

My Brochure Maker is a free web-based application that makes it available for everyone to create professional-looking brochures and flyers. It is simple and easy to use even if you don't have any knowledge on desktop publishing.

Click on the "Get Started" button to begin. A new window will appear where you'll be creating your brochure. Select the type of brochure you want to create, and then choose which theme you want. Do not worry if the theme you like is not in the selection. You can always replace the stock photos with your own and customize it according to the brochure theme you want. Each theme has already been laid out. All you need to do is provide the text for the spaces available. I strongly advise that you finalize your text before you start doing your brochure or flyer, because it is difficult to edit them on the website.

After you're done with the text and have reviewed everything, click "Next" to print your brochure. There will be instructions on how you can print it properly. In case you cannot yet finalize your brochure, you can save your work without having to create an account. Just give your e-mail address, and the website will provide a link for you to retrieve your project.

My Brochure Maker might not have any of the advance editing tools that other professional design software have, but it's got the basic tools needed which are simple and easy to follow. And best of all, it is free! Students and non-profit organizations might also find this application useful for their projects, campaigns, or events. It's a great tool for everyone who does not know how to use Adobe Photoshop, does not like MS Publisher, or have the budget to buy expensive desktop publishing software.

Here are some more resources to help you create a great and readable brochure:

     

Free Website Templates

If you're aiming for a professional design for your website, but don't have the budget to hire a website designer, then Free Website Templates is a great start for you.

As the name suggests, the website offers totally free website templates. Although there's not much of a selection in terms of designs, the website does have available templates for almost any industry. Plus, the best thing about it is you can modify the templates to suit your style. Their only condition is that you state that you used a template made by them.

Aside from the free downloadable templates, the website also offers a free service called "request a template", provided you already have an existing website. There's also a forum where you can discuss and learn more about website designing.

Free Website Templates is easy to use. No need to register. Just click on the download button and you get the template of your choice in zip file.

Free Digital Scrapbooking Kits

Even scrapbookers are now going digital, turning to the Internet for ideas, new designs and unique embellishments. Indeed, digital scrapbooking is the new trend!

I think digital scrapbooking is part of the "evolution" of photo books as creative people clamor for more control of their photos, designs and layout. One of the interesting websites I found on this ever-growing popular hobby is Shabby Princess which features free scrapbooking kits to download (as long as it's for personal and non-commercial use). Their designs vary from holiday-themed kits to seasonal and occasional themes to everyday fun activities. There are classical designs, nature-inspired, and funky themes (which I like best!) to choose from.

If you're new on digital scrapbooking, Shabby Princess has a tutorials section to help you get started. I've noticed though that most of the how-to's are on using Adobe Photoshop, which can be extremely useful for non-artists.

As we become more empowered by our digital cameras, I will not be surprised if digital scrapbooking becomes more popular than paper scrapbooking. Plus, it solves some of the problems that traditional scrapbookers face such as creating space for scrap tools like papers, die cutters and scissors. But most of all, you say goodbye to paper cuts! :)