Certificate Generator and Emailer

This Python project automatically generates personalized certificates from a template and emails them to participants listed in an Excel file.

Features

• Reads participant data from an Excel file
• Generates personalized PDF certificates
• Emails certificates to participants
• Configurable certificate text position and styling
• Secure email sending using SMTP

Setup

1. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Set up your environment variables:

   • Copy .env.example to .env:

     cp .env.example .env

   • Edit .env with your email credentials:
     • For Gmail:
       1. Enable 2-Step Verification in your Google Account
       2. Generate an App Password:
          • Go to Google Account settings
          • Security
          • App Passwords (under 2-Step Verification)
          • Select "Mail" and your device
          • Use the generated 16-character password
       3. Update the .env file with your email and App Password

3. Prepare your files:

   • Place your certificate template PDF in the templates folder as Certificates.pdf
   • Create an Excel file in the data folder named participants.xlsx with columns:
     • name: Participant's full name
     • email: Participant's email address

Security Notes

1. Never commit your .env file to version control
2. The .env file is listed in .gitignore to prevent accidental commits
3. Use .env.example as a template for required environment variables
4. Always use App Passwords for Gmail, never your account password
5. Keep your credentials secure and never share them

Directory Structure

.
├── README.md
├── requirements.txt
├── config.py
├── certificate_generator.py
├── .env.example
├── .gitignore
├── templates/
│   └── Certificates.pdf
├── data/
│   └── participants.xlsx
└── generated_certificates/
    └── (generated certificates)

Usage

1. Update participants.xlsx with participant information
2. Run the script:

   python3 certificate_generator.py

Configuration

You can customize:

• Certificate template
• Text position and styling
• Email subject and body
• File paths and naming conventions

All settings can be adjusted in the config.py file.

Error Handling

The script includes error handling for:

• Missing files
• Invalid Excel format
• Certificate generation issues
• Email sending failures

Each error will be logged to the console while allowing the script to continue processing other participants.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch
3. Commit your changes
4. Push to the branch
5. Create a new Pull Request

Security

• Never commit sensitive information
• Always use environment variables for credentials
• Keep your App Passwords secure
• Regularly rotate your credentials
• Monitor your application's access and usage