By default, the number of fonts that you have to choose from when creating your course certificates within LearnDash LMS is fairly limited. This is because the certificate itself is generated by a separate web application built into LearnDash called TCPDF, which follows its own rules for how font files are used within the program. If you are looking for a different style of font than what you currently have by default in LearnDash however, thankfully this can be done following just a few easy to follow steps which we will guide you through:
All of the following steps can be seen in our latest YouTube video:
1) Find your font file which you want to use in your certificate.
This could be an existing font file already on your computer, or one that you have found on the Internet. Make sure that the font file itself is a TrueFont format file (.TTF) and that you have the obtained the rights to use the fonts commercially if you are using it in a course which generates revenue.
2) Go to the following website to convert your font file to be compatible with TCPDF.
http://www.xml-convert.com/en/convert-tff-font-to-afm-pfa-fpdf-tcpdf
Use this website to convert your TTF file. Once complete, you will be given three separate files which we need to upload to our web server.
3) Upload the font files into your LearnDash plugin in the correct folder.
On your web server, navigate to your LearnDash plugin folder within your wp-content/plugins directory. Next you need to navigate into includes/lib/tcpdf/ where you will find a fonts folder that contains all the default font files used by LearnDash. Upload your new font files into this folder.
4) Edit your certificate HTML code in LearnDash to include the new font family.
The final step in the process is to apply the font family style to whichever tags in your HTML certificate generate the line of text that you want to use the new font. To do this, simply apply a CSS style of ‘font-family:”Insert Font Name Here’. The font name itself will be whatever you typed into the name box on the website where we generate the TCPDF compatible files. Once this is done, hit the blue update button and your new font will be appear when a new certificate has been generated.
For more customisation options relating to the LearnDash LMS Certificate module, such as how to add your own user metadata shortcodes, check out our range of LearnDash Addons available in our webstore.
Won’t this be overwritten when Learndash is updated?
Yes that’s right, Julia. I mention this towards the end of the video.
Hi Chris
This is a great tutorial but I hit a little hiccup. (Great site btw for Learndash courses)
I’m getting the error “TCPDF ERROR: Could not include font definition file: bebas” any idea why Learndash wont accept the new font?
Thanks for the feedback,
I have not come across this error myself. Perhaps this forum post on the subject might assist you: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19385618/tcpdf-could-not-include-font-definition-file-with-opentype-fonts
Try using the conversion tool linked towards the bottom of the page as an alternative.
Hi Chris
Thanks for the help you are offering to the community.
I have a question, I have tried multiple times to add a custom font to my certificate using this method but it just isn’t working. Has something change in the last year or is there a better method now perhaps?
Hi Tyrone
The method is still valid for the latest version of LearnDash.
Some TTF files don’t play well when being converted through the TCPDF method, you should first try using a TTF of your font from another website and see if you get better results.
Thank you for the quick Response Chris. I’ll quickly try another font website file and let you know if it worked.
The Issue seems to be still there. I tried different sites font files and different converters as well. It just doesn’t want to change the font anymore.
Sorry to hear that, Tyrone.
I’m afraid that as this process all takes place using external conversion tools etc, we cannot provide a great deal of support. We have had great success using several commercially free fonts that we have downloaded from Font Squirrel for example and brought into LearnDash. You may have better luck using a different conversion tool as well. Wishing you the best of luck.
“wp-content/plugins/sfwd-lms/includes/lib/tcpdf/fonts”
Thanks for sharing that change in the folder structure, Quang.
Hi Chris,
there is also a problem with the certificate because it does not handle the letters ‘ő’, ‘ű’, even though a font is set that you should know (Times New Roman). Is there a solution to this?
Thanks
Andrea
The Times New Roman font is already built into LearnDash LMS as standard, so wouldn’t technically require the use of our plugin to implement. Just use ‘times’ as the font family in your tag style.
The fact that letter accents are not being generated onto the certificate is likely a limitation of the LearnDash plugin itself in this case, so your best course of action is to contact their support directly.
https://support.learndash.com
Thank you!