Check the layout · Reviewed 23 October 2026

Make room for the whole recipient name.

Check the longest and widest names in the actual certificate design before generating the full batch. If a name does not fit, change the available space or typography, then check the generated pages and exported PDF. Hiding overflow can conceal letters; it does not make the name fit.

This is layout guidance for the unified Affinity 3 desktop application. It does not promise automatic font shrinking. Kakulu’s proposed exporter targets Affinity 3.3.1.4940 on macOS and exports a finished document; it does not resize text or repair a certificate design.

1. Try more than the longest character count.

A name’s rendered width depends on its letters, font and formatting. A character count can help find candidates for review, but it is not a fit test. Preview a short name, a multi-part name, wide letters and any accents your recipients actually use.

The table gives fictional review cases, not measured Affinity results. The first three entries reuse names from the six-recipient CSV; the last two are extra illustrative strings to try in a copy of your layout.

Use your own longest and unusual names as well. These examples cannot establish that every language or name will fit. Keep a person’s display name intact; a shorter filename convention is a separate decision.

In a connected template, use the Data Merge panel’s Preview with record control to look at different entries. If you have not connected your design yet, follow the reusable layout and Data Merge guide.

2. Establish what is actually wrong.

Affinity stores overset frame text in an overflow area. The Hide Overflow setting in Window → Text → Text Frame clips text outside the frame. Turning it on is not a correction for a certificate that must show a complete name.

That panel also controls Insets, the space inside the frame. Check unintended padding before concluding that the whole certificate needs a smaller font. For incorrect records, use the source-to-PDF troubleshooting sequence.

3. Make one deliberate layout change, then compare.

These are design choices, not automatic fit settings or a claim that one choice suits every certificate:

1. Give the name more usable space. Widen its frame or remove unnecessary surrounding decoration where the design allows it. Keep safe separation from the border and other text.
2. Allow an intentional second line if appropriate. Make the name area tall enough and review the line break, spacing and alignment. Do not put a second name frame on another certificate page.
3. Choose readable typography. Adjust the name’s font size or choose an appropriate font with the required characters. Check the short-name page too, so fixing an exception does not make every other certificate look wrong.
4. Record exceptions. If one certificate needs a local adjustment, keep its full name and ID unchanged and note the edit. Prefer a reusable layout change when the same problem will return in later batches.

Affinity’s text controls provide font size and alignment settings. Do not shorten a recipient’s name, remove accents or compress it until it is unreadable merely to avoid changing the design.

For Kakulu’s current preview: keep the name in one unlinked Frame Text object on its certificate page, and the ID in its separate frame. Do not link a name into another page or add a second kakulu_name frame. The template contract explains those product-specific requirements.

4. Check the generated document, not only the template.

Generate the batch after correcting the reusable layout. On the Preflight panel, choose Check Now. Review warnings for overflowing text frames, missing fonts and missing characters. Check the active profile: its settings determine which issues are reported and their severity.

Use the Font Manager when fonts are missing or substituted. A temporary display substitution is not the same as deliberately replacing the font and saving that change.

Then inspect the actual generated pages. A clean preflight does not compare names with your issuing roster or decide whether the design looks good. Read the complete name, check the certificate ID beside it and look for overlaps that remain technically exportable.

5. Open the exported PDFs before delivery.

Check the final files, not only an Affinity preview. Open the PDFs at a readable zoom and confirm the names, accents, IDs and layout. For printed certificates, inspect a proof at the intended physical size as well.

Open the original synthetic Zoë Ng PDF↗ to inspect an actual accented-name example. It is from the earlier independently verified native probe. It is not a test of your layout or of the extra long-name examples above.

Continue with the filename and delivery checklist so a correct-looking certificate also reaches the correct recipient. The individual-PDF guide covers manual export and free splitting alternatives.

Sources and scope

By Kakulu. Undated current official help checked 23 October 2026. Indexed official text was used where an Affinity help page returned only navigation. The layout choices and fictional review cases are recommendations; this page makes no new native test, automatic-fit or broader compatibility claim.

1. Affinity — Frame text — Text frames and overset text.
2. Affinity — Text Frame panel — Insets, alignment and Hide Overflow.
3. Affinity — Preflight — Check Now, active profile, overflow, missing fonts and missing characters.
4. Affinity — Managing fonts — Font substitution and unsupported characters.
5. Affinity — Working with text — Font size, alignment and text formatting controls.
6. Affinity — Data Merge panel — Previewing different source records.