Kakulu: prepare a recipient CSV for Affinity certificates
Reviewed 23 October 2026
https://kakulu.com/guides/affinity-certificate-recipient-csv

FILES
recipient-template.csv contains only the two column headings.
recipient-example-six.csv contains six fictional recipients plus its header.
Both are UTF-8, comma-separated files. No account is needed to use them.

START
1. Open the blank template in a spreadsheet application.
2. Keep certificate_id and recipient_name in the first row.
3. Add one record for each certificate you intend to issue.
4. Keep every ID paired with its recipient. Sort whole rows, not just names.
5. Save a copy of the exact source used for each batch.

CHECK
- Keep duplicate recipient names when they refer to different records.
- Give each certificate a distinct, stable ID. This is Kakulu's convention,
  not an Affinity requirement.
- Review blank names and IDs. Do not assume blank records are skipped.
- Keep names and accents exactly as intended. The example includes Zoë Ng,
  José Alvarez, Sam O'Neill and two Alex Rivera records.
- When available, save as CSV UTF-8, then inspect the saved text and Affinity
  preview. UTF-8 is our recommendation, not a verified universal Affinity
  encoding or byte-order-mark requirement.
- Let your spreadsheet quote commas and double quotes during CSV export.
  In a comma-separated text file, "Ng, Zoë" is one field, and
  "Pat ""PJ"" Lee" represents the displayed name Pat "PJ" Lee.
- Check that the source's delimiter and quote settings match those in the
  current Affinity Data Merge panel.
- Preview unusual and long names. Inspect the generated document's IDs,
  names, page count and layout before exporting.

REPEAT OR CORRECT A BATCH
Save source changes, then use Refresh in the current Data Merge panel and
check the preview. Keep the original template and generate a new batch.
Do not assume Refresh rewrites already-generated certificate pages.
Check Preflight for source errors, stale data or renamed/deleted fields.
A saved CSV is a snapshot; editing an online spreadsheet alone does not
update that local CSV. A live Canva Sheet connection is a separate workflow.

SCOPE
These are data-preparation examples, not an exporter or native test.
One record per certificate and one certificate per page is the bounded
workflow described here, not a rule for every Affinity Data Merge layout.
Keep the editable spreadsheet; CSV does not preserve a whole workbook's
formatting and features. The downloads contain no real recipient data.

SOURCES (checked 23 October 2026)
Affinity Data merge (undated current help):
https://www.affinity.studio/help/advanced-data-merge/
Affinity Data Merge panel (undated current help):
https://www.affinity.studio/help/panels-data-merge-panel/
Affinity Preflight (undated current help):
https://www.affinity.studio/help/sharing-preflight/
Microsoft Excel for Mac formats (undated):
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/file-formats-supported-in-excel-for-mac
RFC 4180, section 2 (October 2005, informational CSV conventions):
https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4180
Affinity September 2026 release notes:
https://www.affinity.studio/help/sep-26-release-notes/