Google Forms Certificate PDF Automation with n8n + Orshot + Gmail

Automatically generate and email Google Forms certificate PDFs with n8n + Orshot

This n8n workflow watches for new Google Forms submissions, renders a personalized certificate with Orshot, and automatically emails the resulting certificate PDF to the respondent via Gmail.

What this workflow does

• Triggers on new Google Forms responses: When a new response row is added to a selected Google Sheets worksheet linked to your Google Form, the workflow starts.
• Extracts recipient and certificate data: It reads the respondent’s name and email from the sheet row (e.g., “Full name” and “Email address”), and also sets certificate fields like course name and issue date, along with email metadata.
• Renders a customized certificate with Orshot: The workflow sends certificate fields to Orshot Studio, producing the rendered certificate output as binary data.
• Email delivery via Gmail: It sends an email to the respondent through Gmail, attaching the rendered certificate.

Use cases

• Issue instant completion certificates after training sign-ups via Google Forms + Google Sheets.
• Automate verification and follow-up emails to candidates once their submission is recorded.
• Reduce manual certificate generation for SaaS operators running onboarding or assessments.

Technical details

• Google Sheets Trigger: Watches the Google Form response spreadsheet/worksheet for new rows.
• Orshot (Orshot Studio): Uses your certificate template ID and modification keys (e.g., candidateName, courseName, issueDate) to render the certificate.
• Gmail: Sends the certificate attachment to the extracted respondent email (OAuth2 credentials required).
• Nodes used: set, gmail, sticky note, google sheets trigger, and the Orshot node (thelifeofrishin8n-nodes-orshotorshot), plus set steps for field mapping.

Setup requirements

You’ll need an Orshot account with a certificate template, and a Google account with Google Forms linked to a response sheet and access to Gmail. The workflow is designed to run on n8n Cloud using the verified Orshot node.