Designing a Basic Template from Scratch

To design a template from scratch, start by clicking the New Template button on the top right and selecting the blank template. The next screen is the template designer.

Unlike other document generation applications that use a word-processor style editor, Documint uses a block-style drag-and-drop editor. This gives you the most control over your template design and layout.

The template designer is composed of three main panes:

1. On the left is the Add pane, which has Content and Layout elements you can add to the document

   • Examples of content elements include forms of information like text and images

   • Examples of layout elements include ways of organizing the template space, such as rows and columns

   • Selecting an element will enable you to configure its properties. This pane will also appear on the left

1. At the center of the screen is the canvas, where template elements are placed according to your design

2. On the right-hand side is the Data pane, where you can link Documint to other services through Airtable Connection or Custom Connection (integration with apps other than Airtable), and manage data placeholders called tokens.

Getting Started

To get an idea of how elements work at a basic level, we’ll build a super-minimal name and date template. More advanced layout instructions are located in the rest of the [Design/Layout] section.

You’ll notice the template name ‘Blank’ on the top left of the screen. Click the text to edit it and type in a new name to describe this template such as ‘Account Note.’

If starting from a blank template, simply add any layout or content element. All elements can be placed directly onto the template's body. You can insert the first element by dragging it from either the Content panel or the Layout panel onto the template. The row serves as the container that holds all the elements together.

Let’s begin with just a name and date on the top of the page. Drag two text elements into the two columns in the first row that was created in the preceding step.

The left one will be the account name. Double-click the text element and type a label “Account Name: ” in the text field. Do the same for the right one, but for the date instead, typing “Date: ” in the text field.

To populate these fields with different account names and different dates, we’ll use tokens. Tokens are placeholders that can change the value for each document depending on the data that is given as input. For example, if you are merging multiple documents from a list of accounts in a table, the ‘name’ token can serve as the placeholder for different account names in each generated document.

Let’s use the ‘Custom Data Source’ button on the right-hand Data pane. In the window that appears, type ‘Account Name’ as the Field name. Same for 'Note Date'. Select the Field type for each one and save it.

Drag the 'Account Name' token and drop it after the Account Name label you typed. Then, do the same exact procedure with the date token called 'Note Date'. You can confirm the created tokens by seeing them on the right-hand Data pane.

To build out the rest of the document template, you can either add more columns to the existing row, or you can add more rows. Let’s add a second row that contains a single column for notes. To do this, drag a row element under the existing one and a column element into it.

Like before, drag a text element into that column to create a text box that extends across the entire page. Then, double-click the text element and type 'Notes: '. And add a 'Note' field to the schema to create a third token.

Formatting Text

Let’s format this text to be a bit different from the rest. Click on the text element in the left-hand Properties pane, and navigate to the Text section to modify the properties of the text field, such as font and alignment. You can experiment with different fonts. Here, we selected the Montserrat font, with a bold weight, and font size of 20px. Then we set the alignment to be center-aligned.

Rich Text Editor

It is also possible to bold part of the text by double-clicking on the text element. This will open an editor at the top of the template designer. Simply select the portion of the text you want to bold and apply the formatting. The same goes for other formatting options.

Google Fonts

For fonts, you can also use a Google Font. Simply select 'More Google Fonts' and choose/search the one you would like to use.

Preview Mode

Finally, let’s test this basic template out by using the preview mode. Preview mode allows you to type in your own input values for the variables in the document and see how they would look in a final merged document. Click the Preview button above the template designer.

Then, enter some test values into the three variable fields and click ‘Save & refresh’ to see how the document turns out.

You can tell the template works properly because the values entered on the left appear on the right, exactly where and how we would expect them to.

Creating your First Template: Step-by-Step

With the new Documint Template Designer, building a template is simpler and more flexible than ever. Here’s how to get started:

1. Create a New Template From your dashboard, click “New Template”. Choose a name, connect to Airtable or build your Custom Connection, and select the desired page format.

2. Design Your Layout Use the drag-and-drop interface to add layout elements such as rows and columns. You can nest elements to structure your content exactly how you want it.

3. Add Layout and Content Elements Populate your layout using content elements like Text, Images, Tables, Buttons, QR Codes, Barcodes, and more. Each element has a properties panel where you can style and bind it to your data fields.

4. Use Dynamic Fields Insert dynamic data using field tokens from your connected base.

5. Customize with Display Rules & Styling Add conditional display rules, customize fonts, spacing, alignment, and colors to match your brand.

6. Preview and Test Click Preview to test your template with real data using Airtable Connection. Make adjustments as needed before publishing.

Once your template is ready, you're all set to start generating documents!