Create a template

There are two ways into a template. Build one from a file on the Templates page, or open a document you have already sent and click Save as template, which freezes its recipients into roles and keeps every field exactly where you put it.

Who can do this

Any workspace member can create a template. Free keeps 3, Growth 10, and Business and above are unlimited. See plan limits at a glance for the rest of the numbers.

Build a template from a file

1. Open Templates and click New template.

2. Type a Name. Drop a file first and the name fills itself in from the file name, which you can then overwrite.

3. Add a Description if the name alone will not tell a colleague what the template is for.

4. Under Roles, name at least one role and set it to Signer or CC. Use a generic title such as Client or Manager rather than a real person. Roles are covered in template roles and fields.

   

5. Drop your file onto the Document panel, or click Upload. The chevron beside it picks from Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive.

6. Click Create & open editor.

PDF, DOCX, PNG and JPG are accepted, at up to 25 MB each and 10 files per template. Several files are merged into one PDF in the order the upload list shows, so add them in reading order. You cannot change the files afterwards, so a new revision of the contract means a new template.

Save a document you have already sent

1. Open the document from Documents. Save as template sits in the header, and only on documents that have been sent.

2. Click it. The dialog explains what happens: recipients become role placeholders, and every field stays where you put it.

3. Fill in Template name and, if useful, Description (optional).

4. Under Role placeholders, replace each real recipient with a role label. Jordan Lee becomes Client. Your finance address becomes Finance Team.

   

5. Click Save template.

This path lands published rather than as a draft, because the document it came from was already complete. Its subject, message, signing order and reminder setting are copied across, and the expiry falls back to your workspace default.

What a template stores

A template keeps everything a document needs except the people:

• roles and their type
• every field, with its exact position, size and settings
• any files you asked signers to upload
• the email subject and message
• the signing order and the auto-remind switch
• a default expiry in days
• a redirect URL for signers who finish

Visibility and status live on the template too, and those two decide who finds it in the list.

If something goes wrong

• Create & open editor stays greyed out. It needs a name, at least one named role, and every file finished uploading. A row still reading "uploading" holds it back.
• You hit the template limit. Clicking New template opens a popover naming your plan's count. Delete an unused draft, or move up a plan. Archiving does not help, since archived templates still count.
• "Could not prepare the PDF. Try again." Conversion of a Word file or image into the merged PDF failed. Remove the file from the list, re-save it from the original app, and add it again.
• A colleague cannot see your new template. Drafts are private to whoever created them, admins included. Publish it and choose who it is shared with.