PDF Template Designer Overview

The template designer is a visual, drag-and-drop interface for building PDF templates. What you see on the canvas is exactly what your generated PDFs will look like — no HTML, no code.

How templates are structured

A template is a container for one or more pages. Each page is independently Fixed or Infinite, and pages can mix types freely inside the same template (for example, a fixed cover followed by an infinite invoice body).

Template
  ├── Page 1 — Fixed, A4 Portrait
  ├── Page 2 — Infinite, A4 Portrait
  └── Page 3 — Fixed, Letter Landscape

Each page contains its own header, footer, and content. On Fixed pages, you place elements directly on the page. On Infinite pages, content is organized into sections so the page-split algorithm can break across physical pages intelligently.

See Pages for the full difference between Fixed and Infinite.

Editor layout

The editor has two modes accessible from the top bar: Designer for building your template, and Preview for seeing the final result.

The Designer view is organized into four areas:

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1. Top Toolbar

The toolbar runs across the top of the editor and reacts to your current selection — it is where most of your styling happens. When nothing is selected it is dimmed; when you click on an element it activates with the properties relevant to that element.

For a text element, the toolbar exposes font family, size, text color, fill, bold / italic / underline / strikethrough, link, alignment, vertical alignment, lists, borders, and padding. Other element types expose a similar set tailored to them.

Above the toolbar, the top bar shows the Designer / Preview mode tabs, the number of pages, the template name, zoom, and Undo/Redo.

2. Left Panel

The left panel is the control center for the page you are editing. A label at the top (e.g. HEADER, TEXT) reflects what is currently selected.

• Header / Footer toggles — Enable the header or footer zones for the current page
• + New Section — On Infinite pages, add a section to structure the content
• Element palette — Text, Image, Table, Barcode, QR Code, Line, Circle, Rectangle
• Layers — Hierarchical view of pages, sections, and elements. Drag to reorder, click to select, double-click to rename

You can collapse this panel with the arrow icon to give more space to the canvas.

3. Canvas (Center)

The canvas is your editing area:

• Displays the currently selected page at actual proportions
• Drag elements to position them, or drag edges to resize
• Click an element to select it and reveal its properties in the right panel
• Use + Add Page below the canvas to add more pages to your template

4. Right Panel

Most styling now lives in the top toolbar. The right panel keeps only the advanced or layout-specific properties that do not fit up there.

• Dimensions — Width, height, and position (W, H, X, Y)
• Content — For text elements, a multi-line editor to read and edit the element’s text comfortably
• Typography advanced — Autoscale down, line-height, and other properties not exposed in the toolbar
• Safe Margins — When a page is selected
• Background Image — When a Fixed page is selected

The panel is intentionally sparse. Reach for the top toolbar first; the right panel is for the handful of advanced settings not exposed there.

Preview Mode

Switch to Preview mode by clicking the Preview tab in the top bar. This lets you see the final rendered PDF with your data applied.

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1. PDF Preview

The left side displays the fully rendered PDF with all your template variables replaced by actual data. Use Refresh Preview to update after changes, or Generate PDF to download the result.

2. Template Data

The right panel shows the JSON data used to populate your template. Edit it directly to test different values. Use Add missing key to auto-generate placeholders for any variables in your template.

Basic Workflow

A typical workflow for building a template:

1. Add your first page — Fixed or Infinite, paper format, orientation
2. Structure the page — Sections on Infinite pages, free placement on Fixed pages
3. Add content — Text, images, tables, barcodes, QR codes, shapes
4. Insert dynamic variables — {{placeholders}} for data-driven fields
5. Preview — Switch to Preview mode, add test data, generate a PDF

Templates are saved automatically as you work.

Next Steps

• Pages — Fixed vs Infinite, margins, background image, page-split behavior
• Sections — Structure Infinite pages
• Header & Footer — Add repeating content across pages
• Components — Details on each element type

Once your template is ready, connect it to the API or to an automation tool:

• For Developers — REST API, SDKs, and code examples
• For No-Code Users — Zapier, n8n, Airtable, MCP