How can I create a template from scratch?

Create a new blank template for contracts

• From the Templates tab of the main menu, click on the blue button Add new template and choose the option to Create a blank template:

• If you decide to Duplicate a template instead, you will get an overview of all your recently used templates, as well as the pre-made Contractbook templates from our own library, which you can choose to customize instead of starting from scratch: 

Add your company logo

• Adding your logo to the template means that every new draft created from that template will automatically include the logo. You can choose to select one of the following options:
  • Use your team logo
  • Upload a new logo

Add content to the body of your template

• To start creating the body of your template, you need to activate the Create mode first by switching from Preview from the top navigation bar:

• If you wish to add content from an existing document, copy/paste it between the two pre-created boxes dedicated to the parties and signatures fields.
• If the content is formatted wrong after pasting it into the editor, try to remove it and paste again by right-clicking and choosing Paste and match style or Paste without formatting.
• Alternatively, you can manually type the body text between the two boxes.

Basic formatting of your template

• Contractbook Editor offers several options for formatting your new contract template. 

1. Undo/redo the last change.
2. Paragraph style (where you find text formatting options such as code and headings).
3. Font and font size.
4. Bold, italic, underline & strikethrough.
5. Text alignment.
6. Lists.
7. Data fields.
8. Formula.
9. Table.
10. Checkboxes.
11. Embedded attachment.
12. Horizontal rule.
13. Further options.

• Learn more about the use of Contractbook editor here.

Data fields and metadata fields

Adding data and metadata fields to your template is the key to creating data-rich documents which can be used across your team and in all your automations. 

• Step 1: To add data fields, start by accessing the data fields section of the righthand sidebar, and create a new one with the use of the default data fields
• Step 2: You can also choose the Data field action from the Editor's options
• Step 3: Add the Data field's properties (Value and Name), and define a description for the field as an optional step

Learn more about Data fields here and the internal use of Metadata fields here.

Attachments

• To add attachments to your template, scroll down to the bottom and click on Upload attachment.
• The maximum file size is 45 MB, and we support the following file types:
  .pdf, .doc, .docx, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .csv, .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .txt

Creating a custom email message

You can add a custom message that will be sent along with the email notification to all recipients of contracts created from your template: