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Document Templates

Create Standardised Documents from Your Records

Document Template

s let you create standardised documents that automatically merge with your record data. Perfect for generating purchase orders, labels, delivery notes, invoices, and other professional documents with consistent formatting.

1. What Are Document Templates?

Document templates are pre-designed layouts that combine:

  • Fixed content: Text, images, and formatting that stays the same
  • Dynamic fields: Placeholders that pull data from your records
  • Charts: Live charts from your dashboard reports
  • Brand styling: Colours and typography from your Brand Guide

When you print or generate a document, Kinabase automatically fills in the field values from the selected record, creating a polished, professional output.

Common uses

  • Purchase Orders - Automatically generate purchase orders with supplier details, line items, and totals.
  • Delivery Notes - Create packing slips and delivery documentation from order records.
  • Labels - Print product labels, asset tags, or equipment identifiers with QR codes.
  • Certificates - Generate training certificates, compliance documents, or quality approvals.
  • Quotations and Proposals - Create branded proposals with customer details, pricing, and charts automatically filled in.

2. Creating a Document Template

Access the Templates Section

  1. Select the collection from the sidebar.
  2. Click the options menu (⋯) in the top-right corner and select Configure, or right-click the collection name and select Configure.
  3. Under the Documents section, click Templates.

Add a New Template

  1. Click the Add button to create a new template.
  2. Fill in the template details:
    • Icon: Select an icon to represent your template.
    • Title: Give your template a descriptive name (e.g., 'Purchase Order', 'Delivery Label').
    • Description: Optionally add a description to help users understand when to use this template.
    • Brand: Select which Brand Guide identity the template should use.
  3. Click Add. Your template is created and you can now edit its contents.

3. Editing a Document Template

Open the Editor

From the templates list, click Edit (pencil icon) next to your template to open the document editor.

The Editor Interface

The document editor has four main areas:

  1. Toolbar (top): Formatting tools and element insertion
  2. Page List (left): Thumbnail view of all pages
  3. Canvas (centre): The main editing area
  4. Properties Sidebar (right): Settings for selected elements

Text Formatting

The toolbar provides comprehensive text formatting options:

  • Text styles: Paragraph, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3
  • Character formatting: Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough
  • Alignment: Left, Centre, Right, Justify
  • Lists: Bullet points, Numbered lists
  • Indentation: Increase or decrease indent
  • Colours: Text colour and highlight colour

Inserting Dynamic Fields

To insert data from your records into the template:

  1. In any text area, type the @ symbol.
  2. An autocomplete dropdown appears showing all available fields from your collection. Keep typing after @ to filter the list, or scroll through the choices.
  3. Select the field to insert it at the cursor position.

The field appears as a highlighted placeholder that will be replaced with actual data when the document is generated.

Insert a field from a linked record

If the collection has a single-record Linked Collection Field

, you can also insert supported fields from the record it links to. For example, a template for Tasks can use Project - Owner or Project - Budget from the linked Project record.

  1. Type @ in a text area.
  2. Find the linked collection field, such as Project. You can keep typing the linked field's name to filter the choices.
  3. Open its submenu with the pointer, or highlight it and press the right arrow key.
  4. Select the linked field. With the keyboard, use the arrow keys and press Enter.

The placeholder is labelled with both field names, such as Project - Owner. When you preview, print or generate the document, Kinabase reads the current value from the linked record. If the link is empty or its record has been deleted, the value is left blank.

Linked fields are available one level deep through single-record links. Multi-record links, lookup fields and links to Reference Data do not offer a linked-field submenu. If a linked field used by an existing template is later removed or becomes unavailable, its placeholder shows Unknown field.

You can insert various types of dynamic content:

  • Record fields: Any field from your collection (text, numbers, dates, etc.)
  • Linked record fields: Supported fields reached through a single-record Linked Collection Field
  • Signatures: Capture signatures from workflow actions
  • Computed values: Calculated fields and aggregations

Adding Elements

Click the + button in the toolbar to insert additional elements:

  • Tables: Standard tables for structured data
  • Data Tables: Dynamic tables linked to lists or related records
  • Charts: Live charts from your dashboard reports (see Embedding Charts below)
  • Images: Upload and embed images
  • QR Codes: Auto-generated or custom URL QR codes
  • Text Boxes: Positioned text elements on the page
  • Logos: Your organisation's logo from the Brand Guide
  • Horizontal Rules: Visual dividers
  • Signatures: Signature fields for workflow actions
  • Fields: Dynamic field placeholders

Embedding Charts

You can embed live charts

from your reports directly into document templates. Charts render with current data each time a document is generated, so your documents always reflect the latest figures. Line, bar, pie, and scatter charts are all supported.

Adding a chart

  1. Click the + button in the toolbar and select Chart.
  2. In the Configure Chart modal, select a report from the dropdown. Reports are grouped into Dashboard Reports, Collection Reports, and Record Reports.
  3. Select the specific chart you want to embed, then click Save.
  4. Resize or reposition the chart on the page as needed.

Changing a chart

To change the chart after inserting it, select the chart element and click Configure Chart in the Properties Sidebar.

Permissions

Only reports visible to Everyone are available for embedding. If a report is missing from the list, ask an admin to check its dashboard permissions. This ensures that no colleague is locked out of editing a shared template because it references a chart they cannot access.

Managing Pages

  • Add page: Click Add Page in the page list to create additional pages
  • Reorder pages: Drag pages in the sidebar to change their order
  • Delete page: Right-click a page thumbnail to remove it

Controlling Page Visibility

Use page visibility rules when a page should appear only for certain records, or when you want to keep a page in the template without including it in generated documents.

  1. Click the ⋯ menu on a page thumbnail on the left, or right-click the thumbnail.
  2. Open Visibility.
  3. Choose one of the following options:
    • Always show: Include the page in every output. This is the default.
    • Never show: Keep the page editable but exclude it from record-backed previews, printing, and PDFs.
    • Only show if...: Include the page only when its conditions are met. Add at least one condition, then click Apply.
  4. To remove an existing visibility setting, open Visibility again and select Reset.

Only show if... is available only for document templates linked to a collection. Conditions use fields from that collection and are evaluated separately for each record, including when you print several records at once.

Hidden pages remain in the editor with a dimmed thumbnail and an eye-slash icon. Conditional pages show a filter icon; select it to see a summary of the conditions.

You need Configure permission on the linked collection to load or edit its document templates.

Canvas Controls

  • Zoom: Use the zoom controls to adjust your view
  • Margin guides: Toggle guides to see the printable area
  • Sidebar: Show or hide the properties panel

Positioning Elements with Arrow Keys

For elements set to In front of text mode (text boxes, images, charts, logos, and QR codes), you can use arrow keys for precise positioning:

  1. Select the element you want to move on the canvas.
  2. Press any arrow key to nudge the element by a tiny increment in that direction.
  3. Hold Shift while pressing an arrow key to move the element in a larger step instead, useful for covering larger distances quickly.
  4. If the Alignment Grid is enabled, elements will automatically snap to grid lines, page edges, and nearby elements as you nudge. The grid appears briefly to confirm the snap.
  5. Hold Alt (Option on Mac) while pressing an arrow key to bypass snapping entirely and place the element exactly where you want it.

Arrow key nudging only works for elements in In front of text mode. Inline elements cannot be nudged.

4. Duplicating a Document Template

You can duplicate any existing template to create a copy with all its content, formatting, icon, description, and brand settings.

  1. From the templates list, right-click on the template you want to copy, or click the ⋯ menu.
  2. Select Duplicate.
  3. The new template appears in the list with "(copy)" appended to the original name. If copies already exist, Kinabase adds a number - for example, "(copy 2)", "(copy 3)".

Duplicated templates are a fast way to create variations of an existing layout. For example, you might duplicate a purchase order template to create supplier-specific versions, changing only the details that differ.

You need Configure permission on the collection to duplicate templates.

5. Using Document Templates

Printing from a Record

  1. Open the record you want to generate a document for.
  2. Click the ⋯ menu in the top-right corner of the record details.
  3. Select Print. The print preview opens showing available templates.
  4. Use the tabs or dropdown to select the template you want.
  5. Click Print to send to your printer, or save as PDF.

Batch Printing

You can print multiple records using the same template:

  1. In your collection view, select multiple records using the checkboxes.
  2. Click the ⋯ menu, or right-click, to access bulk options.
  3. Select Print and select your template to generate documents for all selected records.

The system shows progress as "X of Y records loaded" during batch operations.

Label Printing

For label templates, Kinabase supports Zebra label printers in addition to standard printers. Configure your printer preferences in the print dialog.

6. Generating PDFs Automatically

Document templates can be used with automations

to generate a PDF automatically - for example, emailing a signed purchase order as soon as a workflow stage changes to "Approved".

  1. Go to Settings → Operations → Automations.
  2. Create or edit an automation and add a trigger (e.g., Stage Change).
  3. Add the Generate PDF document step, then select which Document Template to use and where the PDF should be saved - a record's file store, a specific file field, or emailed straight out without being stored.

Read our Automation Steps guide for the full Generate PDF document configuration, including dynamic filenames and archiving previous versions.

7. Brand Integration

Document templates automatically apply styling from your Brand Guide:

  • Typography: Headings and paragraph styles use your brand fonts
  • Colours: Access your brand colour palette
  • Logo: Insert your organisation logo

Read our Brand Guide documentation for details on configuring your brand identity.

8. Best Practices

  • Keep it simple - Start with essential information and add complexity as needed.
  • Test with real data - Preview templates with actual records to ensure fields and charts display correctly.
  • Consider print margins - Use margin guides to ensure content doesn't get cut off when printing.
  • Use consistent naming - Give templates clear, descriptive names so users know which to select.
  • Leverage data tables - Use data tables for line items or related records instead of manual entry.
  • Use charts for impact - Embed dashboard charts in proposals and reports to let the data speak for itself.

9. Troubleshooting

Fields showing placeholder text

Ensure you're viewing the template with a record selected. Field placeholders only populate when generating for a specific record.

Fonts not displaying correctly

Brand fonts may need a moment to load. Refresh the page or check your Brand Guide configuration.

Can't see Templates option

You need Configure permission on the collection to manage templates. Ask your System admin.

PDF not generating in automation

Check the automation history logs for errors. Ensure the template exists and all required fields are available.

Chart not appearing in the list

Only reports visible to Everyone can be embedded in document templates. Ask an admin to check the dashboard permissions for the report you're looking for.

Document templates help your organisation maintain professional, consistent documentation while saving time on repetitive document creation. Combine them with automations to fully streamline your document workflows, and with Page Layouts to reuse the same page design across multiple templates.

Need more help? Ask your System admin, or contact our support team via Help & Support.

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