It can be frightening to see a blank page in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. In what place should I start? How do I respond? By loading one of the dozens of file templates available in Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you may start your next project.
They not only give you a good start on whatever you’re working on, but they also help you better understand what these online office tools can achieve. You may encounter document types or layout elements that you were previously unaware of.
Although Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides all have templates (and many more have recently been added), we’ll concentrate on Google Docs as the process for locating and configuring templates is much the same for the other web applications as well.
How to begin using templates
According to Google, “templates allow users to be more productive with the latest Docs features in their daily processes, create more consistent, high-quality, visually appealing documents, and save time because they don’t have to build documents from scratch.” And it’s easy to get started.
A template can be made in a few different ways. The template selector will appear if you click New > Google Docs > From a template while in Google Drive on the web. The templates are shown above your most recent documents on the dedicated Google Docs gateway page.
To make it easier to discover something appropriate, templates are divided into sections like letters, resumes, and newsletters. Of course, there is nothing stopping you from opening a template made for one purpose and using it for another. Like any other document, a template can have all of its components changed.
Aside from each template’s thumbnails and description, the only method to see how a template looks is to open it and have a look (you can easily remove the document later). Keep in mind that some layouts come with a range of page styles, so scroll down to see what’s available.
Click on the template document to make the document thumbnail once you’ve found something you like. A new document with a generic title will be created for you using the template in your Google Drive. You won’t overwrite the template; any changes you make after this are saved to the new document.
Modifying templates
Since you may alter any aspect of a template, you can maintain as much or as little of it as you like: Everything that can be altered in a standard document, including paragraph spacing, picture positioning, and font styles and sizes, can be altered. Using a template does not mean that anything is locked or fixed.
For instance, clicking on an image in the template will display options for text wrapping and alignment underneath it. Click the three dots and then All image choices on the same small toolbar that appears to view all of the image’s properties and make any necessary adjustments. For instance, you can recolor or rotate it.
By simply selecting the template text and then inserting new text in its place, you can change it anywhere in the document. If you set the selection parameters correctly, the formatting should be preserved. You can always use the toolbar’s undo reverse arrow button if you make a mistake. You can also press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Cmd+Z on macOS. Of course, another alternative is to start over from scratch using the same template.
Although they won’t accomplish everything for you, templates may be regarded of as providing a strong framework for the remainder of your text and saving you time with formatting and layout. There are still lots of opportunities for you to customize the different document characteristics to suit your needs.
Though not formally called such, you can use any of your papers as a template, which means you can utilize whatever you’ve created as a starting point for new files. To build on an existing document, open it and select File > Make a copy.
For instance, clicking on an image in the template will display options for text wrapping and alignment underneath it. Click the three dots and then All image choices on the same small toolbar that appears to view all of the image’s properties and make any necessary adjustments. For instance, you can recolor or rotate it.
By simply selecting the template text and then inserting new text in its place, you can change it anywhere in the document. If you set the selection parameters correctly, the formatting should be preserved. You can always use the toolbar’s undo reverse arrow button if you make a mistake. You can also press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Cmd+Z on macOS. Of course, another alternative is to start over from scratch using the same template.
Although they won’t accomplish everything for you, templates may be regarded of as providing a strong framework for the remainder of your text and saving you time with formatting and layout. There are still lots of opportunities for you to customize the different document characteristics to suit your needs.
Even though they aren’t formally called templates, you can use any of your documents as a starting point for making new files. For example, you could make a bespoke sales report template for your business. To build on an existing document, open it and select File > Make a copy.