Templates for ms word. Lesson: Word Templates
If you often work in MS Word, saving a document as a template will probably interest you. So, having a template file with formatting, fields and other parameters that you set can greatly simplify and speed up the workflow.
A template created in Word is saved in DOT, DOTX or DOTM formats. The latter allows working with macros.
Sample is a special type of document; when it is opened and subsequently modified, a copy of the file is created. The original (template) document remains unchanged, as does its location on the disk.
As an example of what a document template can be and why it is needed at all, you can give a business plan. Documents of this type are quite often created in Word, therefore, they are also used quite often.
So, instead of re-creating the document structure each time, choosing appropriate fonts, design styles, and setting margin sizes, you can simply use a template with a standard layout. Agree, this approach to work is much more rational.
A document saved as a template can be opened and filled in with the necessary data and text. At the same time, saving it in the DOC and DOCX formats standard for Word, the source document (the created template) will remain unchanged, as mentioned above.
Most of the templates that you may need to work with documents in Word can be found on the official website (). In addition, you can create your own templates in the program, as well as modify existing ones.
Note: Some of the templates are already built into the program, but some of them, although displayed in the list, are actually located on the Office.com website. After you click on such a template, it will be instantly downloaded from the site and available for use.
Create your own template
The easiest way to start creating a template is with a blank document, which you can open by simply launching Word.
If you are using one of the latest versions of MS Word, when you open the program you will be greeted by a start page on which you can already select one of the available templates. What’s especially pleasing is that they are all conveniently sorted into thematic categories.
However, if you want to create a template yourself, choose “New document”. A standard document will open with its default settings. These parameters can be either programmatic (set by developers) or created by you (if you previously saved certain values as default).
Using our lessons, make the necessary changes to the document, which will later be used as a template.
In addition to performing the above steps, you can also add a watermark, watermarks, or any graphics as default settings for the document to be used as a template. Everything you change, add and save in the future will be present in every document created based on your template.
Lessons on working with Word:
After you make the necessary changes, set default parameters to the future template, you need to save it.
1. Click the button "File"(or "MS Office", if you are using an older version of Word).
3. In the drop down menu “File type” select the appropriate template type:
- Word template (*.dotx): a regular template, compatible with all versions of Word older than 2003;
- Word template with macro support (*.dotm): as the name suggests, this type of template supports working with macros;
- Template Word 97 - 2003 (*.dot): compatible with older versions of Word 1997 - 2003.
4. Set the file name, specify the path to save it and click "Save".
5. The file you created and configured will be saved as a template in the format you specified. Now you can close it.
Create a template from an existing document or a standard template
1. Open a blank MS Word document, go to the tab "File" and select "Create".
Note: In the latest versions of Word, when opening an empty document, the user is immediately offered a list of template layouts on the basis of which a future document can be created. If you want to access all templates, select when opening “New document”, and then follow the steps described in point 1.
2. Select the appropriate template in the section “Available templates”.
Note: In the latest versions of Word, you don’t need to select anything; a list of available templates appears immediately after you click the button "Create", directly above the templates there is a list of available categories.
3. Make the necessary changes to the document using our tips and instructions presented in the previous section of the article (Creating your own template).
Note: For different templates, text styles that are available by default and presented in the tab “Home” in the group “Styles”, may be different and noticeably different from those that you are used to seeing in a standard document.
- Advice: Take advantage of the available styles to make your future template truly unique, unlike other documents. Of course, do this only if you are not limited by the document requirements.
4. After you make the necessary changes to the document, make all the settings that you consider necessary, save the file. To do this, click on the tab "File" and select “Save as”.
5. In section “File type” select the appropriate template type.
6. Set a name for the template, specify via "Conductor" ("Review") path to save it, click the button "Save".
7. The template you create based on the existing one will be saved along with any changes you made. This file can now be closed.
Adding Building Blocks to a Template
Building blocks are the reusable elements contained in a document, as well as those document components that are stored in a collection and available for use at any time. You can store and distribute building blocks using templates.
So, using standard blocks, you can create a report template that will contain cover letters of two or more types. At the same time, when creating a new report based on this template, other users will be able to select any of the available types.
1. Create, save and close the template you created taking into account all the requirements. It is to this file that standard blocks will be added, which will later be available to other users of the template you created.
2. Open the template document to which you want to add building blocks.
3. Create the necessary building blocks, which will later be available to other users.
Note: When entering information in the dialog box “Creating a new building block” enter in the line “Save to” the name of the template to which they need to be added (this is the file that you created, saved and closed according to the first paragraph of this section of the article).
The template you created, containing the building blocks, can now be shared with other users. The blocks themselves, saved with it, will be available in the specified collections.
Adding Content Controls to a Template
There are some situations where you want to give your template and all of its contents some flexibility. For example, a template might contain a drop-down list created by the author. For one reason or another, this list may not suit another user who happens to work with it.
If such a template contains content controls, the second user will be able to adjust the list to suit themselves, leaving it unchanged in the template itself. To add content controls to your template, you must enable the tab “Developer” in MS Word.
1. Open the menu "File"(or "MS Office" in earlier versions of the program).
2. Open the section “Options” and select the item there “Customize the Ribbon”.
3. In the section “Main Tabs” check the box next to the item “Developer”. To close the window, click "OK".
4. Tab “Developer” will appear on the Word control panel.
Adding Content Controls
1. In the tab “Developer” click on the button “Design mode” located in the group “Controls”.
Insert the necessary controls into the document by selecting them from those presented in the group of the same name:
- Rich text;
- Plain text;
- Drawing;
- Collection of building blocks;
- Combo box;
- Dropdown list;
- Date selection;
- Checkbox;
- Repeating section.
Add explanatory text to a template
You can make the template more user-friendly by adding explanatory text to the document. If necessary, the default explanatory text can always be changed in the content control. To set the default explanatory text for users who will use the template, follow these steps:
1. Turn on “Design mode”(tab “Developer”, group “Controls”).
2. Click on the content control where you want to add or change explanatory text.
Note: Explanatory text is in small blocks by default. If “Design mode” disabled, these blocks are not displayed.
3. Change, format the alt text.
4. Disable “Design mode” by pressing this button on the control panel again.
5. Explanatory text will be saved for the current template.
This is where we end, from this article you learned about what templates are in Microsoft Word, how to create and edit them, as well as everything that you can do with them. This is a really useful feature of the program, which greatly simplifies working with it, especially if not one, but several users, not to mention large companies, are working on documents.
Templates allow you to customize all the necessary settings that you want to pre-apply to document layout, styles, formatting, tabs, text template, etc. You can then easily create a new document based on this template.
When you save a document as a template, you can use that template to create new documents. These new documents contain all the text (and images and other content) that the template contains. They also have the same settings, sections, and page layout styles as a template. Templates can save you a lot of time when you are creating multiple documents that need to have a consistent layout, format, and some template text.
How to save a document as a template
The first thing you need to do is create your document the way you want the new documents to look. Separate the text (and images, etc.) down to the template material you want to display in new documents. Next, customize the page layout (margins, sections, columns, etc.), as well as any formatting and styles you want to use.
Once you have the document you need, it's time to save it as a template. Open the File menu and then click Save As.
After entering a name for your template, open the drop-down menu with the name field and then select the "Word Template (*.dotx)" option.
You have saved your own Word template.
How to create a new document based on a template
Once you have saved your own template, you can create new documents based on it. The easiest way to do this is to simply open Word.
Its pop-up screen shows a bunch of templates that are built-in or downloadable. At the top of the window, click the "PERSONAL" link to display your own templates. Then all you have to do is click on the template you want, and Word creates a new document based on it.
By default, Word likes to save templates in Documents\Custom Office Templates, where they will appear alongside templates you create in any other Office application.
When you save the template, you can choose a different location if you wish. The problem is that if you save it elsewhere, Word may not be able to see it and display it as an option on the splash screen. If this is not very important to you, save them anywhere. You can create a new document based on a template by simply double-clicking the template file.
You can also open the template in Word so you can edit it by right-clicking the file and then choosing Open from the context menu.
If you want an even more organized approach, you can change the default location. This allows you to save templates wherever you want (though they still need to be in one place) and have access to them on the Word splash screen.
From the File menu, select Options. In the Word Options window, select the Save category on the left. On the right, enter the path where you want to save the templates in the Default Personal Templates Location field. Click "OK" when finished.
After all, Word templates are functionally similar to regular Word documents. The big difference is how Word processes these files, which makes it easier to create new documents from them.
Word 2010 templates. Working with a ready-made template is much faster and more convenient. And in Microsoft Word 2010 this function is implemented at a very good level. There is no need to suffer and create a template for yourself from scratch. It is enough to take a ready-made one and correct it as you need. There is such a variety of these templates in version 2010 that they can satisfy any user. But if this is not enough for you, then you have the opportunity to download new, constantly updated templates from the developer’s website. Soon we will become so lazy that we will forget how to create new documents ourselves. But for a person there will NEVER be a creative limit.
Where can I get ready-made templates?
Open the text editor Word 2010. Go to the tab File and select the entry Create.
After left-clicking on Create, a window opens Available templates.
In it you can choose a ready-made template on any topic. Select any template and look at the preview window on the right to see what it will look like.
If you like the template, you can double-click on it with the left mouse button or click on the Load button in the Preview window (I chose greeting cards). 
After a short time, the template will be downloaded from the Microsoft website. To download successfully, your computer must be connected to the Internet.
By double-clicking on the picture, you will automatically connect the panel for working with pictures and you can edit this picture the way you want (add shadows, brightness, contrast, background, etc.).
For work, you can create special calendars using these templates, in which you can plan out your every day, create a reminder calendar for the birthdays of relatives and friends, a diary for work, etc.
In general, there is something to work on. If you are a creative person, then this activity will last you a long time. You can create business cards for yourself and your friends, colorful envelopes, invitations, letters, certificates, brochures, booklets, beautiful advertisements.
Yes, in general, you can open your own small workshop for the layout of forms, invitations, business cards, postcards and anything else. There would be desire and a head on your shoulders. Here's something for you to think about.
So, first, let's see how you can change the standard document template in Word 2007 and Word 2010.
Let's launch the program. In Word 2007, click the MS Office button and select the "Open" command. In Word 2010, click the "File" button and the "Open" command. In the "Open Document" window, in the "Templates" folder, double-click the Normal.dotm file: 
An open template is confirmed by the corresponding name in the title bar:
Making settings for the new template. We set the appropriate fields, red line, line spacing, font as for a regular document. When finished, click the MS Office button and the “Save” command. In Word 2010, click the "File" button and the "Save" command. After that, simply close the Normal.dotm window.
Now, when we launch the editor again, a new document will be created based on the template we changed.
However, it is not always advisable to format the standard Normal.dotm template. The best solution would be to create an alternative custom template.
To create a new template, click on the button to the “Create” command. In the "Document Creation" window, in the "My Templates" group:
The New dialog box opens. In Word 2010, to do this, click the “File” button, the “New” command and click the nice “My Templates” icon:
In the “Create” window, select the “New Document” icon and define it as a template. Confirm with the “OK” button.
An editor window named "Template1" opens. We set the settings for the new template: first line indent, size, font style, and others.
To save the new template, click the button and the “Save As” command. In Word 2010, click the "File" button and the "Save As" command. This command corresponds to the F12 key. In the "Save Document" window, name the template and save it in the "Templates" folder. Let's call it, for example, "Report". The file type must be "Word Template". This is a file with the extension .dotx, that is, a file without macro commands included in it - macros.
And close the “Template1” application window.
Now, to create a document based on the “Report” template, open the editor and follow the path: - “Create” - “Creating a document” - “My templates”. And in Word 2010 we follow the path: “File” - “Create” - “My Templates”. In the New dialog box, select the Report template icon and define it as a document:
Confirm with the "OK" button. An empty document will open with the name "Document2" and will be based on the parameters of the "Report" template. And the template named “New Document” is the standard Normal.dotm template.
Thus, you can create several templates for different types of documents. The use of templates is a rational approach to creating and editing standard documents.
