How Images Work in Custom Templates
One of the benefits of custom templates is that they automatically pull images from your OpenAsset system directly into your documents. This saves time and ensures everyone on your team uses the correct, approved images.
A Key Rule: Image Frames are Fixed
It is important to know that the number of image slots ("frames") in a template is fixed. A template cannot dynamically change the number of images it displays.
Example: If you need a design that shows 4 images for Project A but only 2 images for Project B, this would require two separate templates.
How Images are Selected: Two Template Types
The way images populate your document depends on the type of template you choose.
1. Project-Based Templates: Automatic Selection
With this template, you select one or more projects, and OpenAsset automatically fills the image frames based on a pre-set order.
How it Works: You don’t choose the individual images before creating the document. Instead, the system selects them for you, typically based on their Rank (see below).
Best For: Quickly creating documents like project sheets where you want the highest-ranked images to appear automatically.
2. File-Based Templates: Manual Selection
This template gives you complete control by letting you select the exact files (images) you want to use.
How it Works: You hand-pick every image before creating the document. This requires more clicks but offers precise control.
Best For: Highly curated documents like brochures or proposals where you need to select specific images from the start.
Using Ranks to Control Your Images
Ranks (also called 'Marketing Preference') are a powerful way to organize your files, especially for Project-Based templates. By assigning ranks to your images, you can control which ones automatically appear in your documents. The default logic for images is by rank, meaning the template will pull images in order of their rank (Rank 1 first, then 2, and so on).
Making Final Changes: Drag and Drop
No matter which template you use, you always have the final say. Once your document is created, you can easily swap out any image by simply dragging and dropping a new one from OpenAsset directly into the document (in InDesign, PowerPoint, etc.). Find more information on our InDesign plugin here.
Parent Pages (Master Pages)
Preparing Your InDesign File 📄
To help us build your template quickly and accurately, please use this checklist before submitting your InDesign files.
Leave Parent Pages to Us: You don't need to set up the Parent Pages (formerly Master Pages) yourself. Just design your layout on the regular pages, and we'll handle the technical setup to make the template work correctly.
Keep it Clean: We will remove any unused Parent Pages from your file to keep the final template tidy. If you have a specific reason to keep them, please let us know.
Consistent Layout: Ensure the page size and the number of pages per spread are the same throughout the entire document. Please note that we cannot accommodate conditional spreads (for example, we cannot add in an additional page if the project description is too long to fit on a single page).
Set Your Guides: Please finalize and set up your margins, columns, and guides before sending us the file.
Review Limitations: Don't forget to review our InDesign Limitations guide to ensure your design is fully compatible with our template system.
Font and Paragraph Styles
To ensure all text in your document is consistent, we build your template using Paragraph and Character Styles.
Your Role: Please set up and apply named styles to all the text in your sample document. This helps us match your design perfectly.
Our Process: If styles are missing or if text formatting has been manually overridden, we will create the necessary styles for you based on your design. Please review the InDesign Limitations section for more details.
Tables vs. Text Boxes
How you should set up tables and text boxes depends on the program you're using.
A Note on SF330 Forms
A common request is the SF330 form, which has a specific requirement in InDesign.
InDesign Requirement: Our system cannot automatically add new rows to tables in InDesign. Therefore, if you need an InDesign SF330 template, each box on the form must be its own separate text box, not a cell within a single large table.
Word & PowerPoint: In these programs, you can use a table for your SF330 form. However, please be sure to review their specific limitations.
Handling Text Overflow
Text overflow happens when the text pulled from OpenAsset is too long to fit in its designated text box.
The Limitation in InDesign: Text can only flow automatically from one box to the next for the very first item in a series (e.g., the first project on a multi-project sheet).
A Manual Step is Required: For all other items, users will need to manually link the text boxes after the document is created. To do this, they will click the small red '+' icon on the overflowing text box and then click inside the next text box to reveal the rest of the text.