Template-Based Document Creation

What Are Templates?

A template is a pre-formatted document that includes:

• Defined styles (headings, body, caption)
• Page layout settings (margins, headers, footers)
• Placeholder content showing structure
• Consistent branding elements

Why Use Templates?

Consistency

• All reports look the same
• Brand standards are maintained
• No manual formatting decisions

Efficiency

• Start with structure in place
• Focus on content, not formatting
• Reduce errors and rework

Professionalism

• Documents look polished
• Readers trust consistent formatting
• Organization appears organized

Style Discipline

Style discipline means:

• Never manually format text (no direct bold, no manual font sizes)
• Always use styles (Heading 1, Normal, Caption, etc.)
• Modify styles when you need different formatting (don't override)

Bad Habits to Avoid

• Selecting text and clicking Bold
• Changing font size directly
• Using spaces for indentation
• Using Enter for page breaks
• Using blank paragraphs for spacing

Good Habits

• Apply appropriate style
• Modify style definition if needed
• Use paragraph spacing, not blank lines
• Use page breaks, not multiple Enter keys

Template Structure

A good report template includes:

• Title page - with placeholder text
• Table of Contents - auto-generated
• Section headings - properly styled
• Body paragraphs - Normal style
• Table/figure placeholders - with captions
• Headers/footers - consistent throughout

In this module, you'll practice using a template properly.