Getting started with the template editor

DocuPotion allows you to design reusable templates for your business documents. Some of the templates that are popular among our users include:

• Invoices
• Contracts
• Proposals
• Quotes
• Agendas
• SOPs
• Receipts
• Reports

But you can also design any type of custom document you want. The DocuPotion editor is prompt-driven. Simply describe the document you want and our editor generates the layout for you, complete with relevant {{merge_fields}} .  For example, you could request something like:

Create a single-page landscape PDF dashboard template (A4 landscape, 297mm × 210mm) for a departmental report called "Customer Success - Weekly Success Metrics". The design should be clean, data-dense, and modern with a light grey header bar and four color-coded sections stacked vertically, each containing KPI metric tiles and charts side by side

You then refine the initial generation with follow-up prompts, upload specific images to include, and see how the document appears with sample data.

About this guide

This guide walks you through your first template, end to end. You will go from a blank dashboard to a finished document in about ten minutes.

1. Creating a new template
   1. Generate with a prompt
   2. Use a pre-built template
2. Tour of the editor
3. Refining your template with follow-up prompts
   1. Adding images
   2. Using reference files for context
4. Sample data and merge fields
5. Publish your template and generate your first document

Please note that this guide assumes you've already signed up for a DocuPotion account. If you haven't done this, please see this section of our quickstart guide.

1. Creating a new template

Navigate to the Templates section of your DocuPotion dashboard and click on the New Template button. You'll have the option to either:

• Describe with AI (generate from a prompt)
• Use a pre-built template from our template library

Generate with a prompt

Describe what kind of template you want. The more detail you provide the better the output, so don't be afraid to provide lots of context.

You'll also have the option to provide sample data. DocuPotion will take whatever sample data you provide and include it in the template as {{merge_fields}} . You can provide JSON, CSV or just a list of field names - DocuPotion is pretty good at taking unstructured data and interpreting it accurately.

If you're not sure what {{merge_fields}} you want to include, you can choose the I'll add data later option. If you do this,  DocuPotion will choose what {{merge_fields}  to add to the document.

Once you're happy with your inputs, click on the Create template button. You'll then be brought to the document editor. It may take a couple of mins to fully load your template, but you'll see some messages showing you the progress our AI agent is making.

Use a pre-built template

The DocuPotion template library has a large number of pre-built templates that cover a lot of the more common uses cases. To use a pre-built template, select the Use a template option when creating a new template.

You'll be presented with a number of options. You can toggle categories using the buttons that appear just above the templates.

Once you select a template, you'll have the option to add your own sample data.

DocuPotion will take whatever sample data you provide and include it in the template as {{merge_fields}} . You can provide JSON, CSV or just a list of field names - DocuPotion is pretty good at taking unstructured data and interpreting it accurately.

If you're not sure what {{merge_fields}} you want to include, you can choose the I'll add data later option. If you do this,  DocuPotion will choose what {{merge_fields}  to add to the document.

Once you're happy with your inputs, click on the Create template button. You'll then be brought to the document editor.

2. Tour of the editor

Estimated time: 2 minutes

The main editor area has two panes:

Left: the prompt pane

This is your conversation with the editor. Your initial prompt sits at the top, and every follow-up appears below. Each message can include text and attachments such as logos, reference files or brand-style PDFs. The editor remembers context, so you can keep edits short, for example:

make the heading blue

or

add a notes section at the bottom

or

use Inter instead of Times for the font

Right: preview, data, and generate

The right pane has three tabs.

• Preview: your template, paginated at real page dimensions. This is what your finished document will look like.
• Data: the sample data the preview uses, editable as JSON.
• Integrations: connection instructions for our integrations and REST API

Two controls at the top of the preview matter most.

• Template / With data toggle: flip between literal merge fields ({{customer_name}}  ) and rendered sample data (Acme Co.). Use Template mode while you are designing, then flip to With Data to sanity-check what your end users will see.
• Zoom controls: fit-to-width by default, with plus and minus buttons for closer inspection.

3. Refining your template with follow-up prompts

The first generation won't always be perfect. Use follow-up prompts to nudge it. The editor is good at targeted changes, and tries to preserve everything you did not ask to change.

Effective follow-up prompts are small and specific:

• "Make the header blue (#0070D7) and increase the company name to 22px."
• "Add a 'Notes' section below the totals, with light gray background."
• "Move the logo from top-left to top-center and add a thin divider underneath."
• "Remove the page number in the footer."

Adding images

You can upload images (like company logos) by clicking on the Add Button in the Attach file sections of the chat pane. You can then ask DocuPotion to include uploaded images by referencing it with '@ ' .

Using reference files for context

In addition to images, you can also upload PDFs, HTML files and text files that can be used as a reference. For example, you can upload a PDF or HTML file that contains your brand identity and ask DocuPotion to update the template to reflect this.

4. Add sample data and merge fields

Every dynamic field in your template is a merge field wrapped in double curly braces, for example {{customer_name}}   or {{invoice_total}} . When you generate a document, you pass real values for each field and DocuPotion substitutes them in.

Click the Data tab to see (and edit) the sample data the preview uses.

Three forms of merge field cover most cases:

• {{field_name}}  : substitute a single value.
• {{#list_name}} ... {{/list_name}}  : repeat the wrapped block for each item in an array (line items, attendees, transactions).
• {{^list_name}} ... {{/list_name}}  : show the wrapped block only when the list is empty or the value is falsy, for example "no items to display".

To add a new field, edit the sample JSON to include it and then ask the editor to use it, for example:

Add a 'Purchase Order Number' field next to the invoice number, using the po_number   field.

The editor will wire up the merge field for you.

5. Publish your template and generate your first document

Click Publish in the top-right when you are happy with the template. Your work is stored against a unique templateId  that you will use to generate documents.

From here you have two paths.

Integrations

Open the Integrations tab and pick your stack: Bubble, Airtable, n8n, or Zapier. Each integration walks you through connecting your data source so documents generate automatically when a record changes or a workflow fires.

REST API

POST your data to the DocuPotion API along with the templateId   and your API key.

curl -X POST https://api.docupotion.com/v1/pdf \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "templateId": "YOUR_TEMPLATE_ID",
    "data": {
      "customer_name": "Acme Co.",
      "invoice_no": "INV-001",
      "items": [
        { "name": "Design work", "quantity": 1, "amount": "1,200.00" }
      ],
      "total": "1,200.00"
    }
  }'

The response includes a signed URL pointing at your freshly rendered PDF document.