Using the Template Library and Layout Editor

Note: The Template Library and Layout Editor are being rolled out to workspaces gradually. If you don't see the "Template Library" section under Settings > Layouts yet, reach out to support.

Instead of building your own Word file and uploading it, you can now design the look of your quotes, invoices, and delivery notes right in your browser: start from a ready-made template in the Template Library and adjust it to your branding in the Layout Editor — font, colors, logo, pages, images, custom texts, and which product categories appear where.

Add a template and open the editor

1. Open Settings > Layouts.
2. In the Template Library section you'll see every available template with a preview image — for example a classic portrait business letter with letterhead, an items table, totals and a signature line.
3. Click Use template on the one you want.
4. Univents creates your own copy of that template in your workspace — the original in the library stays untouched and can be reused any time — and opens the copy directly in the Layout Editor.

The new copy isn't assigned to any document yet and doesn't automatically become the default. For how to assign a layout to a document or set it as the default, see How do I create layouts for financial documents?.

Editing a layout from an open document

You don't have to go to the settings for a design change. Open a quote or an invoice, expand the layout selection and click Edit layout on the layout's card — the same editor opens in a new tab and the document stays open. That lets you compare the change and the result side by side: adjust and save in the editor, then re-render the PDF in the document.

The button is labelled Edit layout as soon as the layout runs on the new print engine (see “Switching to the new print engine” below) — whether or not you have already designed it in the editor. While it still runs on the previous engine, the button reads Edit colors and borders and opens the familiar color settings.

Opening a layout from the templates overview

Under Settings > Templates your layouts sit among all your other templates. Clicking the row takes you straight to where you can edit that layout: if it runs on the new print engine, the layout editor opens. If it still runs on the previous one, layout management opens with the form for colors, borders and the Word template.

Taking an existing layout into the editor

If you switched a layout to the new print engine (see below) that you have been maintaining through a Word template so far, the editor tells you on first open: “This layout has no new design yet.” That is correct — until now your styling sits in colors, margins and the Word template, not in a design the editor can work with. You create it right there, with one click:

Take it over from the Word template (recommended). Univents reads this layout’s Word template and builds the editor design from it: header and footer, address, document details, cover letter, item sections and totals. This happens in two steps: clicking Check the Word template first shows you what would be taken over — nothing is saved yet, and your documents keep printing unchanged. Only Take over creates the design. Your Word template stays untouched, and you can switch back to the previous engine at any time.

The check shows a short summary: how many pages and item sections would be created, what comes across one to one, and what would have to be estimated or left out. Typical notes:

• An image is too large to print and was not taken over — upload it again in the editor under Images.
• An image was cropped in the Word template; the full area came across instead. Set it up again in the editor via Fit image.
• Paragraph formats, lists and indents of a custom text were lost — the text itself is waiting for you in the editor under Custom texts.

Read the notes in peace. Important: as soon as you click Take over, every document using this layout prints with the new design — including automatically sent ones. If you don’t like the summary, click Cancel and everything stays as it was. If the Word template was replaced between checking and taking over, Univents stops and asks you to check it again. If your Word template is essentially one fixed image, Univents says so and deliberately creates nothing — such a layout would be a single image in the editor, with nothing to change. Start from the current design instead.

The individual notes are only available in German; in other languages you see a translated summary per area (for example “Image: 1 not taken over”).

Start from the current design. Univents takes exactly what your documents print today: logo, address, document details, cover letter, items, totals, payment terms with bank details, the signature line if you use one, and the footer — in your colors, font and margins. Your documents keep the same content afterwards, and you adjust the design in the editor step by step.

Creating from a PDF is not offered here: AI creation always adds a new layout with its own Word template and leaves this one as it is. The result can then be taken over the same way. That feature is not available yet.

The way back stays open. Edit colors and margins still takes you to the classic editing form — as long as the layout has no editor design, colors and margins from there keep affecting your documents unchanged. And the engine switch (see below) lets you move the layout back to the previous engine at any time.

Once created, a design stays. A design cannot be removed again in the editor — which is why Univents writes nothing until you click Take over or Use the current design. Simply opening the page or checking the Word template changes nothing.

What you can set in the Layout Editor

The editor shows your document as a sheet in the middle — you work right on it: click an element to select it and open its settings section on the right, double-click to type headings, cover letters and custom texts directly on the document, and drag an image onto the area where you want it (or click the area). Every change shows up on the sheet instantly. On the right you'll also find all settings at a glance:

• Free elements — place text boxes, images, placeholders and color shapes anywhere on the page, drag and resize them — in front of or behind the content. You can also move and resize the content area itself (cover letter, positions, totals) on the page; if it gets too long, it flows onto the next page as usual.
• Template/Theme — font, colors, and portrait or landscape orientation for the whole document.
• Logo — upload your own logo and set its position and maximum width.
• Pages — which pages your document has, show or hide individual pages, add new pages or duplicate one, and reorder them via drag-and-drop or the arrow buttons. You can also set a page to disappear automatically whenever it would have no content.
• Images — add your own images for the cover, page backgrounds, or individual pages.
• Custom texts — the editable text blocks in your layout, with a label and default text, the same as in the existing layout settings.
• Product category assignment — which product categories print in which section of the document.

Aligning and fine-tuning elements

For the fine work on a layout — say you want a logo, a photo or a text box exactly centered — every free element's card (section Free elements) offers these tools:

• Align — six buttons place the element left, horizontally centered or right, and top, vertically centered or bottom. With Reference you choose whether that refers to the whole sheet or only to the content area (the text area inside the page margins). For a text box whose height grows with its text, only "top" is available.
• Arrow keys — an element selected on the sheet moves by 1 mm with the arrow keys, by 5 mm with Shift held down. The X, Y, W and H fields still take exact millimeter values.
• Fit image — for an image element you decide whether the whole picture stays visible ("Fit") or covers the area completely and gets cropped at the edges ("Fill").

Images that sit in the text flow — the photo on a cover page, for example — are edited by clicking them on the sheet: the Image on the page section appears on the right with alignment (left, center, right), width and height in millimeters, "Fit image" and a white passe-partout frame. If the width exceeds the content area, the editor points it out — in print the whole page would be scaled down otherwise.

Click Check print PDF any time to generate the final PDF with sample data — that's also where you see the exact page breaks the sheet in the editor only hints at with a line. This works even if you haven't created a real quote or invoice in your workspace yet.

Save and reset

Changes in the editor only take effect once you click Save. Until you save, the editor shows a notice about unsaved changes, and leaving the editor asks you to confirm first.

To discard all of your own changes, click Reset to template original — the editor resets your layout to the state it had when you added it from the library.

Is someone else editing the same layout? If another person saves the same layout in the meantime, you'll see the message "Someone else has since changed this layout" when you try to save. Your own changes aren't lost — they stay in the editor until you actively reload or save again.

Images & logo

Logo and images support the PNG, JPG, and WebP formats. Uploaded images are automatically resized to fit. SVG files are not supported.

Why can't I issue my document?

A document (quote, invoice, delivery note or credit note) can't be issued or sent if the selected layout wouldn't print one or more of the document's line items — for example because the layout has no area for "other"/unassigned positions, or because the document's line-item table is missing from the selected layout. Univents shows you a clear error message when this happens.

Here's how to fix it:

1. Open the affected layout in the Layout Editor under Settings > Layouts.
2. In the Product category assignment section, check whether there's an area for "other"/unassigned product categories and whether every category you need is assigned to one.
3. Alternatively, choose a different layout for the affected document that covers all its positions.

Switching to the new print engine

Univents currently prints your documents in two ways: with the previous engine and with a new one that renders noticeably faster. Both run side by side, and you decide per layout which one is used.

Every layout carries a badge telling you which engine it prints with today: PREVIOUS ENGINE or NEW ENGINE. You'll find it in two places — in the layout row under Settings → Layouts, and directly on the layout card inside a document. Both lead to the same switch.

To switch a layout over:

1. Click the badge. It opens a panel showing the current state.
2. Click Switch to the new engine.
3. The same panel now carries Create the design in the editor. The link takes you where you either take the design over from your Word template or start from the current design (see “Taking an existing layout into the editor” above). If the layout already has a design, the link reads Edit design.

These are two separate steps: until you create a design, your documents keep printing unchanged — with the colors, margins and Word template the layout already has.

Switching applies to the whole layout, so to every document that uses it — not only the one you have open. The panel says so as well, because you can reach the switch from inside a single document.

You can switch back at any time. Your Word template and your styling stay untouched — only the engine that prints future documents changes.

PDFs that already exist stay as they are. The new engine only takes effect the next time a document is rendered — for a document you have already sent, that means re-rendering it can make it look different from the version your customer received.

Related articles

• How do I create layouts for financial documents? — design layouts with your own Word template and placeholders, including the full placeholder reference.
• Create & use financial document templates — save a complete document, including its line items, as a reusable template.

Frequently asked questions

Does adjusting a template change the original in the Template Library? No. "Use template" creates your own copy in your workspace. The original stays unchanged for you and every other workspace, and can be reused as many times as you like.

Can I try out several templates? Yes. You can add several templates as your own copies and adjust them in parallel. You only decide which one you actually use when you assign a layout to a document.

Can I still upload my own Word template? Yes. The existing management under "My Layouts" is unchanged and works exactly as before.

I don't see the Template Library in my workspace — what now? The feature is being rolled out gradually. Reach out to our support team if you'd like to use it.