Excel and PowerPoint templates

A template does not have to be a Word document. Upload an Excel workbook (.xlsx) or a PowerPoint presentation (.pptx) and AutomaDoc fills it the same way: the same {Field} placeholders, the same filters, loops and conditions. Your formatting, formulas, charts and pictures are kept.

Upload the file

On the Template tab, click Upload Template File (or Replace Template) and choose a .docx, .xlsx or .pptx file. For an approval, use Upload a file in the Company Portal. The kind of template is shown next to the file name.

AutomaDoc reads the file itself to tell what it is, so a renamed file is still recognised. Files with macros (.docm, .xlsm, .pptm) are not accepted: save a copy without macros and upload that.

Auto Generate and the approval starter template always create a Word template.

Choose the output

Under Output Format, choose the template’s own format (an Excel workbook or a PowerPoint presentation) or PDF. Image (.png) output is available for Word templates only.

Excel workbooks

Write placeholders in cells, on any sheet:

In a cell	What you get
{Customer}	The value, as in Word. Text around it is kept: Invoice for {Customer}.
{Amount} alone in a cell	A real number, so your formulas and the cell’s number format apply.
{Due_Date} alone in a cell formatted as a date	A real Excel date, in the template’s time zone.
{Amount | currency:"USD"}	Text: a filter that formats a value gives formatted text.

Text that only looks like a number, such as the account number 00123, stays text.

Repeat rows for a list

Put {#Items} in the first cell of a row and {/Items} in a later cell of the same row (a text cell, not a formula). That row is repeated for each item, with the item’s fields inside. Here the loop is on row 5:

A	B	C	D	E
{#Items}{Product}	{Qty}	{Price}	=B5*C5	{/Items}
		Total	=SUM(D5:D5)

Everything below moves down, and formulas follow: =B5*C5 becomes =B6*C6 on the next row, and =SUM(D5:D5) becomes the sum of every item row. Merged cells, conditional formatting, data validation, named ranges, the print area, tables and chart ranges follow too. To repeat a block of several rows, put {/Items} on the block’s last row. Loops can be nested, and a sheet can hold several.

If the list is empty, the row is kept once, emptied, so the totals under it still work.

Running totals

A $ keeps a reference on the first row, as when you fill a formula down: =SUM($D$5:D5) on the loop row gives a running total.

Formulas on a loop row behave as if filled down, so =D4+B5-C5 reads the row above each copy. To point at one fixed cell outside the loop, such as the total, write it with $: =D5/$D$6.

Show rows only when

{#if Discount} in one cell and {/if} in a later cell (of the same row or a later row) removes those rows when the condition is false. Inside a single cell, {#if Discount}Discount: {Discount}{/if} only changes that cell’s text, as in Word.

Pictures, headers and footers

A picture whose Alt Text is {Logo}, {QR:Order_ID} or {BARCODE:SKU} is replaced, as in Word. A picture on a loop row is repeated with the row: a QR code per line, for example. Placeholders also work in the page header and footer (Insert → Header & Footer).

Formulas are recalculated when the file is opened in Excel or LibreOffice, and in the PDF. An app that only previews a spreadsheet without calculating it may show formula cells empty.

Pictures in a cell

{%Logo} alone in a cell puts the picture there, fitted to the cell (or to its merged area) and keeping its proportions. Size filters such as {%Logo | size:100:50} are ignored: the cell decides. On a loop row, each row shows its own item’s picture.

Repeat across columns

{>Details}{Product} at the start of a cell repeats that cell to its right, one column per item: put one such cell on each row (product, price, quantity) for a side-by-side comparison. {#Details | horizontal}{Product}{/Details} in one cell does the same. Up to 20 columns; the copies replace whatever is in the cells to the right. A formula over the row is not widened, so write its range over the columns the list may fill, such as =SUM(B3:U3).

PowerPoint presentations

Placeholders work in any text on a slide and in the speaker notes. A loop or condition repeats the smallest thing that holds both of its tags:

Where the two tags are	What repeats
In the same paragraph	That text, as in Word: {#Tags}{.}, {/Tags}
In different paragraphs of one text box	Those paragraphs, a bullet per item
In different cells of one table	Those table rows, a row per item
In different shapes on the slide	The whole slide, one slide per item

For one slide per product, put {#Products} in one text box (the title, say) and {/Products} in another, anywhere on the slide. With an empty list, or a false {#if …} written the same way, the slide is left out. Pictures whose Alt Text is a placeholder are replaced and fitted in their box.

A slide per item without a closing tag. {:Products} anywhere on a slide makes the whole slide repeat for each product; filters work as on any loop ({:Products | where:"Price > 10"}). On a single value or a checkbox, the same tag shows the slide when the value is set and leaves it out otherwise: {:Show_Pricing}.

A picture in a shape. A text box or shape holding nothing but {%Photo}, {QR:Order_No}, {BARCODE:SKU} or an attachment field such as {Photo} becomes that picture, fitted and centred in the shape. A placeholder box from the slide layout that has never been moved or resized on the slide stays text: draw an ordinary text box instead.

Slide masters and layouts are not filled, and the data of a chart stays as you made it.

Not supported yet

• Pivot tables are not refreshed.
• Placeholders inside formulas (=B5*{Rate}) are not replaced; put the value in a cell and refer to that cell.
• Excel: a loop must start and end on the same sheet. PowerPoint: a loop that repeats slides must start and end on the same slide.