If you run a typical business, you undoubtedly find yourself creating certain publications, such as newsletters, flyers, postcards, and gift certificates, over and over again. While each new version is unique, there are also elements that remain consistent, like your company name and address.

In a monthly newsletter, for example, much of the look and structure will stay the same while the content of the newsletter changes for each version.

You can save time by designing a master publication once that reflects your company brand and identity, and saving it as a template. Then, each time you want to create a new version of the publication, you simply open the template and add only the information unique to that version.

You can save even more time by:

• Inserting date and time fields into the template. These fields automatically update each time you open or print the file.
• Creating a personal information set so that your contact information is automatically added to the template when you create it.

Create, use, and edit a template

Using a template for a publication you regularly produce not only saves time, but it also ensures quality and consistency. When you start a new publication based on a template, you open a copy of the template file so the original template can't get altered by mistake. No matter how many different people create versions of the publication based on the template, all the versions will look similar.

If, at any time, you want to make changes to the template itself, you can simply open the template file, make the changes you want, and then save it again as a template.

Create a template

You can make a template from any publication that you have created simply by saving that publication as a Publisher template file. However, there are certain elements you might want to add to your template to make it convenient.

1. Start Publisher. In the New Publication task pane, under Start from a design, click By Publication Type, and then choose the publication type that you want to create.

   Tip  If you are using a Master Design Set to give your publications a consistent design, you can choose a publication that matches that set.

2. In the right pane, click the publication design or type that you want.
3. Add any information or date/time fields, and make any formatting changes you want:
   • To add a date/time field, place the cursor in the text box where you want to add the field. On the Insert menu, click Date and Time. Choose the format you want, click Update automatically, and then click OK.
   • To change the appearance of the company name or other text, select the text. On the Format menu, click Styles and Formatting.
4. On the File menu, click Save As. In the Save As dialog box, for Save as type, choose Publisher Template (*.pub). Type a name for the file, and then click Save.

   Note  By default, Publisher saves template files to the folder (C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates).

Use a template to create a publication

1. On the File menu, click New.
2. In the New Publication task pane, under New, click From template.
3. Double-click the template you want to use.
4. Add the content that you want to use to create a new version of your publication.
5. When you want to save this version of the publication, on the File menu, click Save As, and then save the publication as a regular Publisher file.

Change a template

1. On the File menu, click New.
2. In the New Publication task pane, under New, click From template.
3. Double-click the template you want to use.
4. Make any of the changes that you want to the template.
5. On the File menu, click Save As. In the Save As dialog box, for Save as type, choose Publisher Template (*.pub). For File name, type the same name as the original template.
6. When you are asked if you want to replace the existing template file, click Yes.