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Word comes with a collection of templates that let you create a wide variety of document types, but sooner or later you'll almost certainly want to create your own templates. Grab a beverage, have a seat, and prepare to explore everything you need to know about creating and using your own templates.
Converting a document to a template
Suppose that you've been working on a document for hours, toiling with its formats until they're just the way you want them, and then you suddenly realize that you might want to create other documents using the same formats. Creating a template from this document is a simple matter.
Open the document you want to use to create the template and call up File --> Save As. Down at the bottom of the Save As dialog box is a Save As Type Drop-down list box, which is set to Word Document. Change this field to Document Template. Type a name for your template, navigate over to the folder where you want to save the template, and click OK to save the document as a template.
 | Now that you saved your document as a template, take a few moments to improve the template's usefulness. Begin by removing any unnecessary text. Remember: Any text you leave in the template appears in any new documents you create using the template, so you want to leave only true boilerplate text that you want to appear in every document based on the template. |
To delete all of the text from the document, press Ctrl+A to select the entire document and press the Del key.
You might also want to remove any unnecessary styles, macros, AutoText, or anything else that isn't template-worthy. When the template is just right, save it again.
 | You might be tempted to open the document, delete text and other unnecessary elements, and then choose File --> Save As. Be careful, though, because deleting an entire document's worth of text and accidentally using File --> Save rather than File --> Save As is easy! To avert this disaster, save the document as a template before you begin deleting massive amounts of text. |
Creating a new template from scratch
To create a new template from scratch, choose File --> New, and then click the On My Computer link in the Templates section of the New Documents task pane to bring up the Templates dialog box. Select the existing template on which you want to base the new template. Then, select the Template radio button (found at the bottom right of the dialog box) and click OK.
Your new template inherits whatever styles, text, and other elements contained in the template you based it on. Now is the time to add any additional styles, macros, or other new elements to the template or to change existing template elements. In addition, you can add boilerplate text and graphics. When you're ready, use the Save command to save the template, assigning it an appropriate name and placing it in the correct folder.
Modifying an existing template
To modify an existing template, use File --> Open to call up the Open dialog box. Change the Files of Type list box from Word Documents to Document Templates, and locate and select the template you want to modify. Click Open to open the template, make any changes you want to make, and use File --> Save to save the changes. That's all there is to it!
Another way to modify an existing template is to open a document based on the template and change those elements of the document stored in the template rather than in the document. This method is a bit confusing, however: Some elements of a document are stored only in the template, whereas other elements are copied from the template at the time the template is attached and subsequently stored in the document.
The following list indicates how changes to various elements of a document affect the template attached to the document:
- Text: Any text you add to the document does not affect the template. The only way to change boilerplate text in a template is to edit the template directly.
- Direct formatting: Any direct formatting you apply to the document affects the document only and is not copied back to the template.
- Styles: Changes to a document's styles do not affect the template. Although styles are copied from the template to the document when you attach the template, subsequent changes to the styles are stored in the document and not copied back to the template.
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