Copying templates

Often a template is almost right: an invoice that needs a VAT exemption notice, a CV with one more section, a certificate with your own logo. Instead of starting from scratch, make a copy of the template and change what you need. Your copy is a template of its own, in your account.

Making a copy

On a template's page, choose Make a copy. Craftadoc copies the template's latest version into your account as a private template (only you can use it) and opens it. You need to be signed in, and the copy counts as one of your plan's private templates (see limits).

Make a copy is there when:

  • the author shares the template's source (Download source on its page), and
  • the template's licence allows changed copies. That includes MIT, Apache 2.0, the BSD licences, ISC, CC0, CC BY and CC BY-SA, the GPL family, MPL, the EUPL and the LaTeX Project Public License. Licences without derivatives (such as CC BY-ND) or for non-commercial use only (such as CC BY-NC) don't allow it; the page then says why.

You can always copy your own templates, whatever their licence.

Credits and licence

A copy keeps the original's licence and authors, so the original author is always credited. Craftadoc adds:

  • you, to the authors in craftadoc.json;
  • a line in the licence note: Based on "Invoice" (link, version 3) by Jane Doe;
  • (copy) after the name, which you can change.

The copy's page shows Based on with a link to the original. Some licences ask more of you when you share a changed version, for example CC BY-SA and the GPL require the same licence; keep the licence as it is unless you're sure you may change it.

Changing your copy

On your copy's page, choose Change template. The editor shows a preview of the template next to two ways to change it:

  • Ask AI: describe the change, for example add an optional VAT exemption notice under the totals. Claude (by Anthropic) reads the template's files, makes the change, runs the same checks as publishing, and looks at the pages to see that nothing overflows or overlaps. You follow along in the preview; this usually takes one to five minutes, and you can stop it at any time. When it's done, it tells you what it changed. Personal includes 5 AI changes a month and Pro 30 (see limits); a change that fails on our side doesn't count.
  • Code: change the Typst files, craftadoc.json and example.json yourself. Show changes shows what changed in a file compared to the saved version, also what the AI changed. This is free on every plan.

The preview can show the template before and with your changes, with the example values or with the longest texts the form allows, and at every size the template offers.

Nothing is published until you choose Save as version …: Craftadoc then checks the template again (form, example values, a compile at every size) and tells you in plain words if something needs fixing. Unsaved changes stay in the editor for 3 days after your last change; Discard removes them.

To add an image or a font, download the source, add the file, and choose Publish new version to upload the folder as a .zip; the editor only changes text files. Write templates with AI shows how to work on the source with your own AI assistant.

Each saved change is a new version of your copy; the original isn't affected. The editor works the same for templates you made yourself.

Using your copy for existing documents

Documents keep the template version they were made with, so nothing changes unexpectedly. When you have a copy of a document's template, or the template has a newer version, the editor shows a note above the form: choose Use to move the document there. Everything you filled in stays.

Fields your copy added start with your copy's example values, so check them in the editor. If a field changed in a way your values don't fit (renamed, or a different kind of value), the editor tells you which one; make a new document from your copy instead.

Sharing your copy

Your copy starts private. To share it with everyone, choose Publish openly on its page: it then appears in the catalogue, and under Copies on the original template's page. Everyone can see a template's open copies there, with who made them, and how many private copies exist (without who made them or what's in them).

Removing a copy

Delete your copy from its page, like any private template. The original isn't affected, and copies of the original made by others stay.

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