Intro to Templates

Why do I need templates?

Having a selection of templates in your company library sets up the foundations for your future specification schedules. You can create customised templates from scratch to suit your preferences, or you can save and use any of Inspec's pre-built templates to save time. All templates in your library are available for any team member in your company to access.

Where to find templates

To access your company's templates, go to the sidebar on the left side of your screen and click on the Templates link. Here you can view, edit, and create customised templates.

There are two sections on this page: Template Library & Inspec Templates.

Creating a new custom template

Creating your own customised template to suit your company's preferred style of schedule is straightforward, and all changes save automatically. Templates form the basis of your specification schedules and can be used across one or all of your projects — you can create as many as you need.

1. Create a new template — Click on the + New Template button in the top right corner of your screen.

2. Name your template — Click on the bolded "New Template" text at the top of the page and type your preferred name, for example "Finishes Schedule".

   

3. Add your first field — Follow the prompt to add your first field. Think of fields as columns in a table — for example, your first column might be where you upload an image of the proposed specification.

4. Name your field — Type the name of your new field where it says "Field 1", for example "Image".

   

5. Select the field type — Select the appropriate field type from the dropdown menu. In this example, selecting Image will allow images to be uploaded to this column. Learn more about field types here.

6. Add more fields — Continue adding fields until your template is structured the way you need it.

7. Add sections — You can also add sections, which will appear in every schedule created from this template, ready to populate with data. Learn more about adding sections to templates here.

8. Add a disclaimer (optional) — Below the fields, you have the option to add a disclaimer to your schedule. This will appear at the bottom of any exported PDF and will carry through to every schedule created from this template.

9. Deleting a template — To delete a template, click the three dots in the top right corner and select Delete Template.

   

Editing a custom or pre-built template

To make changes to a template you've already created, or one saved from the Inspec Template library, click on the template tile to open it in edit mode. All updates save automatically.

In edit mode you can:

• Rename fields
• Add new or delete existing fields
• Reorder fields by clicking the six dots and dragging them left or right
• Change the type of field
• Add new or delete existing sections
• Update your disclaimer
• Rename the template
• Delete the template

Any changes made to an existing template will only take effect on schedules created from it going forward. Existing schedules will remain as per the original layout. It is possible to edit the fields and sections of an individual schedule while working in it. Learn more here.

Saving Inspec Templates to your library

Inspec's pre-built templates have been carefully designed by experienced designers to help you get straight to work creating professional specification schedules. Any or all of these templates can be saved to your company library.

1. Navigate to Inspec Templates — Click the Inspec Templates tab towards the top of your screen.
2. Browse the library — Browse the pre-built schedule and spec sheet templates, each with a short description and column count to help you find the right fit.
3. Preview a template — Click the Preview button on any template tile to see how it's structured before saving it.
4. Add to your library — Click Add to Library on any template you'd like to use.
5. Customise if needed — If a template is close to what you need but requires some tweaking, add it to your library and adjust it from there. Learn more about editing templates here.

Reordering fields in templates

To reorder the fields in your template, click and drag from the six dots in the top left corner of the field box.

Adding sections to your templates

Sections structure your schedules by room or area before you start specifying. Add them to your template once and they'll appear automatically in every schedule you create from it — for example, "Living Room," "Kitchen," and "Bedroom."

This is especially useful for project types you work on repeatedly, where the room breakdown tends to follow a similar pattern. Your schedules start organised and ready to populate, saving setup time on every project.

You can always adjust sections while working in an individual schedule, but having a standard structure in your template means less repetitive work and more consistency across projects.

To learn more about schedules, click here.

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Related frequently asked questions

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