Create a letter template in Word or Google Docs

⚠️ This feature is only available in organization account, not for guest order on our public website.

A template is a letter you write once and reuse. In a bulk mailing, we fill in its tags from each row of your recipient list and print one letter per person. You can also use a template to send a single letter and type the values yourself.

For example, you could create a template for late payment reminders, and easily send these all at once by exporting a list of all the late customers.

Requirement

A template needs to:

• Be a Word document (.docx) or a PDF,
• Use US Letter pages (8.5 x 11 in), upright, up to 18 pages,
• Have an empty top-left corner on page 1, 4.75 in wide and 3.5 in tall so we can print the addresses there,
• Tags like {{first_name}} wherever the letter changes from one person to the next. For example, in our late payment notice example, this could be {{amount_due}}.
• • ⚠️ Only Word documents can have tags, PDF can't. PDF templates are static and the same file will be send to different address.

The fastest way to get all of this right is to use our starter template. It's a Word document with the corner already set aside, room for your letterhead in the top right, and a few example tags. We recommend starting from that to build your template.

Keep the top-left corner empty for the addresses

We mail your letters in a #10 double-window envelope, the standard business envelope with two clear windows. We print your return address and the recipient's address in the top-left corner of page 1, so they show through the windows. You don't need to type any address in your letter.

• Leave the top-left 4.75 x 3.5 in of page 1 empty (about 12 x 9 cm): no text, logo, line or background color.
• Put your logo or letterhead in the top right, starting 4.75 in from the left edge of the page.
• Start your letter's text at least 3.5 in from the top of the page.
• Keep tags out of the top 3.5 in of page 1. A long value, like a long company name, can stretch into the corner.
• Pages 2 and after have no empty area. Use the whole page.

The starter template uses an invisible table for this. Its empty left cell is the corner, and its right cell holds your letterhead. Don't type in the left cell.

If anything sits in the corner, we refuse the upload and show you page 1. The corner is outlined in red, and anything inside it is tinted red. Move what's red out of the outlined area, then upload the file again.

Add tags to personalize each letter

A tag is a name between two pairs of curly braces, like {{first_name}}. When we print, we replace the tag with that person's value. "Dear {{first_name}}," becomes "Dear Maria,".

• A name starts with a letter and has up to 40 letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens or underscores. {{first_name}}, {{Amount due}} and {{account-number}} all work.
• Capital letters count. {{First_name}} and {{first_name}} are two different tags.
• Use a tag as many times as you like. Every copy gets the same value.
• A template can have up to 50 different tags.

Match each tag to a column in your list

When you start a bulk mailing, each tag needs a column from your CSV file. We match a tag to a column with the same name automatically, ignoring capitals, spaces and punctuation. For example, {{first_name}} matches a column named "First Name". For any tag left unmatched, pick the column yourself.

A column we already use for the recipient's name or address isn't matched to a tag automatically. If your list has "First name" and "Last name" columns, choose the "First name" column for {{first_name}} yourself.

When you send a single letter from a template, you type each value in the order form instead.

Create your template in Google Docs or Word

For images, insert them from your computer with Insert → Pictures → This Device. We refuse documents that link to content online, embed a chart or a spreadsheet, or contain macros. Paste a chart as a picture instead.

Apple Pages and LibreOffice work too. In Pages, choose File → Export To → Word. In LibreOffice, choose File → Save As and pick the Word (.docx) format.

Use a PDF when every letter is the same

A PDF works well for a letter designed in another tool, like Canva or InDesign. It can't have tags, so every letter prints the same and only the addresses change.

The same rules apply. Export your PDF at US Letter size, not A4, and keep the top-left corner of page 1 empty.

Check your preview before you send

After you upload, select your template to see its preview. It's our own print of your file, with sample addresses in the corner, so it shows exactly what we'll print. Spacing and line breaks can differ slightly from what you see in Word.

If your document uses a font we don't have, we tell you at upload and print with a similar one. Check the preview: if it looks right, you're good to go. This warning can also come from a font your document lists but doesn't actually use.

In a bulk mailing, you can preview the first 10 letters of your list, with their real values and addresses, before you pay.

Advanced tips for personalized letters

• Style a value by styling its tag. A value takes the font, size, color and bold of its tag. To print a value in bold, make the whole tag bold, braces included.
• Format numbers and dates in your spreadsheet. We print each value exactly as it appears in your CSV file. Write amounts like $1,250.00 and dates like November 30, 2026 in your spreadsheet before you export it.
• Fill several tags from one column. Two different tags can read the same column, and a tag you repeat gets the same value everywhere.
• Plan for empty cells. An empty cell prints nothing in place of its tag. A tag on a line of its own leaves a blank line when its cell is empty.
• Keep each value on one line. Line breaks inside a cell print as spaces, and a cell holds up to 1,000 characters.
• Expect long values to add pages. Your estimate counts every letter at your template's page count. If values make some letters longer or shorter, the final cost follows the real letters. See how pay-per-order and prepaid credits work.
• Stay within one envelope. A letter can use up to 9 sheets of paper, which is 18 pages printed double-sided. A letter longer than that is skipped and isn't charged.
• Preview your longest letters. The preview shows the first 10 letters of your list. Put the rows with the longest values at the top of your CSV file to see how they print.
• Add page numbers in the footer. Word's and Google Docs' page numbers print as you'd expect.

Fix a template we refused

A refused upload is frustrating, but the message tells you exactly what to change. Here are the most common ones.

• "Page 1 has text or images in its top-left corner." Move what's tinted red out of the outlined corner. A logo can go in the top right.
• "Every page must be US Letter." Set the page size to Letter (8.5 x 11 in), then save and upload again.
• "Some {{tags}} are broken." Check that each tag has two curly braces on each side, like {{first_name}}.
• "Isn't a valid variable name." Start the name with a letter and use only letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens or underscores.
• "Links to or embeds content from outside it." Insert images from your computer, and paste text from websites as plain text.
• "Has an embedded object." Paste the chart, spreadsheet or document as a picture.
• "Contains macros." Save it as a Word Document (.docx), not a macro-enabled one.
• "A {{tag}} sits inside a Word field code." Move the tag out of the field.