# Document Layout

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/template-settings/document-layout

> Control how an Astalty Template prints - front page alignment, logo size, a contents page, body text size, and a repeating header and footer.

Every **Astalty Template** prints with a front page carrying your business logo and the document's title, and can optionally include a contents page, a repeating header and footer, and page numbers. These are the **Document Layout** options, set per template when you create or edit it in [Template Settings](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/template-settings).

> **Astalty Templates only**
>
> These options only appear when the template's **Template Format** is **Astalty Template**. **Word Templates** are downloaded and edited in Microsoft Word, so Astalty doesn't control how they print. Switching a template's format to Word Document hides the layout sections.

## Where to find the options

Open [Settings → Templates](https://app.astalty.com.au/settings/templates), click the template you want to change, then choose **Edit**. Below the template's name, usage and format you'll find three sections:

- **Front Page** - the document title, front page alignment, logo size, and the contents page.
- **Body** - the text size used for the template's own content.
- **Header & Footer** - text that repeats on every page after the front and contents pages.

The template's detail page also summarises the current settings, and the **Actions → Preview** option shows you how the front page, contents page, header and footer will look before you generate anything for a Participant or User. See [Preview or Download a Blank Template](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/template-settings) for more on previewing.

## Front Page

Astalty Templates always open with a front page. It contains, in order:

- Your **business logo**, if one is uploaded in Business Settings. Without a logo, the front page starts with the title.
- The **document title**.
- A short accent rule in your account's primary colour.
- The word **Draft** and today's date (in `dd/mm/yyyy`) - only while the document is still a draft. A finalised document, and a blank template download, show no date.

Nothing else appears on the front page - no business name, and no Participant or User name.

![The front page of a generated Astalty Template showing the business logo, the document title, and the accent rule beneath it](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/template-settings-document-layout-generated-front-page.png)

The **Front Page** section of the template's Edit screen sets the title, how the page is aligned, how large the logo prints, and whether a contents page follows.

![The Front Page section of the template form with the Document Title, Front Page Alignment and Logo Size fields and the contents page checkboxes](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/template-settings-document-layout-front-page-options.png)

### Document Title

By default the front page shows the **template's name**. Use the **Document Title** field to print something different - for example, a template you've named "SA Template 2026" can print as "Service Agreement". Leave the field blank to keep using the template name.

Document Title accepts up to 255 characters.

### Front Page Alignment

Choose **Left aligned** (the default) or **Centred**. This moves the logo, title and accent rule together.

### Logo Size

Choose **Small**, **Medium** (the default) or **Large**. Your logo keeps its shape - the setting caps how big it can print:

| Logo Size | Maximum size on the page |
| --------- | ------------------------ |
| Small     | 64px tall × 160px wide   |
| Medium    | 100px tall × 250px wide  |
| Large     | 150px tall × 360px wide  |

The logo comes from the **Business Logo** you upload in [Business Settings](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/business-settings) - it isn't set per template.

## Contents Page

Tick **Include a contents page** to add a page of contents straight after the front page.

- The contents list is built from the **headings in your template's content**, in the order they appear. Only the top three heading levels are listed - anything deeper is left out.
- Each entry is a **clickable link** in the generated PDF, so opening the PDF and clicking an entry jumps to that section.
- Entries are indented to show the heading hierarchy. There are **no page numbers** against contents entries.
- The page is headed **Contents** and does not repeat the document title.

![A generated contents page listing the template's headings with 1, 2, 3 style numbering and no page numbers](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/template-settings-document-layout-generated-contents-page.png)

> **No headings, no contents page**
>
> If a template's content has no headings, no contents page is produced - even with the option ticked. Add headings to your template content (rather than bolding a line of text) to have sections appear in the contents.

### Number the contents entries

With the contents page turned on, you can also tick **Number the contents entries** to add `1`, `1.1`, `1.1.1` style section numbers to the list. Leave it off if your headings already carry their own numbering, or you'll end up with both.

## Body Text Size

**Body Text Size** controls how big the template's own content prints. Choose **Small** (the default), **Medium** or **Large**. Tables in your content scale with the setting, so a table won't print smaller than the text around it.

Small reproduces how Astalty Templates have always printed, so leaving it alone changes nothing for your existing templates.

![The Body section of the template form with the Body Text Size dropdown](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/template-settings-document-layout-body-text-size.png)

## Header & Footer

The **Header** and **Footer** fields hold text that repeats on **every page except the front page and the contents page**. Leave a field blank to leave that row off entirely.

- Type `$` in either field to insert a **business placeholder** - Business Name, Phone, Email, Accounts Email, Address, NDIS Registration Number, ABN, or Website. Only business details are available here; Participant and User placeholders can't be used in the header or footer.
- Press **Enter** for a new line if you want details stacked over several lines.
- Each field accepts up to 1,000 characters.

**Header Alignment** and **Footer Alignment** each offer **Left aligned**, **Centred** or **Right aligned**.

![The Header & Footer section of the template form with a header using the Business Name placeholder and a multi-line footer using the Business ABN and Business Email placeholders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/template-settings-document-layout-header-footer-options.png)

> **Empty details are dropped, not left as gaps**
>
> If a placeholder has no value on your account - for example a footer of Business Name then Business Phone on an account with no phone number recorded - the empty line is removed rather than printed as a blank line. The footer stays tight against the bottom of the page.

### Page numbers

Page numbers print automatically in the footer as **Page N of M**, on every page the footer appears on. They sit on the **opposite side to your footer text**, so the two never collide:

| Footer Alignment | Page number appears |
| ---------------- | ------------------- |
| Left aligned     | Right               |
| Centred          | Right               |
| Right aligned    | Left                |

With no footer text at all, the page number prints on the right.

Page counting starts at the front page, so the first page of your actual content is page 2 - or page 3 when a contents page is included.

Here's a body page from the same document - the centred header sits above the content, the right aligned footer sits below it, and `Page 3 of 8` prints on the left, opposite the footer text.

![A body page of a generated document with a centred header, a right aligned multi-line footer, and the page number Page 3 of 8 on the left](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/template-settings-document-layout-generated-header-footer-page-number.png)

## Settings are captured when a document is generated

When you generate a document from a template, Astalty **takes a copy of the template's layout settings at that moment** and stores them against the generated document.

This means:

- Changing a template's layout later does **not** restyle documents already generated from it - including drafts that haven't been finalised yet.
- A finalised document keeps printing the way it did when it was generated, even if the template it came from is later deleted.
- To apply new layout settings to a document, generate it again from the updated template.

> **Update the template before you generate**
>
> Because settings are captured at generation time, get a template's layout right before you start generating documents from it. Editing the layout of a template with drafts already open won't change those drafts.

## Where these settings apply

| Where                                                                                                                        | Layout settings apply?                        |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| [Participant Custom Templates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/participants/templates/custom-templates) (Astalty Template) | Yes                                           |
| [User Custom Templates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/users/templates) (Astalty Template)                                | Yes                                           |
| [Service Agreements](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/participants/service-agreements) generated from an Astalty Template   | Yes                                           |
| **Download blank template** and **Preview**                                                                                  | Yes                                           |
| Word Templates                                                                                                               | No - the uploaded Word document is used as-is |
| [NDIA Templates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/participants/templates/ndis-templates)                                    | No - these use the NDIA's own supplied forms  |

## Defaults for existing templates

Templates created before these options existed keep printing exactly as they did. Their defaults are:

| Setting                     | Default                        |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Document Title              | Blank (uses the template name) |
| Front Page Alignment        | Left aligned                   |
| Logo Size                   | Medium                         |
| Include a contents page     | Off                            |
| Number the contents entries | Off                            |
| Body Text Size              | Small                          |
| Header / Footer             | Blank                          |
| Header / Footer Alignment   | Left aligned                   |