Templates and design

There are 24 templates, all free, and applying one takes a click and is undone with ⌘Z. They sit on two rails:

• Single column (12): Ledger, Band, Quiet, Compact, Editorial, Plate, Chronicle, Margin, Direct, Bulletin, Open and Dossier.
• Two columns (12): Atlantic, Meridian, Anchor, Split, Crest, Signal, Portrait, Masthead, Strand, Register, Orbit and Tableau.

Three of them - Dossier, Portrait and Masthead - are shaped around a photo. A template sets the shape, not the content, so they show no photo until you add one in Design.

A template is not a container#

This is worth understanding because it removes a fear people carry from other builders:

So there is no cost to trying all 24, and no "am I stuck with this now" moment.

The grade on each card#

Each template shows a grade, such as 12/12. It is a measurement of how safely a machine will read it, not a judgement about how attractive it is: each template is rendered to a PDF and run through the same parser as the ATS check, and the card shows how many of its 12 checks passed.

• Every single-column template scores 12/12.
• Every two-column template scores 11/12. The one check each gives up is section headings: read across two columns, some headings do not match a label a parser looks for.

No template has a blocking finding - the kind of problem that stops a parser reading the page at all.

The ATS check tests your actual document rather than the template in the abstract, which is the better question once you have written it.

Colours and spacing#

Any template can take one of eight colourways - Ink, Pine, Cobalt, Rust, Aubergine, Teal, Claret and Slate - and one of three typefaces, on A4 or US Letter, with controls for density and spacing. Two things worth knowing:

• Spacing is also a length tool. Tightening it is often the difference between two pages and one, and making it fit uses it deliberately.
• Colour should be an accent. Headings and rules, not backgrounds. A colour that reads well on screen can print as a grey wash.

Design last#

The layout follows the length of the writing, so designing before the content is settled means doing it twice. Get the words right, then choose how they look.