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 and spec sheets. 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 side bar 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 possible and very simple to do. Templates will form the basis of your specification schedules and can be used across one or all of your projects. You can create as many different custom templates as you desire.

All changes to your new template will save automatically.

Create a new template

Click on the + New Template button in the top right corner of your screen.

Name your template

Create a name for your new template by clicking on the bolded "New Template" text at the top of the page and changing the text to your preference. For example you could call this Finishes Schedule.

Add your first field

Follow the prompt to add your first field for your schedule. Think of fields as columns in a table. For example, this first column could be where you upload an image of the spec you are proposing.

Name your field

Type the name of your new field where it says "Field 1". In this example we will call the field "Image".

Select the field type

Next, select from the dropdown menu the type of field you would like this column to be. In this case we will be selecting image, which will allow us to upload images to this column. Learn more about field types here.

Add more fields

Continue to add as many new fields as required.

Add a disclaimer (optional)

You have the option to add a disclaimer to your schedule, which will be visible when exported at the bottom of the document. The disclaimer you add to this specific template will show across any schedule that you create using this template in the future.

Deleting a template

To delete a template, go to the three dots in the top right corner and click delete template.

Editing a custom or pre-built template

If you want to make any changes to a template you have already created or a template that you have saved from the Inspec Template library, find the template you want to edit and click on the template tile to open edit mode.

In edit mode you can do the following and all updates will save automatically:

rename fields
add new or delete existing fields
reorder fields by clicking the six dots and dragging them left and right
change the type of field
update your disclaimer
change the name of the template
delete a template

Any changes that you make to an existing template will only take effect on any new schedules that you create using this template.

Existing schedules that you have created with this template will remain as per the original layout. It is possible to edit the fields of an individual schedule while working in the schedule. Learn more here.

Saving Inspec Templates to your library

Inspec templates have been carefully considered and pre-built by designers to give you the ability to get straight to work creating professional specification schedules. Users are able to save any or all of these templates to their library for company use.

Navigate to Inspec Templates

Click the Inspec Templates tab towards the top of your screen.

Browse the library

You will see a library of our pre-built schedule templates and spec sheet templates appear with a short description of what you might use each of them for and how many columns each contains.

Preview a template

You can preview any template by clicking the Preview button on the template tile.

Add to your library

Click Add to Library if you find a template that seems like it would be useful to your company.

Customise if needed

If you find a template that is almost perfect, but needs some tweaking to suit your preferences, click Add to Library so that this can be edited later. See Editing a custom or pre-built template to learn more.

Difference between a schedule and spec sheet template

Our schedule templates are used for typical design specification scheduling that you may provide to a contractor or client to indicate all proposals for that project.

Our spec sheet template is used to show the technical information for one specific product. Learn more about spec sheets here.

Inspec schedule templates have a different export style to the spec sheet templates, so it is important not to confuse the two options when saving the templates to your library.

Understanding the different field types

We've introduced a variety of field types to templating so that your schedules can be more informative, visually appealing and accurate.

Text - cells will contain information in text format only
Image - cells will support image uploading only
Dimension - a structured data field that has numerical dimensions only, based on the company's default unit of measurement selected during sign up process. To learn about changing the unit of measurement for your schedule click here.
Select - cells offer a dropdown of selections which only one can be applied
Multi-select - cells offer a dropdown of selections to which multiple can be applied

Using Select fields in your schedules

Selects are a great visual and informative feature in our schedules which gives designers the ability to indicate statuses, tags, labels etc.

You can create a select or multi-select field in your custom template. You can also see a few of our pre-built templates that include a select field in the Inspec Template library.

While working in your individual schedules, it is possible to also add new options to your select dropdown as you think of them, but know that these will not appear in your saved template unless the edits are made to the template itself.

Editing Select and Multi-Select fields in templates

If you wish to use this field type in your schedule, you may have a list of options you want to be able to choose from. Creating a template with select options is simple. The below also applies if you wish to edit the select options on an Inspec Template.

Create a new field

Create a new field and name it. For example "Status".

Choose the field type

Click the field type dropdown and choose either Select or Multi-Select.

Add options

Add an option and click the + button to confirm. Inspec will automatically assign a colour to the option but this can be customised. Add as many options as you like.

Customise colours

To customise the colour for each select, click the three dots to the right of the confirmed option. Here you can choose a colour or delete the option.

Continue or start scheduling

When you are finished adding your options, continue making changes to the template or get started on your next schedule in projects.

Edit anytime

You can return to the template edit mode to add more options or remove options at any time.

Reordering fields in templates

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

Will editing my template impact schedules I have already created using it?

No, this will not have any effect on schedules that you have already created using the template. When you update an existing template, only the schedules created moving forward will be as per the new changes.

If you want the edits to take effect on an existing schedule, you will need to manually adjust the fields within that schedule. Any changes made to a schedule are monitored and tracked with Revision Control.

I edited the fields while working on a schedule, but it didn't save to the template?

If you manually edit the fields in an individual schedule, those changes will not reflect in the original template the schedule was created from.

Can I add certain fields to one specific schedule?

If you have a particular schedule that requires additional column(s) that your standard template doesn't include, then you can manually add these. Learn more about managing your schedule here.

Can I make changes to the Inspec pre-built templates?

Yes, all Inspec templates can be adjusted to suit your preferences. Learn more about editing a template here.

I have a project that requires a different unit of measurement than what is saved in my template, how can I change my default setting?

You can change the unit of measurement for an individual project in project settings. Read more about navigating projects here.

To change your company's default unit of measurement, visit the Company & Billing settings (this can only be done by company admin users).

Why should I add a disclaimer/can the disclaimer be added later?

Disclaimers can be important in design to create clear professional boundaries and helps prevent misunderstandings that could lead to disputes, delays or legal issues down the line. It's generally a standard practice that helps protect the designer but also ensure the project runs smoothly.

Your disclaimer may be different across each of your templates and will always be shown at the bottom of your schedule exports. You can add a disclaimer at any time in template edit mode or in schedule settings.