Feature Overview Video
SmartSuite is committed to creating features that reduce the amount of work necessary to accomplish routine tasks. Creating documents is something that is an important part of many workflows, from producing quotes and estimates to generating proposals or invoices. The Document Designer helps you automate these tasks, allowing you to create document templates that are automatically filled with information from your SmartSuite records.
Document Designer allows you to to combine visual elements like lines, boxes and static text with fields from your SmartSuite records that place those data elements on the page.
NOTE: Document Designer is currently in beta release. We suggest that you use it with test data only and not as part of a business-critical workflow at this time. We're working hard to further refine it and will keep the community updated on its progress.
What Can I Use Document Designer For?
Document Designer can be used to create, manage, and track sales and marketing proposals, contracts, quotes, and other important documents. You can use it to streamline your document workflow and eliminate manual processes, such as manual data entry, document approval, and PDF generation. With its drag-and-drop editor, you can easily create documents in minutes.
You can integrate Document Designer into your CRM, accounting, and other business workflows to automate your sales and document management processes.
Here are a few ideas to put all this power to work:
Create sales proposals from opportunity records
Generate an invoice from order data
Produce a project status report automatically from project status information
Create contract templates that insert client information directly into the document
Accessing Document Designer
To create a document template, simply click on the Table dropdown arrow (for the Table you wish the template to be created in) and select "Document Designer."
Selecting + Create New will open up a new Document for you to create as a template.
Creating Document Templates
Once you have created a new Template, you can add Elements and Fields to the document canvas. You can also click on the "New Document" text at the top to change the name of the Template.
Remember to click the Save Design button at the bottom to save your Template and its configuration!
Elements
The Document Designer includes a number of page elements that can be placed and arranged in your documents. They include:
Line. Draws a line on the page.
Rectangle. Places a rectangle on the page.
Circle. Places a circular shape on the page.
Text. Allows you to place static text blocks on the page.
Image. Allows you to place static images on the page.
Tip: When using Google Drive to host your image, you'll need to construct a different URL that removes the "wrapper" and only returns the final image.
For example if your google drive link is:
then the image link you would want to use would be
Fields
In addition to page elements, Document Designer allows you to drop fields from the current Table onto the page canvas. Click the field name to add it to the designer canvas.
Once on the canvas, you can drag the field into the location you would like for it to display.
Supported Fields | Unsupported Fields |
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Field Properties
When you click on a field that has been added to the document canvas, the following properties will display in the left panel:
Width: Width of the field display in pixels.
Height: Height of the field display in pixels.
Rotation: Rotation of the field in degrees.
Font: Name of the font
Font Size: Font size in pixels.
Weight: Normal or Bold.
Line Height: Tight, Normal or Wide
Horizontal Align: Left, Center or Right.
Position: Absolute or Relative. When set to relative, the field will move vertically down on the page relative to Absolute elements that are above it (allowing for Linked Records to expand, for example)
Text Color: Select from 80 preset colors
Additionally, you can Duplicate or Delete the field with the buttons at the bottom. The dialog looks like this:
Settings
The settings option allows you to specify the size and orientation of the page you'll be generating with the document template.
You can set the following values:
Paper Size
Letter (8.5" x 11")
Legal (8.5” x 14”)
Tabloid (11” x 17”)
Statement (5.5” x 8.5”)
Executive (7.25” x 10.5”)
Folio (8.5” x 13”)
A3 (297mm x 420mm)
A4 (210mm x 297mm)
A5 (148mm x 210mm)
B4 (250mm x 353mm)
B5 (176mm x 250mm)
Index Card (545px x 327px)
Business Card (381px x 218px)
Page Orientation
Portrait
Landscape
Generating PDFs
Once you have completed your template, it's time to generate a document! Open up a saved template. You will notice the following icons in the header bar:
These icons provide you with the ability to navigate through your Table's records, preview the document, and export or print the Template.
Navigation Arrows: Click the forward or backward arrows to change between the records in your Table. You will see the Template populated with each record's field values. (Beta note: We'll be enhancing this capability in the future, as well as letting you access Templates from individual records or automations)
Preview: Switches to preview mode, where you will see the document without the grid background.
Export: Exports the current Template and record data to PDF.
Print: Invokes the print dialog, allowing you to print the Template and current Record's field values.