A template is a finished document design you feed with typed data. You supply the
data, pick a BrandTheme where the preset accepts one, and it renders a consistent,
branded document — you never position anything by hand.
Reach for a template when your document is a known kind. Everything else — a report, a statement, a one-off, anything generated from application data — is ordinary DSL authoring, which is the default, not a fallback.
Dependency. Templates ship in
graph-compose-templates, which is not part ofgraph-compose. Add it separately, or usegraph-compose-bundle(PDF + templates + fonts + emoji).
| Term | Means | You use it when |
|---|---|---|
| DSL | Authoring the document yourself with pageFlow(...) and content blocks |
The document is not a known kind — the default |
| Preset | A shipped, named design such as ModernInvoice or CharcoalGold |
Your document is a known kind and you just supply data |
| Template | The DocumentTemplate<S> contract every preset implements |
You want your own reusable design for a new document kind |
A preset is one template. Templates and hand-written DSL compose into the same
DocumentSession, so you can mix them in one document.
| Family | Presets | Data records | Start here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice | 11 | templates.data.invoice |
Business templates |
| Proposal | 4 | templates.data.proposal |
Business templates |
| Receipt | 1 — ModernReceipt |
templates.data.receipt |
The shipped families |
| Rota (shift schedule) | 1 — CobaltRota |
templates.data.rota |
The shipped families |
| Family | Presets | Data records | Start here |
|---|---|---|---|
| CV | 26 | templates.cv.data (CvDocument) |
CV and cover-letter quickstart |
| Cover letter | 15 | templates.coverletter.data (CoverLetterDocument) |
CV and cover-letter quickstart |
Every preset is a static factory: SomePreset.create(), and create(BrandTheme)
where the design accepts your palette. The exact spec type a preset takes is the
type parameter on its create() — the invoice family alone uses three:
InvoiceDocumentSpec (ModernInvoice, ClassicInvoice), StructuredInvoiceDocumentSpec
(ConsultingInvoice, LumaStudioInvoice) and StructuredInvoiceData (the other seven).
All six families are built the same way — family data, then components, widgets and
presets over the shared templates.core.theme. Receipt and rota are the newest and
smallest, which makes them the easiest two to read end to end.
See the presets rendered in the examples gallery and on the live showcase.
- Restyle a shipped preset — pass your own
BrandTheme; see the family guide above. - Design a new preset in an existing family — Authoring presets.
- Add a whole new family — Template contributor guide.
- Upgrading a pre-2.0 caller — Which template system should I use?.