Document Templates

MergeMail supports two kinds of document templates: DOCX (Microsoft Word) and PDF (form-field-based). Both produce a personalized per-recipient document that is automatically attached to the outgoing email.

DOCX Templates

Creating a DOCX Template

Open Microsoft Word (or LibreOffice Writer).
Design your document: layout, fonts, logo, tables, etc.
Place {{variable_name}} wherever a recipient-specific value should appear.
Save as .docx format (not .doc).
Upload to MergeMail at Templates → New Template.

Placeholder Syntax

Placeholders use double curly braces: {{variable_name}}. The variable name must match the normalized column name from your spreadsheet.

Dear {{full_name}},

Congratulations on completing {{course_title}} on {{completion_date}}.
Your certificate ID is {{certificate_id}}.

This certificate is issued by the {{institution_name}} Training Department.

Where Placeholders Work

Main body text (paragraphs, headings, lists)
Table cells
Headers and footers
Text boxes
Inline fields (e.g. date fields)

Placeholders inside images are not supported. For image substitution, use separate templates per recipient.

Formatters

Apply inline formatters to control how values appear:

Syntax	Effect	Example output
{{name\|upper}}	UPPERCASE	ADAEZE OKONKWO
{{name\|lower}}	lowercase	adaeze okonkwo
{{name\|title}}	Title Case	Adaeze Okonkwo
{{amount\|default:0}}	Fallback if empty	0

PDF Templates

Creating a PDF Template

Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat, LibreOffice, or any PDF editor that supports form fields.
Add text form fields at each position where a variable should appear.
Name each field exactly the same as the normalized column name in your spreadsheet (e.g. full_name, course_title).
Save as a standard PDF (.pdf).
Upload to MergeMail at Templates → New Template.

Supported PDF Field Types

Text fields — Filled with the string value from the spreadsheet.
Checkbox fields — Checked if the spreadsheet value is true, yes, or 1; unchecked otherwise.

After all fields are filled, the PDF is "flattened" (form fields converted to static text) so recipients cannot edit values.

Template Preview

After uploading a template, the Template Detail page shows all detected placeholders (for DOCX) or form fields (for PDF). Click Preview to generate a sample document using the first row of any of your datasets.

Template Limits

Maximum template file size: 50 MB.
DOCX templates: standard OOXML format only. Macro-enabled .docm files are not accepted.
PDF templates: PDF version 1.4 through 1.7 supported. PDF/A and encrypted PDFs are not supported.