Word templates are simply style guides for documents and they are used as the basis for creating future documents. Although, Word has predefined templates, you can create your own. By creating templates, you can save yourself considerable amount of time when it comes to applying specialized formatting.

Before you create a new template, you should take a few moments to plan what you want to include. Although you can go back and edit a template at any time, some pre-planning saves you time in the end.

So what types of information should be included in a Word template? I have provided some suggestions and example below to help get you started.

• Headers and footers with page numbers, date, and the document title
• Placeholders for titles, headings, body text, etc.
• Macros
• Fonts, formatting, styles, etc.
• Margins, tab stops, page layouts, etc.
• Key assignments, menus, etc.

Once you have an idea as to what you want to include in your template, you are ready to move on to creating the template. There are a few different ways that you can create a new template. You can make a copy of an existing template, you can create a template out of an existing document, and you can create a template from a blank document.

To create a new template from a blank document:

1. Open Word.
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button and then click New.
3. Click Blank document and then click Create.
4. Make any changes to the format, margins, etc.
5. Click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Save As.
6. In the Save As dialog box, do one of the following:
   • If you are running Vista, click Templates under Favorite Links.
   • If you are running Windows XP, click Trusted Templates under Save in.
   • Type in a name for the template.
7. Select Word Template in the Save as type list and then click Save.
8. Close the template.

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