You can create a Digital Template from an existing PDF or PowerPoint file. The import brings in your text, images, shapes and colours, so you don't have to rebuild the design from scratch. You get a starting point that you can then set up as a template.

Supported File Formats 

Supported file types include PDF (.pdf) and PowerPoint (.pptx). Ensure you Save .ppt, Keynote and Google Slides files as .pptx before importing.

How pages are imported

• A file with one page or slide becomes a standard template.

• A file with more than one page or slide becomes a multi-page document once you confirm. Each page or slide becomes a page in the document.

• Multi-page documents don't support multi custom sizes. If you need several sizes of the same design, import a one-page file and add Custom Size

What's imported

From a PDF:

• Text, which stays editable

• Images embedded in the file

• Vector shapes

• Solid colours and gradients, including CMYK and spot colours

• The position and rotation of each element

• The page size (taken from the PDF's trim box), including any bleed

From a PowerPoint file:

• Text, with its font, size, colour, bold, italic, character spacing and line height

• Shapes, including rectangles, ellipses and custom shapes

• Images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP and WebP)

• Groups

• Solid and gradient fills, including slide backgrounds

• Theme colours

• Drop shadows

• Position, rotation and stacking order

• Text and shapes on the slide master and layouts, which are added to every slide that uses them
  
  

Fonts

Fonts are matched by name against the Digital Templates font library.

• If a font isn't in the library, a similar font is used instead. For example, Arial becomes Arimo, Helvetica becomes Roboto and Times New Roman becomes Tinos.

• Fonts uploaded to your DAM aren't matched during import. You can change the font in the editor after importing.

• PowerPoint: fonts embedded in the .pptx file aren't used.

• PDF: [TBC] text in a font with no match keeps the PDF's own font. Characters you type into that text may not display correctly, so change the font before you edit it.
  
  

Preparing your file

A few changes before you import will give you a cleaner result.

PDF

• Make sure every page is the same size and orientation. Files that mix sizes, such as one landscape page in a portrait document, can't be imported.

• Embed images in the PDF. Linked images aren't imported.

• Keep files to a manageable size. Large files take longer to import and to open for the first time. 

PowerPoint

• Paste tables, charts and SmartArt into the slide as a picture.

• Move any pictures on the slide master or layouts (such as a logo that appears on every slide) onto the slides themselves.

• If the file was created or edited in another tool, open it in PowerPoint and save it again. This fixes most files that won't import.

Reusing an existing Digital Templates design? Use the template itself rather than importing a PDF you downloaded from it. Re-importing a downloaded PDF gives a lower-quality result.

Known limitations

PDF

• Each line of text is imported as its own text box, so a paragraph arrives as several boxes.

• Scanned pages, including scanned PDFs that have been made searchable (OCR), come in as a single image with no editable text.

• Annotations, form fields and links aren't imported.

• Some complex clipping, compound shapes and transparency effects may look slightly different.

PowerPoint

• Background images aren't imported (solid and gradient backgrounds are).

• Animations, transitions, audio, video, comments and speaker notes aren't imported.

• Bullets and numbering are basic only.

• Inner shadows become drop shadows.

• Some gradient types become radial gradients.