# Design a tablet template

> Laying out zones, vertical text and name grids for a tablet sheet.

Source: https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/tablets/design-a-tablet-template/

**Who can do this:** Owner, Admin, Member

Lay out where each piece of text sits on a tablet — the name, the receipt number, the honorific — so it prints at a readable, consistent size every time.

## Before you start

- Know the grid you're printing to: how many tablet cells fit across and down one printed page (for example, 5 columns × 10 rows).
- Have your plaque or background image ready to upload, if the template uses one.

## Steps

1. **Open Tablets → Templates and start a new template**, or duplicate an existing one that's close to what you need.

   *Screenshot: the templates list with New/Duplicate actions.*
2. **Set the grid.** Enter **Cols** and **Rows** for how many tablet cells fit on one printed page, and upload the background image for one cell.

3. **Add a zone for each piece of text.** A zone is one field — the name, the honorific, the receipt number — positioned on the cell. For each zone, set:
   - **Direction** — vertical (top-to-bottom columns, the traditional layout for Chinese text) or horizontal
   - **Position and alignment** on the cell
   - **Font size** — this is a maximum; DonorCARE shrinks it to fit a long name automatically

   *Screenshot: the zone list and zone style panel for a selected zone.*
4. **Turn on "One line per name (auto-shrink)".** With this on, a name never wraps into a second column — the font shrinks until the whole name fits in one column instead. Leave it off only if you're intentionally keeping an older template's own wrapping behavior.

5. **Preview with sample names, then save.** The preview panel shows sample data in the grid you've set up so you can check spacing before generating a real run.

## Proof before you print

**Do**

Generate one real page as a PDF and open it at full size before starting a print run — especially right after editing a template that's already in use. Check every name sits in one column, isn't clipped at the edge, and isn't split across two columns.

**Don't**

Don't judge a template from the on-screen preview alone, and don't change a template's Cols or Rows after it's already been used to print without re-checking a generated PDF. The grid drives the type size calculation for every zone, so a grid change can silently shrink or clip names that printed correctly before — this has happened on a live print run.

## If something goes wrong

| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A name prints as two columns instead of one | The zone allowed wrapping and the name was one character too long for its column | Turn on **One line per name (auto-shrink)** for that template |
| Names look noticeably smaller than they used to on the same template | The template's Cols or Rows changed since the last print run, which changes how large text is allowed to be | Re-check a freshly generated PDF at full size before printing; adjust the grid back or re-proof at the new size |
| The preview looks fine but a printed sheet doesn't match | The on-screen preview and a generated PDF aren't always driven identically | Always proof the actual generated PDF, not the editor's preview, before a print run |

## Related

- [Run a dharma event](https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/tablets/run-a-dharma-event/)
- [Generate tablets](https://donorcare.my/help/organizations/tablets/generate-memorial-tablets/)