--- title: "As a user, how do I customize templates?" date: "2025-01-09T20:40:28+00:00" summary: "Learn how to easily customize templates in Acquia DAM. Modify text and images, resize and crop, upload your own assets, and create print-ready PDFs. Step-by-step guide for marketers and content editors." image: type: "page" url: "/acquia-dam/user-how-do-i-customize-templates" id: "af726099-364f-4848-a2ed-737261cb02a3" --- You can search for and customize templates from the Templates app in Acquia DAM. Customizing allows you to modify text and image areas in templates that designers have created and uploaded to the DAM. Click **Templates** in the apps menu. ![To access the Templates app, select Templates from the app selector in the top navigation of your site.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/26c30f5e-ff90-4713-a98c-a5e97f6aae60/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005Lvzc.png) The Templates homepage displays all templates you can customize in what’s called a live editor. Those are the templates that designers have created in InDesign. Templates are organized into categories and can be searched for by filename and metadata, much like searching is performed in the Assets app. ![Templates you can customize display on the Templates dashboard.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/c059bcbc-aabf-4bd8-846a-f4a171484bbd/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005LvzT.png) Customize a template -------------------- Once you find a template, click the filename to review each page of the template to ensure you’re customizing the one you want. Click the arrow below the preview to see each page, then click **Customize** and the web version of the template displays in the Live Editor. ![Select the arrow to see each page of a template.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/c09944a6-4d6b-4f1f-94fc-2e62dffb0ea8/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005LvzY.png) A rectangle displays over any image and text elements designers have designated as areas you can customize. ![Rectangles display over content you can customize in a template.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/7beb97db-6fff-4409-868e-f18af3917ec7/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005Lvzh.png) Resize and crop customizable images in the Live Editor. Click **Change Image** to upload your own image (if uploads are allowed for the template) or to see a gallery of images that an admin has pre-selected from the DAM as choices that you can use. Click an image to replace the existing image. ![Click Change Image to see a list of images you can use for the template.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/4bf8c865-e46a-4657-9da8-464e127e03eb/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005LvzW.png) If designers have configured the template so you can upload images from your computer into customizable image areas, select to upload from the dropdown, click **Choose**, then browse your computer for an image. ![Select to upload your own images for the template.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/b4ac0ad5-eed6-4df0-8361-5129ed31552e/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005Lvzf.png)   Edit text --------- Click any customizable text area to edit the copy. The text style can be modified to any of the paragraph or character styles designers have defined for the template in InDesign. ![Edit text areas in a template.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/838a64cf-f065-42f8-8082-01ae2b7f8aef/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EM6g000005Lvzj.png) Designers can configure customizable text areas with a validation so that when you enter something like a phone number, email address, or URL, an error message is presented if what you’ve entered doesn’t match the pattern. When you’re done customizing the template, click **Finished** to close the Live Editor. You’ll be taken to a page in the DAM to preview, download, order, or edit the customized document. Click **Download** to download final, customized templates as print-ready PDFs. Click **Order Options** to email it to someone or send to a printer.  Click **Edit Options** to edit the document or to duplicate the file and edit it.  ![edit options menu dropdown](https://acquia.widen.net/content/7ed4fb1c-dd8b-4091-9378-6d6eff33ff93/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003UdGj.png) Tip When you duplicate the file and finish editing, give your file a unique title so you can recognize your duplicate from the original file. ![renaming the title](https://acquia.widen.net/content/be149947-70d1-4da4-8e7e-ef2dc5e82819/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003UdS1.png) If preview, download, or order buttons don’t display, you don’t have permission to perform those activities. See a history of your customized templates under Documents in the My activity dropdown in the Templates app. Hover over each template to see a larger preview, or view, download, order, edit, or delete the template. ![documents page](https://acquia.widen.net/content/e51e0dbd-ad19-4e19-a1a8-af115dba713d/web/ka0Pb0000006zFJ00N6g00000WDN1a0EMPb000003Udwf.png)