Templates

Preview, create PDFs, and print documents in your own style with templates in iA Writer for iPadOS.

The templates determine the style of your text in Preview and Print with elements such as the fonts, the margins, the line height, etc…

You can switch templates from Preview by clicking on the first icon from the left and selecting Template.

A screenshot of the Editor and Preview displayed side by side, with the Template pop-up menu open.

Built-in Templates

iA Writer comes with 5 built-in templates:

Modern (Sans)
Classic (Serif)
Manuscript (Mono)
Manuscript (Duo)
Manuscript (Quattro)
Github

You can display them in Web mode or PDF mode. Here is a quick peek of each of them side by side in PDF mode:

Classic | Modern

A screenshot of side-by-side Preview with the Classic and Modern templates.

Mono | Duo | Quattro

A screenshot of side-by-side Preview with the Mono, Duo and Quattro templates.

GitHub

A side-by-side screenshot showing a text in the Editor and its Preview with the GitHub template.

The GitHub template stands apart from other built-in templates due to its primary focus on technical writing. Crafted by directly replicating GitHub’s CSS, this template does not support the Default Template Settings (such as Number heading, footer…) typically used for creative writing.

Additional Templates

Over the years, the iA Writer team has developed extra templates. You can individually download and install each of them in iA Writer.

Helvetica

Simple, Clean | Download A side-by-side screenshot showing a text in the Editor and its Preview with the Helvetica template.

Palatino

A classic for prose | Download A side-by-side screenshot showing a text in the Editor and its Preview with the Palatino template.

Academic MLA

For academic writing | Download A side-by-side screenshot showing a text in the Editor and its Preview with the MLA template.

Letter

For beautiful correspondence | Download A side-by-side screenshot showing a text in the Editor and its Preview with the Letter template.

Fountain

The template for screenwriting | Download A side-by-side screenshot showing a text in the Editor and its Preview with the Fountain template.

Chess

Log your chess games | Download A screenshot of the Chess template with Editor and Preview side by side.

Create Your Own

CSS and HTML DIY | Learn more A side-by-side screenshot showing a text in the Editor and its Preview with the DIY template.

Installing Templates

Please follow these steps to install additional templates on iPadOS:

Go to Settings/⚙️ → Templates → Custom Templates
Click on Get More Templates
This will open the Downloads page of our Website

Once you are on the iA.net website:

Select the template you wish and click on Download
iPadOS will ask you where to open the Download, select iA Writer among your apps

A screenshot of a file downloaded from the iA Website and the iPadOS Share menu open.

Delete The Template

If you ever would like to remove a Custom Template, go back to Settings/⚙️ → Templates → Custom Templates then swipe to the right on the template you would like to delete.

A screenshot of the

Custom Templates

Users comfortable with code (CSS, HTML, and JS) can create custom templates tailored to their own tastes.
For more on this please see our dedicated page: Custom Templates.

It is also possible to override some of the CSS for a selected template by adding an HTML style block in your document.

<style>
  @media print {
    body {
      font-size: 25pt;
    }
  }
</style>

A screenshot of an HTML style block in the Editor and its rendering in Preview.
This solution is great for users who aren’t comfortable with code or those who just want to add a few changes (font size or font color for example), without creating a template.