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Creating Templates

This guide walks you through creating and uploading a template to Octigen.

Video walkthrough​

Watch this walkthrough for a practical tour of what a strong PowerPoint template looks like in PowerPoint, and how to configure it in Octigen after upload.

Designing Your PowerPoint Template​

Create your PowerPoint file as you normally would, keeping these considerations in mind:

Slide Variety

  • Include different types of slides (title slides, content slides, data slides, etc.).
  • Create multiple variations of similar slide types.
  • Think about the different presentations you'll want to create.

Content Placeholders

  • Realistic, descriptive sample content is preferred to generic filler like Lorem ipsum as the AI understands what each shape is for.
  • For text boxes and table cells, also fill the space generously with that sample content; the population bot uses placeholder length to estimate how much content fits (see below).
  • Make text boxes large enough for variable content lengths.
  • Include example data in tables and charts.

Branding

  • Include logos, colors, and fonts that match your brand.
  • Add page numbers, footers, or headers as needed.
  • Ensure consistent styling across all slides.

Considerations When Designing Text Shapes​

Octigen's Populate Phase will reuse text fields, that you intend for this purpose, to represent text content. In order to estimate how much space is available for a given piece of content, the population bot uses the placeholder text of your text shapes, i.e. it will assign roughly as much text content per shape as it finds. Hence, when designing templates, opt to have as much placeholder text as can fit into the space given by your design.

Shape names and placeholder text content guide the AI on purpose, not just capacity. The AI reads both the shape name and the placeholder text to understand what a shape is for. A text box named Team Member Role or containing the placeholder text Role / Department will be filled very differently than a generic text box with Lorem ipsum. This is especially important for non-obvious shapes such as:

  • Team member grids (name, role, department, bio)
  • Key point callouts or icon-label pairs
  • Special layout shapes (e.g. a large pull quote, a sidebar annotation, a metric highlight)

If you have shapes that serve a specific semantic purpose, name them accordingly in PowerPoint (via the Selection Pane) and use descriptive placeholder text. The Template Assistant can help review and improve shape names after upload.

Considerations When Designing Tables​

Octigen's Populate Phase will automatically use your template tables together with tabular content to create tables that carry the design from your template. There are the following limitations to Octigen's population bot:

  • While it is able to add & delete rows, as well as delete columns, adding new columns is currently not supported. Hence, when you design tables in templates with placeholder content, err on the side of adding as many columns as reasonable given the amount of space you have.
  • While PowerPoint automatically adjusts column spacing according to content (and according to the formatting settings you choose in the template), adding too much content will inevitably lead to tables stretching beyond their intended spacing. In order to try to avoid this problem, it will try to limit the text content per cell to roughly the length you give in your template placeholder text. Hence, when designing generically reusable tables, opt to have as much placeholder text as can fit into the space each cell has. Try to find a reasonable middle ground with the previous points. Potentially, have multiple slide versions with tables of various sizes, to give the system more flexibility to work with.

Considerations When Designing Charts​

Octigen can automatically create new charts based on given data (either by content bot, available data connections or through manual upload during the Build Phase) as well as the design of charts you provide in the template. When designing template charts, the following considerations are helpful to achieve the best results:

  • Do add your own charts with your desired designs to your templates, such that Octigen can use them to create compelling content.
  • Octigen supports both charts with data embedded directly in the PowerPoint file and charts linked to an external Excel sheet. Either type can be used as a base for AI-populated content.
  • When designing charts in templates, opt to add placeholder content with the maximum number of series you anticipate. While Octigen is able to add as many series to your charts as the given data requires, it will not automatically select fitting colors for additional series if the visualization needs more series than you defined in the template.
  • The number of categories you define on the other hand is non-critical for most chart types such as bar charts or line charts - Octigen will automatically adjust the number of categories in the chart, and their design tends to be repeatable.
  • When it comes to the design of X- and Y- axes, note that Octigen will automatically adjust scaling and tick units to fit to the content, as well as to the size of the chart as you defined it in the template. It is thus not necessary to specify the scaling and tick units of your charts.
  • For date axis, Octigen automatically selects appropriate tick units that use the least amount of space. Again, it is not required to set up anything specifically in the template as this will be overridden by Octigen based on the content placed into your charts.
  • It is not recommended to use charts with a secondary axis in your template. After replacing content, there may be unintended effects on your data visualizations.
  • Some chart types (e.g. scatter, bubble, stock, surface) are not supported for automated population. Template analytics flags unsupported charts after upload.

Uploading a Template​

  1. Navigate to Templates

    • Go to your workspace.
    • Click on the Templates section.

  2. Open the upload page

    • Click Upload Template on the Templates page. This opens the dedicated upload page for your workspace.

  3. Upload File

    • On the upload page, click to select a file or drag and drop your .pptx there.
    • Enter a template name (derived from the filename by default).
    • Wait for the upload to complete; the system will analyze your template.

  4. Initial Review

    • You'll be taken to the template configuration page with a list of all slides.
    • Each slide shows its shapes and basic properties.
    • Analytics scores will probably show close to 0% initially (normal—they need configuration).

What Happens During Upload​

When you upload a PowerPoint file, Octigen:

  1. Extracts all slides and their properties.
  2. Identifies all shapes (text, images, tables, charts).
  3. Reads the default names PowerPoint assigned.
  4. Analyzes the slide structure.
  5. Makes it available for configuration.

File Requirements​

Supported Formats

  • Only .pptx files (PowerPoint 2007 and later)
  • .ppt files (older format) are not supported

File Size

  • Maximum file size is 25 MB. Files exceeding this limit will be rejected.
  • Consider optimizing images before upload to stay within this limit.

Compatibility

  • Works with PowerPoint 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 365.
  • Most PowerPoint features are supported.
  • Complex animations may not be preserved.

What's Not Supported​

During template configuration and deck generation, Octigen cannot modify:

  • Slide master layouts
  • Animations and transitions
  • Embedded videos (preserved as-is in output decks)
  • Linked images (pictures linked to external files cannot be replaced during population)
  • Complex graphic groups (preserved but not editable by AI)
  • Custom fonts (preserved if available on the system)

Pictures during population: Embedded picture shapes can be replaced with new images during the Populate Phase when they are not marked Fixed and when suitable images are available. Mark logos and other static artwork as Fixed (see below) so they are left unchanged.

These limitations apply to AI-driven changes; elements such as videos and Fixed shapes remain in generated presentations without modification.

After Upload: Next Steps​

Once uploaded, you should:

  1. Review all slides - Understand what's available.
  2. Start configuration - Categorize slides and name shapes.
  3. Use the Template Assistant - Let AI help with bulk improvements

Prepare Static Elements​

Identify elements that should never change:

  • Company logos
  • Legal disclaimers
  • Page numbers or slide numbers
  • Date/time fields
  • Background design elements

Mark these as Fixed in the template UI (stored as no_touch; the Template Assistant also understands commands like "mark as no touch") or use the Template Assistant to help with bulk classification.

Common Upload Issues​

"Invalid file type. Please upload a .pptx file."

  • Ensure the file is .pptx (not .ppt, .pdf, or other formats).
  • Try opening and re-saving in PowerPoint.

"Upload failed"

  • Check your internet connection.
  • Try a smaller file.
  • Ensure the file isn't corrupted (can you open it in PowerPoint?).

"A template with the name … already exists"

  • A template with that name already exists in the workspace.
  • Choose a different template name on upload, or delete the existing template first.

"Upload too large. Maximum allowed file size is 25MB."

  • Reduce image resolution or compress media in PowerPoint before uploading.

Template Versions​

Octigen doesn't automatically version templates. To update a template while keeping configuration work (shape names, categories, usage rules), use a new template name rather than overwriting in place.

Recommended approach:

  1. Download your current template from the Templates list (download icon on the template card). This preserves metadata, shape names, and slide titles you've set with the Template Assistant.
  2. Do your updates in PowerPoint in the file you downloaded.
  3. Upload the new version with a different name.
  4. Update any workflows to reference the new template - you can import the workflows from the older template version.
  5. Old slide decks remain linked to the original template.
  6. New slide decks use the new template.

Tip: Include version numbers or dates in template names:

  • company_template_v1
  • company_template_2024_q1
  • product_launch_template_2025_10

Example Template Structure​

Here's a good starting template structure:

  1. Title Slide - Company branding with title/subtitle placeholders
  2. Agenda Slide - Bullet list for table of contents
  3. Section Divider (2-3 variations) - Different styles for variety
  4. Text Content Slides (3-4 variations)
    • Single column with bullets
    • Two column with bullets
    • Highlight boxes with icons
    • Full text with callout
  5. Visual Content Slides (2-3 variations)
    • Full-width image with title
    • Multiple images in grid
    • Image with caption
  6. Data Slides (3-4 variations)
    • Bar chart with title and description
    • Pie chart with legend
    • Line chart for trends
    • Data table
  7. Mixed Slides (2-3 variations)
    • Text + image side by side
    • Text + chart
    • Text + table
  8. Team/Contact Slide
  9. Closing Slide - Thank you or call to action

This gives you 20-25 slides with good variety for AI to choose from.

Next Steps​

After uploading your template: