Create and use Canvas templates

Create reusable Canvas templates with pre-configured content types and field labels for repeatable content workflows.

Templates turn Canvas into a repeatable workflow tool. Convert a Canvas document into a template to give your team a consistent starting point for content they produce regularly, with content types, field labels, and editorial instructions already in place.

Templates involve three roles: the person who sets up the template (usually a team lead or developer), the writer who uses it to start new documents, and the reviewer or Studio editor who sends the finished content to Studio. The setup happens once; everything else is repeatable.

Any Canvas document that isn't linked to a Studio document can be converted into a template. Templates are reusable starting points for new documents. When someone creates a new document from a template, the template's content, structure, and configuration carry over into the new document.

Templates are especially useful when paired with field labels. A template with a content type and field labels pre-configured gives writers a schema-aware starting point: they can see what fields are expected and start filling in content immediately, without needing to set up the content type or apply labels themselves.

To create a template, open a Canvas document, open the document menu, and select Convert to template. This converts the document itself into a template rather than making a copy. The document's content, content type, field labels, and content inclusion states are all preserved in the template. If the document is linked to a Studio document, Convert to template is unavailable and shows the tooltip "Linked documents cannot be converted to templates".

If your template has a content type set, that content type carries over to every document created from it. Writers start with structure already in place, even if they don't have access to the target Studio.

Templates can include available field labels for a content type. If your writers only need to fill in certain fields (for example, title, body, and excerpt, but not SEO metadata or internal tags), you can set up the template with only the relevant labels visible. This scopes the template to the writer's task and reduces noise from fields they don't need to touch.

Because excluded content doesn't flow to Studio, it's a natural place for editorial instructions inside a template. You can add guidance for specific fields (for example, "Write a 2-3 sentence summary for social sharing" under an excerpt field label) and mark it as excluded. Writers see the instructions as they work, but the instructions never end up in Studio.

To create a new document from a template, open the template and click Start with this template. The following carry over into the new document:

• Notes
• Content type (if set)
• Field labels visible in the document
• Content marked as excluded (including editorial instructions)
• Any pre-filled content in the template

Sharing settings and Studio links don't carry over. A new document doesn't inherit the template's organization access or invited members, and it isn't linked to any Studio document.

Documents created from templates are fully editable. Writers can add field labels that weren't included in the template, remove labels they don't need, or change the content type entirely. The template provides a starting point, not a constraint.

Documents created from templates work exactly like any other Canvas document when it comes to sending content to Studio. Writers with Studio access can create new Studio documents or update existing ones. The same field labeling, inclusion, and conflict-handling behaviors apply.

Templates enable schema-aware editing for writers who don't have direct Studio access. Because the content type and field labels are saved to the Canvas document, a team lead or developer can set up a template with the right structure, and writers can use it without needing to connect to Studio themselves.

This addresses teams where writers focus on content creation and don't need to interact with the content management system (CMS) directly. Writers see the structure, follow the guidance, and fill in the content. Someone with Studio access reviews and sends it to Studio when it's ready.

Templates have their own Templates page in the sidebar, and they also appear in All documents alongside your other documents. On the Templates page, you can browse templates created by Sanity and by your organization, filter them to Created by me or Shared with me, and sort them. Templates use the same sharing settings as other Canvas documents: a template is visible to everyone in your organization only when it's shared with the organization. Otherwise, only its creator and the people it's shared with can see it.

Templates open read-only. If you have edit access to a template, open it and click Edit to make changes, then click Finish editing. To turn a template back into a regular document, open the document menu and select Convert to document.

• To apply field labels, set inclusion states, and send content to Studio, see Structuring content for Studio.
• To add notes and AI instructions that guide writers, see Writing in Canvas.