"Catalog Integration: Product Catalogs from a Spreadsheet"

The Catalog integration turns a product list (CSV or Excel) into one PDF catalog. Templated fills your product grid, starts a new section for each category, adds the cover, section dividers and back cover, and merges everything into a single PDF.

Open it in the dashboard: Integrations > Catalog (https://app.templated.io/integrations/catalog).

Step 1: Prepare the catalog template

Create one template with these pages. The page names and layer names must follow these rules exactly.

Content page (required)

This is the product grid. Name the layers of each product slot product-NUMBER-FIELD:

• product-1-name, product-1-image, product-1-price
• product-2-name, product-2-image, product-2-price
• and so on.

Rules:

• Numbering starts at 1 and has no gaps (1, 2, 3...). product-0-... is not allowed.
• The number of slots is the number of products per page. A 3x3 grid has 9 slots.
• The part after the number (name, image, price, code, description...) becomes a field you map to a spreadsheet column.
• On the last page of a category, unused slots are hidden automatically.

Several grid formats (optional)

A template can have several content pages with different grid sizes, for example a page with 3 products (1x3), one with 4 (2x2) and one with 9 (3x3). Each page is one "format". In the mapping step you choose which format each category uses. You can also use a format column in your spreadsheet to choose the format row by row.

Cover and back cover (optional)

• A page named cover is added once at the start.
• A page named back-cover is added once at the end.
• A layer named cover-image on the cover can receive an image from a spreadsheet column.

Section divider (optional)

• A page named section is added every time the category changes.
• A layer named category-name receives the category text.
• A layer named section-image receives each category's image from a spreadsheet column.
• Section pages require a category column.

Without a section page, each category still starts on a new page, just without a divider.

Step 2: Prepare the spreadsheet

• CSV, XLSX or XLS, up to 10 MB.
• One row per product, in the order the products should appear in the catalog.
• Use any column names you like. You connect them to the template fields in the next step.
• Category: the first row must have a category. Rows with an empty category inherit the category of the row above, so you can fill the category only once per group.
• Keep products of the same category together. The catalog follows the row order. If a category appears again later in the file, it starts a new section there.
• Images: use public, direct image links that end in the file, such as .jpg or .png. Links to a web page that shows the image (for example a postimg.cc page link, Google Drive or Dropbox share pages) do not work. Some free image hosts also block many downloads in a row, which leaves images missing. If that happens, host the images elsewhere (your own website, a CDN or cloud storage).
• Cover and section image cells must start with http:// or https://. Values like 0 or - cause an error. Leave the cell empty instead.

Step 3: Use the wizard

1. Choose a catalog template. Templated checks the template and shows "Template is catalog-ready" with the formats and fields it found.
2. Upload your product list.
3. Map your columns. For each field (name, image, price...) pick the spreadsheet column. Pick the category column, the cover image column and the section image column if you use them. Choose the page format per category. Unmapped fields keep the template's design.
4. Generate your catalog. Enter a catalog name. The wizard shows the number of products, categories, the estimated pages and credits.

Then choose:

• Open in Editor: opens the compiled catalog as an editable template copy so you can check and adjust it. No credits are used. Changes made there apply only to that copy.
• Generate Catalog PDF: renders every page and merges them into one PDF.

Credits and time

• Opening the catalog in the editor is free.
• Generating the PDF uses 1 credit per page of the catalog (covers and section pages included).
• Generating again (for example after fixing the spreadsheet) uses credits again.
• If you do not have enough credits for all pages, the job does not start.
• Large catalogs take longer. A catalog with several hundred pages can take a few minutes. Wait until the status shows COMPLETED, then download the PDF.

Common problems

• "No content page found": name the grid layers product-1-<field>, product-2-<field>, and so on.
• "Product slots must be numbered 1..N without gaps": a slot number is missing. Rename the layers so the numbers are continuous.
• "The first row has an empty category": fill the category in the first product row.
• Same category appears twice in the PDF: the rows of that category are not together in the file. Sort the spreadsheet by category.
• "... image ... is not a valid URL": a cover or section image cell contains something that is not a link. Fix or clear the cell.
• Images missing in the PDF: the image links are not direct public links, or the image host blocked the downloads. Use direct links and a reliable host.
• Every page repeats the template design: no fields are mapped. Map at least one field in step 3.

FAQ

Q: How do I create a product catalog PDF from Excel?
A: Go to Integrations > Catalog, pick a template with product slots named product-1-name, product-1-image..., upload your Excel or CSV file, map the columns and click Generate Catalog PDF.

Q: How many products fit on a page?
A: As many as the slots on your content page. A grid with product-1 to product-9 holds 9 products per page.

Q: Can different categories use different layouts?
A: Yes. Add one content page per grid format to the template and choose the format for each category in the mapping step.

Q: Do I need to fill the category in every row?
A: No. Fill it in the first row of each group. Empty cells inherit the category from the row above.

Q: How do I add a cover and back cover?
A: Add pages named cover and back-cover to the template.

Q: How do I add a divider page for each category?
A: Add a page named section with a layer named category-name (and optionally section-image).

Q: Does opening the catalog in the editor use credits?
A: No. Only Generate Catalog PDF uses credits: 1 per page.

Q: Why are some product images missing?
A: The links must be direct links to the image file (ending in .jpg, .png...), public, and from a host that allows many downloads. Page links from image sharing sites do not work.

Q: Can I use postimg links?
A: Use the direct image link (ending in .jpg or .png), not the page link. postimg may block many downloads in a row; for large catalogs host the images elsewhere.

Updated on: 01/10/2026