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A contract template is a saved, pre-formatted version of a document you send frequently. Instead of uploading and formatting a new document every time, you build the template once and reuse it for every client. All signature fields, initials boxes, date fields, and text fields are saved right along with it.

Any Owner, Admin, or Manager with an active Rock Paper Coin professional or premium subscription can create contract templates. There is no limit to the number of templates you create.

Rock Paper Coin accepts the following file formats for upload:

💡 Pro tip: For best results, always convert your document to PDF before uploading. Word documents can shift in layout during conversion, which may cause signature fields to land in the wrong spot.

From your Rock Paper Coin dashboard, click the Contracts tab in the left-hand navigation menu. Then select Templates from the sub-navigation at the top of the page.

Click the + New Template button in the upper-right corner of the Templates tab.

Name your template. Give it a clear, descriptive name you'll recognize later. For example, "Wedding Photography Contract – Full Day" or "Venue Rental Agreement 2026." This name appears in your template list when you go to send a contract.

Upload your file. Click Upload File or drag and drop your document into the upload area. Supported file types are listed in Before You Begin above.

How many client signers does this contract require? Select 1 signer or 2 signers. If you typically send contracts to couples, or any situation where two people on the client side both need to sign, select 2. This setting is saved with the template and applies every time you use it.

💡 Pro tip: You can duplicate a contract template to set up multiple versions depending on the number of signers you need.

Do you want to countersign? Countersigning means someone on your team adds their signature to the contract after the client has already signed. If you want a countersignature on every contract sent from this template, enable Countersign. You'll assign the specific team member who countersigns when you send each individual contract.

When everything looks good, click Prepare to open the editor.

Your uploaded document will be displayed with a field toolbar on the left side, powered by Dropbox Sign embedded in Rock Paper Coin.

At the top of the left toolbar is a dropdown to select which signer you're currently placing fields for. Switch to the correct role before placing each set of fields:

Drag and drop fields from the left sidebar onto your document. Always confirm the correct signer role is selected before placing a field.

Click any placed field to toggle it between Required (the signer must complete it before submitting) and Optional (they may skip it). This option can be found on the right-side panel.

After placing your fields, click Save Template. You'll be returned to your Contract Templates tab, where the new template will appear in the list, ready to use.

🎉 That's it! Your template is saved.

Once saved, you can use your template when creating a new contract for a client:

At this time, contract templates cannot be directly edited once they've been saved. If you need to make changes, whether to the document content or the placement of fields, the best approach is to:

💡 Pro Tip: This is also a great reason to send a test contract to yourself before using a template with real clients. See the Tips section below.

From your Templates list, find the template you want to remove. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) to the right of the template name and select Delete. Deleting a template does not affect any contracts that were already sent or signed using it.

After creating a new template, send a test contract to yourself (use your own email address as the "client") to verify that all fields land correctly and the document reads the way you intend. This takes two minutes and can save a lot of back-and-forth later.

Before uploading, make sure your document has enough white space for the fields you plan to add. Best practices:

If you maintain multiple versions of a contract (seasonal, different package tiers, different event types), use a consistent naming convention from the start. For example: [Contract Type] – [Version/Year].

Templates work best for documents you send repeatedly in the same format. For a contract that's highly customized per client, it's often faster to upload the document fresh and build it out directly on the contract.

This usually happens when a Word document (.doc or .docx) is uploaded and its layout shifts slightly during conversion. Convert your document to PDF first and re-upload. Field placement is much more stable on PDF files.

This is likely a delivery issue, not a template issue. Ask your client to check their spam or junk folder and search for an email from [email protected]. If they still can't find it, you can resend the contract from the client's profile or your contract index.

Check that:

Unfortunately, no, templates cannot be edited post-save. You'll need to delete the template and create a new one. Use the test-contract tip above to catch field issues before saving next time.

Yes. Templates support up to two client signers and one countersigner (you or another vendor representative). A common setup is one client signer and one countersigner. If your contract requires two people on the client side to sign, such as a couple, you can add a second client signer as well. See Step 3 of the setup process.

Me (Now) is a signer role that lets you fill in variable contract details — fee, event date, package, venue name — right before you send a contract, without changing the master template. Anything you enter in Me (Now) fields is visible to your client. It's ideal for information that changes from contract to contract.

Not necessarily, but it's a good idea. If your photography contract and your second shooter contract look different and go to different people, create separate templates for each. The more your templates match your actual workflows, the faster contract-sending becomes.

Templates you create are available to any team who has access to your Rock Paper Coin account. There's no need to share them individually.

A template is a reusable master document stored in Rock Paper Coin. A contract is what gets sent to a specific client and is created from a template (or from a fresh upload). Changes to a contract do not affect the underlying template.

A large white space may appear in the preview of your contract template or contract. This space notes page breaks in the source file (the document you used to create the contract or contract template). This white space is not visible to the client or the sending team member when they are signing the contract, nor in the PDF file when exported.

No. Templates created inside Rock Paper Coin are stored within the platform and are sent through our integrated Dropbox Sign system. They are not downloadable as standalone templates.

Have them try opening the contract link in a different browser (Google Chrome tends to work best). If they're on mobile, the link should still work in a mobile browser. If the issue persists, contact our support team via the chat icon in the lower right of your screen.

If you're stuck at any step, our support team is here for you. Click the chat bubble in the corner of your Rock Paper Coin screen to reach us, or email us at [email protected].

If you're looking for resources or guidance while creating your contract, we highly recommend you check out our partners at Legally Set. Code RPC gets you 20% off any downloads.