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A merge field placed on a PDF prints its value straight onto the page, for example a client’s name or a start date that changes from one send to the next. Merge fields on PDFs are available on templates only, not on packages built from scratch.

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Before you start

Merge fields are created in the template builder’s Merge & custom fields section first. Each one you add there appears in the field editor, ready to place.

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Placing a merge field

The template field editor with a Merge fields section in the palette and merge fields placed on the document

The Merge fields section of the palette, with three merge fields placed on the page.

1

Open the field editor

Click Signing fields in the template builder’s top bar to open the template field editor.
2

Pick a merge field

The left palette has a Merge fields section listing the template’s merge fields. Click one, or drag it onto the page, to place it.
3

Edit its text

Select the placed box to open Field properties, then edit its Display text box. Typing {{ opens a list of the template’s merge fields, and the Insert a merge field chips add one where the cursor is.
A placed merge field is a box of printed text. It belongs to no recipient: nobody fills it in or signs it, every signer sees it on the page while signing, and it is printed into the signed PDF. The text can mix plain words and merge fields, for example Client: {{client_name}}. In the editor, each merge field shows its default value as a stand-in, or its name if it has no default.
Field properties for a merge field showing the Display text box and the Insert a merge field chips

Field properties for a selected merge field, with its Display text box and the Insert a merge field chips.

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Text layout

Text is left aligned, and the box sizes itself to the text as you type. A long line wraps where it reaches the edge of the page. Font in Field properties sets the typeface and size the text prints in. The size defaults to 12pt. Select several merge fields to set one font for all of them; the lists read Mixed when the selected fields differ.

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Warnings

  • Unknown merge field: a name that isn’t one of the template’s merge fields shows a warning and prints nothing.

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Where the values come from

Each value comes from the merge field’s Filled in by setting: Sender: Set per send (typed or picked by the sender when they send), a recipient’s name or email, or Fixed value: Always the same. A sender answer left blank uses the merge field’s default. An optional sender merge field with no default prints nothing when it’s skipped. A Pick from a list merge field prints the choice the sender picked.
Date merge fields print in the sender’s Date format, for example 29/09/2026. Each person sets theirs under Time, date & language on the Preferences page of My account. Number and Currency merge fields print in their stored form, for example 1200.50. To print a value exactly as typed, like $1,200.50, make the merge field Text.
The preview when you send from the template shows the real values in place before sending. Once a recipient has opened the package, the printed text never changes.

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In the template builder

The merge fields table in Merge & custom fields has a Used in column showing which PDFs print each merge field. Removing or renaming a merge field that’s in use shows a warning first. A merge field the sender is only asked for after certain answers (set by a dynamic document’s rules) carries a Conditional chip in that column, and in the merge field list of the template picker’s preview. Hover the chip to see which answers ask for it or make it required. A merge field that is also used in the email, the template name or a Label on a PDF is always asked, so it has no chip. The template’s document preview shows each field’s type and owner in its box. It has Fields and Details tabs, and a Show fields for filter to see one role’s fields at a time.