Make your template smarter
Three capabilities turn a plain template into a smart one: AI instructions that steer extraction, source tabs that assemble many sources into one output, and batch fields that turn a template multi-case.
A template that just stamps values onto a PDF gets you most of the way. The three capabilities below are what you reach for when the document fights back: when extraction guesses wrong, when one output has to come from several source files, or when a single value isn't enough and you need a whole table. Each is an on-ramp, not a wall, so pick the one your current template needs and follow the link for the full mechanics. New to fields, inputs, and outputs? Start with core concepts.
Steer extraction with AI instructions
When you mark a field's input as extracted, the AI reads each ingested file and pulls a value into it, bounded by the schema you defined. Left alone it usually does fine, but on a messy or ambiguous document you steer it with a plain-language AI instruction ("use the customer's billing name, not their shipping name"). Instructions stack in layers, from a rule attached to one value all the way up to a one-off note on a single run, and the lowest applicable layer always wins. The field's value type does the rest of the enforcing: a date field forces a parseable date, a select field forces an allowed option, so you reserve the instruction box for what the type can't say. AI extraction & instructions covers the five layers, the model picker, and how to test before turning on automations.
Assemble several documents with source tabs
One output often spans more than one source: a cover sheet, your letterhead, a terms page, then the form that actually gets filled. The source tabs in the document bar above the preview are how you assemble them, where each tab points at a workspace document source, another template's output, or a blank-page separator, and the tabs stitch in order into one PDF. Sources are uploaded once at the workspace level and reused everywhere, so a static page like letterhead lives in exactly one place. Assembly also offers Document reflows, which lets fill re-find each field's anchor when a document's layout shifts (a longer paragraph pushing the signature block down a page). Combining & reflowing documents walks the three bar layouts and reflow anchors.
Capture repeating rows with multi-fields
Some templates have to run across a whole set of cases at once: a month-end statement per account, a summary row per project. A multi-field (the batch field) captures a repeating row schema with a fixed row count you set at design time, and adding one turns the template multi-case automatically, meaning one run fills the document with one row per case instead of producing a single flat value. It is a way to fan a template out over many cases, not a way to collect many line items inside one case. The dashboard and cases live in the Pro chapter; on Free and Lite you'll meet an upgrade preview, but the multi-field itself works in any template. Batch & lite autofill explains row order, the batch bar, and own-document runs.