If you're a big fan of the templates at D*I*Y Planner, and we certainly are, you'll be thrilled to know they have released a cross-platform program for generating your own templates. The application, at least the Windows version I tested, is stand alone and portable. It is currently limited to generating month/week/day appointment templates but will have other D*I*Y Planner templates like notes and such included in future releases. Automatic scaling to various US and international paper sizes is included, as well as the ability to tweak a host of smaller things like line weight. Completed templates are exported as a PDF file. Dynamic Templates is open source and cross-platform.

Microsoft's Outlook Blog runs down how to set up and access templates in Outlook. Templates are one of those often-neglected options in email programs, but they can be really handy; much email communication is repetitive, and having information set and ready to send makes the task easier. With that said, the options for using templates are pretty deeply buried. Given that email editing is one of the few parts of Outlook 2007 that actually uses the Ribbon, it's somewhat amazing that there's no way of accessing templates from there. For a similar (and automated) approach online, check out how to send canned responses in Gmail.

When you're hard up for just the right graph paper for your project or drawing, you can print out what you need at designer resource site Konigi. The site's offering of free PDF templates range from straight-up full-page graph paper, to wireframes, storyboards, and storyboard with notes. The templates are especially geared for web and visual designers, and made to scan as well (the title bar and grid lines are non-photo blue). For more ways to put your printer to good use, see our top 10 printable productivity tools.

Read More »

Google Docs now offers a gallery of spreadsheet, presentation, and document templates for use in your work. Whether you're designing a resume, invoice, calendar, or slideshow, there are a few templates here to get you started. Template categories include Business, Calculators, Calendars & Schedules, Cards & Certificates, Letters, Presentation Designs, and more. You can also sort them by how many users each has and user ratings. To use a template in your Google Doc, from the New menu drop-down, choose "From template..."

Read More »

Planning to spend some time during one of those mythical "free" weekends whipping your web site into shape? Open Web Design, a free and frequently-updated collection of site templates handed out without copyright, is a great place to start looking. We've posted similar collections before, but Open Web Design trumps our archives for up-to-date designs and breadth of material—images, CSS templates, and standard HTML are all available. The site is free to use, and registration lets you submit ideas and post to a forum.

Read More »

Need some lined paper for note-taking, graph paper for drawing, or bi-colour paper for budgets? Printable Paper has you covered, assuming you've got access to a printer. All of the many, many templates are free and available in PDF format, and go far beyond 8.5 x 11 sheets to business cards, receipts and invoices, and beyond. Good starting point for making your own templates, or a good bookmark for those moments where one sheet can hold you over.

Read More »

Need to find out what grub your co-workers prefer for an office potluck? Trying to find out your friends' preferences on music? For simple data-gathering, building a linked spreadsheet and database can be overkill, and plain ol' Microsoft Office has a decent set of form-creating and data-gathering tools built in. CNET's Workers' Edge blog shows you how to create a form from scratch, distribute it to those you're polling, and gather all the data in a Comma Separated Value file that's readable in most any data-management program you choose. The tools used in the guide require Office 2003 or 2007.

Read More »

Tired of seeing just an "Empty file" option when you right-click to create a new document on your Linux desktop? In GNOME-based systems, the key to expanding your options lies in the "Templates" directory inside your home folder, according to the Tombuntu blog. Simply open a program you want to have available for right-click creation, save a blank file with the name you want to see in the menu (like "Text file" or "New GIMP image," for instance), and save it in the Templates folder. In my case, I ended up with a bunch of working templates but generic file icons, so I went in and manually changed them to reflect their opening programs. It's just another step in making your Linux desktop a familiar one, but it's also a decent time saver.

Read More »

All platforms: Productivity template designer Dave Seah is at it again with an updated Concrete Goals Tracker printable form. Designed to answer the question, "When is something worth doing?", you fill in your desired results next to numerical totals, then rate your tasks by number. Add up your totals for each day of the week to see how efficient you've been with your time. Using the Concrete Goals Tracker requires some serious time-logging, but if you feel like you're losing hours spinning your wheels on unimportant tasks, this is the tool for you. Available as an editable PDF or Excel spreadsheet, the Concrete Goals Tracker is a free download for all platforms. (See also Dave's 2008 compact calendar form.)

Microsoft Office Online lists its top templates and downloads of 2007, which includes fax cover sheets, resume templates, clip art, and a personal monthly budget spreadsheet, as well as software like the free (read-only) PowerPoint Viewer and Save as PDF add-in. Personally I've grabbed that "Professional design" fax cover sheet a few times myself this year. All the templates, clip art and downloads are free and work with MS Office (though some may work in OpenOffice.org and other Office-compatible programs as well).