Edit in the visual editor

The visual editor

The Epistola editor is where templates come to life. It’s a full-page WYSIWYG editor with a split view: your template on the left, a live PDF preview on the right.

Adding blocks

Build your document by adding blocks from the toolbar. The main block types are:

• Text — Rich text with bold, italic, lists, and inline expression chips for dynamic data
• Table — Structured tables with configurable column widths
• Data Table — Dynamic tables that repeat rows from an array in your data
• Image — Insert images from the asset library
• Conditional — Show or hide sections based on data values
• Loop — Repeat blocks for each item in an array
• Page Header / Footer — Content that repeats on every page

Inserting expressions

Expressions are the bridge between your data and your template. Place your cursor in a text block and insert an expression chip — it resolves to a live value from your selected data example.

Epistola supports three expression languages: Simple Path for direct property access, JSONata for transformations and formatting, and JavaScript for complex logic.

Live PDF preview

The right panel renders a real PDF as you work. Select a data example from the dropdown and see your template with realistic content. Changes are reflected after a short debounce — typically under 3 seconds.

Autosave and undo

The editor autosaves every change with a 3-second debounce (plus Ctrl+S for manual save). Undo and redo stacks are maintained separately for block operations and text editing, so you can undo a text change without affecting block structure.

Stencils

Need to reuse a block across templates? Insert a stencil from the library, or create a new stencil from blocks you’ve built. Stencils are versioned — when an update is available, the editor notifies you.

Next steps

Once your template looks right, it’s time to publish and deploy it.