Applying a Template When Creating Products

Overview

When you create a new product you can choose to start from a blank record or apply a template. Applying a template copies the template's materials, labour entries, and machines into the new product as a starting point. You then adjust quantities and any other details for this specific product.

Steps

1. In the main navigation, click Products.
2. Click Create Product.
3. On the creation form, look for the Apply Template option and click it.
4. A list of your templates appears. Search or scroll to find the one you want and select it.
5. The form pre-fills with the template's materials, labour, and machines, using the default quantities from the template.
6. Enter the product Name, SKU, and any other product-level fields.
7. Review each pre-filled line and adjust quantities for this specific product:
   • Change filament quantity to match the actual part weight.
   • Change print time to match the actual print duration.
   • Add any materials or labour steps specific to this product.
   • Remove any lines that do not apply.
8. Click Save.

What Gets Copied from the Template

• All material lines with their default quantities.
• All labour entries with their default times.
• All machine time entries with their default durations.

The product name, SKU, pricing, and overhead settings are not copied from the template — you fill those in for each product.

Templates Do Not Stay Linked to Products

This is important: applying a template is a one-time copy operation. Once the product is saved, it has no connection to the template. If you later edit the template, those changes will not affect any products created from it.

This is by design. Your product cost records are stable and predictable — they only change when you explicitly edit the product.

Example

You run a 3D printing business. A client orders a custom bracket. You:

1. Create a new product, apply the FDM Print — Medium template.
2. The template pre-fills: PETG filament (default 80g), Prusa MK4 machine time (default 2h), post-processing labour (default 20 min).
3. You change filament to 112g (the actual weight from the slicer), machine time to 3h 15min (from the slicer estimate), and leave the labour at 20 min.
4. You save the product. CrafterBy calculates the cost from the adjusted quantities.

The whole process takes under two minutes instead of building from scratch.