Preparing Placeholders

Picaro detects placeholders in your Word documents and turns them into fillable fields.

Default syntax

The default placeholder format uses double curly braces:

{{field_name}}

Use underscores for multi-word field names:

{{client_name}}
{{project_start_date}}
{{total_amount}}

Placeholder rules

• Use only letters, numbers, and underscores inside placeholders
• Start field names with a letter
• Field names are case-sensitive
• Avoid spaces inside placeholders

Good examples

{{first_name}}
{{company_name}}
{{contract_value}}

Avoid

{{first name}}      — spaces not allowed
{{123_value}}       — do not start with numbers
{{client-name}}     — hyphens not supported by default

Custom delimiters

If your templates use different placeholder syntax, you can change the delimiters in Settings.

For example, you might configure:

• <<field_name>> — angle bracket delimiters
• {field_name} — single brace delimiters
• [field_name] — square bracket delimiters

Tips for preparing Word documents

1. Use consistent syntax — Pick one placeholder format and use it throughout
2. Name fields clearly — {{invoice_date}} is better than {{d}}
3. Group related fields — Use naming patterns like {{client_name}}, {{client_email}}, {{client_phone}}
4. Test with a simple document first — Import a short template to verify detection works before building complex templates