Why saving a template is not an envelope

A workspace template is a PDF plus the field marks you placed on it. Open Templates, upload, place at least one mark if you will publish later, and save. That save does not count toward the monthly envelope cap. Use template copies the PDF and those marks into a new draft. You pick signers and send from that draft. Sending the draft counts. That is template-save honesty: a saved layout is not a sent envelope, a draft is not a send, and opening Billing will not “charge the save.”

What the counter actually increments is what counts as an envelope. One-off versus saved is templates versus one-off envelopes. The type list is template field types overview. Desk help is Docs. This guide is why the Templates list can grow while the monthly envelope number stays put.

The FAQ and reusable templates on Features use the same loop: save the layout, start the next envelope from it. Ask Inkpacket for why saving a template is not an envelope to open this article. Ask how templates work to open help. Those phrases stay on the product screens. This article is the public version of why Save on /desk/templates/new does not return HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT.

What counts and what does not

• Save a template. Not an envelope. There is no separate template-count cap in this pass.
• Use template. Copies PDF and marks into a draft. Still not an envelope.
• Send that draft. Counts. Free allows 5 packets a month. Desk send, bulk rows, Web Form fills, and API send share the same cap.
• Delete is blocked while a Web Form still uses that template. That block is not a send either.

A send that would exceed the cap returns HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT — the same send cap as a one-off upload. Free at 5 packets a month is the live number. Starter is 20 envelopes — more than Free — plus 3 published Web Forms. Saving a second template does not buy a second published slug. Publishing is a different gate. Members of another organization cannot see or start envelopes from this template. The layout stays inside the workspace.

What this is not

• Not a hidden send. The document list does not gain a SENT row when you click Save on the template.
• Not a Web Form fill. A public /form/SLUG submit creates a sent envelope. A template save does not.
• Not a bulk row. Bulk send starts envelopes from a template. The template itself is the layout, not the job.
• Not checkout. Billing is not open. Paying a listed price does not make a save count, and does not stop a send from counting.

Place the marks once. Signature, date, text, initials, checkbox, and select — up to 80, assigned to recipient slots 1–20. Coordinates are stored as page percentages. Inkpacket does not read the PDF or guess labels with a model. The same 15 MB and PDF-only checks as Documents → new apply on template upload. Empty files, non-PDFs, and unreadable bytes are rejected. That rejection is not an envelope either.

The click-path

1. Open Templates. On a phone, Templates is a drawer row — tap Open desk menu.
2. Upload a PDF at /desk/templates/new. Place marks. Save. Confirm the monthly counter did not move.
3. Choose Use template. Pick signers. Send. Confirm the counter moved by one.
4. If send returns HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT, wait for the month or stay on Free — Starter lists more envelopes than Free.
5. Do not open Billing hoping a paid lane will make the save “count as insurance.” Checkout is not open.

API create-from-template is still a draft until you send. Fill is not send. API fill then send is that order. Reminders go out by email today. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Email still soft-fails on the send, not on the save. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive archive waits for completed. Stripe off: Payments not live. None of those flags increment the counter on Save.

Ask and the save

Ask Inkpacket for why saving a template is not an envelope to open this article. Ask how templates work to open help. Ask templates to open the list. Marketing Ask stays site Q&A and deep links. It will not save a template or send a draft from this article. The counter stays honest when you only stored a layout.

Caps and what is not open yet

Saving a template is not a send. Send is. Free allows 5 packets a month. Free at 5 packets a month is the live cap desk send, bulk rows, Web Form fills, and API send share. Hitting it returns HTTP 402 ENVELOPE_LIMIT. Starter is 20 envelopes — more than Free — plus 3 published Web Forms. Seat counts are planning numbers; invite does not refuse when a workspace is full.

Billing is published, not charging. Checkout is not open. Text-message (SMS) is coming soon. Drive missing: Drive not configured. Stripe off: Payments not live. Those flags do not count a save or hide Templates. The FAQ and More on templates use Saving a template does not count toward the monthly envelope cap. Sending the draft does in the same words.

Save the layout. Send when you mean to count. Open a workspace on Free — see published pricing — and store one throwaway template so template-save honesty is a counter that did not move, not a 402 you opened Settings to “undo.”