Custom Style Guide

Set up a custom style guide once and Paradino will apply your branding to all your exports.

There are two ways to set one up:

• Auto-generate from an example document — upload a Word document that already looks the way you want, and Paradino builds the style guide for you. This is the quickest option for most people.
• Build a style guide from scratch — create and style a Word document yourself for full control over every element.

How it works

When you upload a document, Paradino reads its formatting and creates a reusable style guide. It captures your headings, table styles, fonts, and page margins, along with everything in your headers and footers (including logos, dates, and page numbers). It reads only the formatting, not the words you've written, so you can safely use a document you already have as your example.

From then on, whenever you download a document as Word (.docx), Paradino applies your style guide automatically. There's no extra step at export time, and nothing to select.

Auto-generate from an example document

The easiest way to set up your style guide is to upload an example—your existing letterhead, a past advice document, or any well-formatted Word file—and let Paradino mirror it.

Where to upload

1. Click your User Profile icon in the top-right navigation bar and open User Settings.
2. Go to the Emails & Formatting tab.
3. Find the Auto-generate style guide section.

Prepare your example document

To get the best result, make sure your example includes the elements you want Paradino to pick up:

• Fonts and colours — Set the font, size, and colour you want for body text and headings.
• Headings — Style each heading level you use. You can use Word's built-in heading styles or your own custom heading styles—Paradino maps your heading levels to its export styles automatically.
• A sample table — Include at least one table styled the way you'd like tables to look (borders, header-row shading, header text colour). Paradino detects the look and reuses it.
• Headers and footers — Add anything you want repeated on every page, such as page numbers or disclaimers.
• Your logo — Place it in the header or footer.

Paradino also picks up your page margins and page size from the example.

Upload and review

1. In the Auto-generate style guide section, choose your file (Choose a .docx file). The accepted format is a Word document up to 5 MB.
2. Click Upload. Paradino processes the file and builds your style guide—this happens automatically, with no separate "generate" step.
3. When it finishes, you'll see a Style guide processed confirmation along with a summary of what carried over:
   • Applied to your style guide — the elements Paradino successfully picked up (for example, your headings, body text, table style, headers, footers, and page margins).
   • Skipped — anything Paradino couldn't read from your example. Skipped elements fall back to Paradino's default styling, and each one notes why it was skipped.

If something you expected landed under Skipped, adjust that element in your document and upload it again—as the hint in Paradino says, "Not quite right? Tweak the style guide and re-upload it."

Download, replace, or remove

In the same section you can:

• Download the generated style guide to see exactly what Paradino produced.
• Replace it at any time by choosing a new .docx and clicking Upload again.
• Remove it. You'll be asked to confirm, because once removed "your generated SoAs will use Paradino's default styling until you upload a new example." You can re-add one any time.

Build a style guide from scratch

If you'd prefer full control, you can build your style guide manually in Microsoft Word and upload it the same way. Watch the walkthrough below, then follow the step-by-step guide.

Paradino maps your document styles by reading Word's native style settings for Headings, Paragraphs, and Tables.

Step 1: Document setup

Open a blank Microsoft Word document. It is helpful to type out placeholder text so you can see your styles as you build them. Type the following on separate lines:

• Heading 1
• Heading 2
• Heading 3
• Heading 4
• Paragraph

Step 2: Style your headings

To ensure Paradino recognises your heading styles, link your visual changes to Word's native Styles Pane.

1. Highlight the "Heading 1" text.
2. Change the font, font size, and colour to match your brand.
3. (Optional) Right-click the text, select Paragraph, and adjust the spacing Before or After the heading.
4. With the text still highlighted, go to the Styles Pane at the top of Word, right-click Heading 1, and select Update Heading 1 to Match Selection.
5. Repeat for your "Heading 2", "Heading 3", and "Heading 4" placeholder text, updating Heading 2, Heading 3, and Heading 4 in the Styles Pane respectively.

Step 3: Style paragraphs (Normal text)

1. Highlight your "Paragraph" text.
2. Change the font, font size, and colour.
3. Right-click the text and select Paragraph.
4. Under the Spacing section, add spacing After the paragraph (e.g., 10pt or 12pt). This ensures natural gaps between paragraphs in your exports. Click OK.
5. With the text highlighted, go to the Styles Pane, right-click Normal, and select Update Normal to Match Selection.

Step 4: Style tables

1. Go to Insert > Table and add a basic example table (e.g., 4×3) to your document.
2. Click anywhere inside the table, then go to the Table Design tab.
3. Click the dropdown arrow in the Table Styles box and select New Table Style...
4. Give the style a name and customise it:
   • Borders: Apply your preferred border styles.
   • Header row: In the Apply formatting to dropdown, select Header row. Add background shading and change the header text colour (e.g., white text on a dark background).
5. Click OK to save the style.
6. Select your example table, return to the Table Design tab, and apply your newly created style so it is visible in the document.

Step 5: Add your company logo

1. Double-click the very top of the page to open the Header (or the bottom for the Footer).
2. Go to Insert > Pictures and select your company logo.
3. Resize the logo to your liking.
4. Click the layout options icon next to the image and set the text wrapping to In Front of Text. Drag the logo to your desired position.
5. (Optional) Check the Different First Page box in the Header & Footer settings if you want a different header for the first page.

Step 6: Upload to Paradino

Once your document looks exactly how you want, save the Word file to your computer, then upload it in User Settings → Emails & Formatting → Auto-generate style guide using the same steps as Upload and review above.

How your style guide is applied to exports

Once your style guide is in place, it's used automatically every time you download a document as Word (.docx)—including meeting summaries, file notes, Records of Advice, and Statements of Advice.

If you haven't uploaded a style guide, exports use Paradino's default styling.