File formats explained

Notion

A Notion template is a page — usually with databases, views and linked sub-pages — that you copy into your own workspace.

You need: a Notion account. The free personal plan is enough for everything in this catalogue. How you take a copy: open the shared page and press Duplicate at the top right; choose the workspace to copy it into. Your copy is yours to edit; the original is untouched. Watch out for: duplicate the whole top-level page, not an individual database view. Relations and rollups between databases only survive when the parent page comes with them. Sample rows arrive with the copy and are meant to be deleted — every Notion product here says which rows are examples.

Google Sheets

A spreadsheet held in Google Drive, delivered as a copy link rather than a downloaded file.

You need: a Google account. Free is fine. How you take a copy: open the link and press Make a copy, or File → Make a copy. The copy lands in your Drive. You cannot edit the original, which is deliberate — it means the master stays correct for everyone. Watch out for: exporting to Excel afterwards. Google-specific functions such as QUERY, ARRAYFORMULA, SPARKLINE and IMPORTRANGE have no Excel equivalent and break on export. Where a product ships an Excel version too, it is built separately rather than exported, and the product page says so.

Google Docs

A document held in Google Drive, delivered as a copy link.

You need: a Google account. How you take a copy: File → Make a copy. Heading styles, the document outline and any comments-as-instructions come with it. Watch out for: downloading as .docx shifts page breaks and can substitute fonts. If the finished thing has to be a Word file, work in the Word version where one ships, or export to PDF for sending.

Google Slides

A deck held in Google Drive, delivered as a copy link.

You need: a Google account. How you take a copy: File → Make a copy. Layouts live in the theme, reachable via Slide → Edit theme, which is where to change fonts and colours once rather than slide by slide. Watch out for: fonts. Slides can only use fonts available to your Google account, so a deck opened from PowerPoint may substitute. The decks here are built on fonts Google serves by default, and any exception is named on the product page.

Microsoft Excel

A downloaded .xlsx workbook.

You need: Excel 2016 or later, Microsoft 365, LibreOffice Calc, or Numbers on macOS. No macros are used anywhere in this catalogue, so nothing needs to be "enabled" and no security prompt should appear. How you use it: download, open, save your working copy under a new name. Formulas are unlocked unless a product page says otherwise; where a sheet is protected, the reason and the fact that it is unprotectable-by-you are stated on the page. Watch out for: Numbers and LibreOffice recalculate a handful of functions differently and can lose conditional-formatting rules and data validation. For a model with live formulas, Excel or Google Sheets is the safer home; Numbers is fine for reading.

Microsoft Word

A downloaded .docx document.

You need: Word 2016 or later, Microsoft 365, LibreOffice Writer, Pages, or Google Docs via import. How you use it: download and edit. These documents are built on named styles rather than manual formatting, so changing the Heading 2 style changes every heading at once. Watch out for: opening in Pages or importing into Google Docs re-flows tables and substitutes any font you don't have installed. The layout survives best in Word itself; if the recipient only needs to read it, send a PDF.

Microsoft PowerPoint

A downloaded .pptx deck.

You need: PowerPoint 2016 or later, Microsoft 365, Keynote, LibreOffice Impress, or Google Slides via import. How you use it: download, then edit the slide master (View → Slide Master) to apply your own type and colour once, rather than editing every slide. Watch out for: font substitution when the deck moves between machines. Any deck here that depends on a specific typeface names it on the product page, and each ships with a fallback already set. Fancy transitions and animations are not used, so nothing is lost opening it in Keynote or Impress.

Figma

A design file with layers, components, styles and variables — the editable source, not a flattened image.

You need: a Figma account. The free plan opens and edits these files. How you take a copy: where a product ships a .fig file, drag it into your Figma file browser or use Import file; it appears in your drafts as a normal editable file. Where a product is delivered as a shared link instead, use Duplicate to your drafts. Watch out for: Figma's free plan caps how many editable files and pages you can keep, so an import can be refused when your account is at its limit — moving the file to drafts or freeing a slot fixes it. Fonts inside a Figma file are linked, not embedded: if a product uses a font that isn't a Google font, the product page says which font and where it comes from.

Canva

A Canva template, delivered as a link that creates your own copy of the design.

You need: a Canva account. Free is enough unless a product page says a specific element is Pro-only. How you take a copy: open the link and press Use template for new design. The copy is in your Canva account and the original stays intact. Watch out for: Pro elements. Canva marks premium photos, fonts and graphics with a crown; used on a free account they export with a watermark or prompt for payment. Every Canva product here states whether a paid Canva plan is needed, and swaps in free alternatives where it can.

PDF

A fixed-layout document that looks the same everywhere and is meant for reading, printing or sending on.

You need: any PDF reader — every operating system and browser has one. How you use it: open it. Where a PDF has fillable form fields, the product page says so; fill them in a real PDF reader rather than a browser preview, which often won't save your entries. Watch out for: PDFs are not editable in any useful sense. Where a product's real work happens in an editable file, the PDF is the reference copy or the printable version, and the editable original ships alongside it. Page sizes are A4 unless the page says otherwise, so US Letter printing needs "fit to page".

Markdown

Plain text with light formatting marks — .md files. Used here for prompt systems, runbooks and checklists, because plain text survives everything.

You need: nothing in particular. Any text editor opens it; Obsidian, VS Code, iA Writer, Typora and most note apps render it properly. How you use it: open it, or paste the contents where you need them. Notion and most modern editors convert Markdown syntax as you paste, so headings and lists arrive as headings and lists. Watch out for: pasting into Google Docs or Word, which keep the # and * characters as literal text instead of converting them. Paste into a Markdown-aware editor, or use the Google Docs version where a product ships one.

SVG

Vector graphics: shapes described mathematically, so they stay sharp at any size and can be recoloured.

You need: Figma, Illustrator, Inkscape, Sketch or Affinity Designer to edit; any browser to view. How you use it: drag the files into your design tool. In Figma, an SVG imports as editable vector layers, so colour is changed by selecting the shape and changing its fill. Watch out for: two things. Some tools rasterise an SVG on import, which loses the point of the format — check the layers rather than the preview. And icons drawn with strokes rather than outlined paths change weight when scaled; the icon set here ships outlined paths, with the stroke-based source alongside where that matters.

Still not sure it will open

If a product's format isn't one you use, the requirements line on that product page names the exact tool and version rather than leaving you to guess — check there before buying. If a file has already been bought and won't open, Downloads help covers the common causes, and anything left over goes to support@digitalskylight.com with the order reference and the tool you tried.