• docxtpl is a python library for populating data into word file templates.
• This helps in automating reports very easily.
• Since we are using word file templates we can use rich text features like fonts, font sizes, colors etc without any programming.

The following files are used in this blog post

• Template word files - inviteTmpl.docx, reportTmpl.docx
• images - party_banner_0.png, party_banner_1.png, party_banner_2.png

While running this scripts, create folders named images, invites and reports. Download the images and move them into the images folder placed in the same folder as the script file.

Placeholder for variable in word file

If can render a variable named xyz by writing {{ xyz }} in the template word file. The variable can be text or image.

Basic Example

• This is a simple example using docxtpl for populating words and images into a birthday invitation template word file.
• We are using the DocxTemplate and InlineImage classes.
• Output should be created as a files named invitation.docx and invitation.pdf.
• We are using the convert function from docx2pdf library for converting word file to pdf file.

Create a brand new virtual environment

mkvirtualenv docxtpl-env 

List all virtual envs

lsvirtualenv

Start using a venv

workon google_env

Stop using the venv

deactivate

Install requirements

pip install -r requirements.txt

Besides the requirements.txt dependencies, need to install the following:

sudo apt install texlive
sudo apt install pandoc