Feature templates contain the primary tools with which you create features. A feature template consists of construction tools, attribute field values that override geodatabase default values, and other properties for creating features on specific layers.
Feature templates appear in the Create Features pane with a symbol and a name. Clicking a template shows its tool palette. You can search for templates using keywords, descriptions, and filters to show templates that create specific content. Search criteria is not case-sensitive.
The 2D or 3D feature type that a template creates is determined by the data source for the layer on which you are creating features.
If you change a construction tool while sketching geometry, you are prompted to apply or discard the unfinished sketch.
Tip:
If you choose to turn this message off, you can turn the change prompt on in project settings for editing.
Authoring methods
Feature templates are created in the Manage Templates pane. After a template is created, you configure it in Template Properties. The symbol that appears with the template name is derived from the source layer symbology; group templates reference the primary template layer.
ArcGIS Pro includes several template types that can help you streamline a workflow. Some are autogenerated when you add data to a map or a scene. Others can only be created manually. The various template types and their authoring methods are listed below.
| Template type | Authoring method | Feature creation capabilities |
|---|---|---|
Feature template | Manual and automatically generated | Single layer |
Table template | Manual and automatically generated | Single layer |
Group template | Manual | One or more layers |
Preset template | Manual | One or more layers |
Tools
On the Tools tab, you can choose which tool runs automatically when a template is clicked and show or hide the other tools that appear on the tool palette. The construction tools that are available to a template depend on the template type and the feature type it creates.
Feature templates
Feature templates are the default template type in ArcGIS Pro. They create features on one layer with a single data source. If you used feature templates in ArcMap, you are familiar with their properties and how they work.
On the Attributes tab, type the attribute values you want to apply to new features and override the geodatabase default values. The same feature template can be used as a stand-alone template and as a component template in a group template.
To get started, see Create a feature template.
Group templates
Group templates create multiple interrelated features on multiple layers and data sources in a semiautomated workflow. For example, you can draw a waterline as a primary feature and the template adds a fitting and a valve at preconfigured distances along the line.
On the Builders tab, you can add one or more feature templates and configure them with builders to generate features. The attribute values for each component feature are maintained on their respective origin source feature template.
One feature template in the group is designated as the primary template and influences what you can draw, the tools you can show on the tool palette, and other source feature templates you can add to the group.
To get started, see Create a group template.
Preset templates
Preset templates create collections of features in repeatable patterns. For example, you can add a selected cluster of trees or the components of a utility cabinet in a fixed arrangement using the Point tool 
or specify a rotation angle using the Point with rotation tool 
.
On the Features tab, type the attribute values you want to apply to new features and override the geodatabase default values. By default, the insertion point is the geometric center of the selected feature. You change this on the Preview tab.
To get started, see Create a preset template.
Table templates
Table templates insert records (rows) into existing tables and write the stored attribute values to the specified fields. You can use table templates directly or add them to feature templates to automatically add new features to related stand-alone tables defined by a relationship class.
To get started, see Create a table template.
The Create Features pane
In the Create Features pane, table templates appear with a table icon and the Insert Row command 
. If the template is authored to prompt for attributes values, the specified fields also appear in the pane.
Note:
Inserting a row using a stand-alone table template ignores any relationships in which the table is participating.
Click the Active Template arrow 
to specify the number of rows.
The Attributes pane
Selecting a row in a table shows the selection in the Attributes pane tree view. To add a row to the table using a table template, right-click the layer name and click Insert Row .
Choose a table template, specify the number of rows, and click OK.
Relationships
If a feature template creates features that participate as the origin in a relationship class, you can add a table template for the destination table on the Relationships tab. As you create features, new features are automatically added to the related table.
Tip:
Add a table template to a feature template to streamline a workflow that routinely uses the Attributes pane to add a feature to a relationship.
A common practice is to set a feature template attribute to store or prompt for an origin primary key value. When you create a feature, a new record is generated in the destination table with the associated foreign key and the attribute values you specified with the table template.
To view the primary and foreign key for a relationship class in your project, show the Catalog pane, right-click the relationship class, and click Properties.