Placeholder transformations let you control how placeholder values appear throughout your document, directly from the editor.
They make it easy to apply simple formatting rules without creating separate operations.
For example you can use transformations if you want a party’s name to appear in UPPERCASE in the title, but Capitalized in the rest of the document. Or, you might choose to display a number as words instead of digits.
Use them to:
Format case: Automatically set the output to UPPERCASE, lowercase, Capitalise Every Word, or The first letter of the sentence
Format numbers: e.g. turn 1,000.00 into 1,000 or One Thousand
Allow multiline answers: For blocks of text like clauses, comments or address fields
Format dates: Output the date in whichever format or order you like
Trim blank space: Removes trailing spaces from responses, especially useful in signature blocks or numbers
How to Apply a Placeholder Transformation
Click into your placeholder in the document.
In the sidebar on the right, expand the Transform value dropdown.
Choose the transformation(s) you'd like to apply:
The chosen transformation will only apply to that instance of the placeholder selected (e.g: only in the title or signature page).
Available options are:
No transformation (by default)
UPPER CASE
lower case
Capitalise
Sentence case
In Words
Format number
Format number with Precision
Date Format
Trim
Multiline
When to use each transformation
Upper case:
Want your [Company Name] always in caps in the contract title? Use ‘Upper’ option from the transformation dropdown menu.
Placeholder [Company Name] transformed to ‘UPPER CASE’ in the editor, output in this location will always be in UPPER CASE, regardless of how it was answered in the questionnaire.
How it looks in the questionnaire answer | How it appears after transformation to UPPER CASE |
Company ABC | COMPANY ABC |
2. Lower case:
If output should be displayed in lowercase case letters regardless of how it was inputted in the questionnaire:
Placeholder [Company Name] transformed to ‘lowercase’ in the editor, output in this location will always be in lowercase, regardless of how it was answered in the questionnaire.
How it looks in the questionnaire answer | How it appears after transformation to lowercase |
Company ABC | company abc |
3. Capitalise:
Only the first letter of each significant word will be in uppercase, regardless of how it was entered in the questionnaire.
How it looks in the questionnaire answer | How it appears after transformation to Capitalise |
Company ABC | Company Abc |
4. Sentence case:
Only first letter will be capitalised and rest of the sentence will be in lower cases.
How it looks in the questionnaire answer | How it appears after transformation to Sentence case |
Company ABC | Company abc |
5. In words:
Transform numbers into words. You might want to display the number and in parenthesis the word for clarity e.g: "100 (one hundred)".
How it looks in the questionnaire answer | How it appears after transformation to in words |
1,000 | one thousand |
A locale simply defines the language and regional conventions used to display information such as dates, numbers, and currencies.
6. Format number with precision:
How it looks in the questionnaire answer | How it appears after transformation to Format number with precision (in this case with 2 decimals and keeping zeros) |
1,000 | 1,000.00 |
7. Date Format:
Users can select from commonly used date formats directly within the "Date" question card, including options for English (UK), English (US), Spanish, Portuguese, and more.
Sometimes, a required format might not be available in the default date options, or users might need to display only the month or year instead of the full date, or they might need to show the same date in two different languages within a bilingual document. In these cases, date transformation can be used.
Use a date format to define how the date should appear, and a locale to specify the language.
A date format code is a set of symbols that tells the system how to display a date, for example, which parts of the date to show (day, month, year) and in what order or style.
Each symbol represents a specific part of the date. For instance:
%d→ Day of the month (01–31)%m→ Month as a number (01–12)%B→ Full month name (e.g., January)%Y→ Four-digit year (e.g., 2026)
By combining these codes, different display formats can be created.
For example:
"%d/%m/%Y"→05/01/2026"%B %d, %Y"→January 5, 2026"%Y-%m-%d"→2026-01-05
| Common Date format codes |
|
Year |
|
|
Full year | %Y | 2000, 2001, 2019 |
Short year with zero padding | %y | 01, 02, 19 |
Month |
|
|
Full month name | %B | January, February, March |
Month number with zero padding | %m | 01, 02, 03 |
Day |
|
|
Day of the month with zero padding | %d | 01, 02, …, 31 |
Day of the month without zero padding | %-d | 1, 2, …, 31 |
Worked examples:
How it looks in the questionnaire answer | Date Transformation used | How it appears after transformation |
January 5, 2026 |
| January |
January 5, 2026 |
| 5 de enero de 2026 |
8. Multiline:
Need address fields to show exactly as typed (with returns)? Enable ‘Multiline’.
9. Trim:
Removes unwanted trailing spaces from placeholder answers, ensuring cleaner document output. Can be useful for "Text" question types.
When to Use These vs. Operations?
Use Transformations for quick visual tweaks. Use Operations for advanced formatting, calculations, or conditional logic (e.g. if [Country] is in a risk list, return “High Risk”).
If you wish to apply layered transformations (i.e. ‘In Words’ + ‘UPPER’), you will need to create an operation.
For more on Operations, check our Operations article or reach out to the CS team if you're not sure which to use.
Still have questions or want us to review your formatting approach? Reach out to your Avvoka CSM.
Related articles