CV templates

CV Editor comes with nine designs. All of them are free, none adds a watermark, and you can switch between them at any time without retyping anything.

Each design below is a starting point rather than a fixed template. Choosing one sets the layout, fonts, colours, text sizes and spacing in one go; the Design panel in the editor then lets you change any of those individually. The pictures are simplified sketches of each layout, not screenshots - pick Use this design to see it applied to your own CV, or to the sample if you have not started yet.

In a hurry? Applying through an online portal: Single Column. Sending a PDF to a person: Sidebar Blue or Slate. A formal or academic field: Ink Serif or Single Serif. The reasoning is in Choosing a CV layout.

Sidebar designs

A narrow column holds your photo, name, contact details and short lists; a wide column holds your experience. This is the most space-efficient arrangement for a one- or two-page CV, because short items such as skills do not each take up a full-width line.

Sidebar Blue

Left sidebar · Helvetica · 8.2 pt body

The design the editor opens with. Your photo, name, contact details and short lists such as skills, languages and certifications sit in a lightly tinted column on the left, centred under the photo. Roles and achievements run down the wider column on the right, with section headings in a mid blue.

It has the most generous line spacing of the sidebar designs, which makes a one- or two-page CV look calm and easy to scan. If your CV runs a few lines over a page, Slate fits more into the same space.

Good for: most office, commercial and public-sector roles where a person rather than a portal will read the CV first.

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Slate

Left sidebar · Helvetica · 8.4 pt body, tighter spacing

The same two-column structure in a muted blue-grey, set more tightly. Sidebar items are left-aligned with bullets instead of centred, and each section heading sits on a thin rule, which gives the page a more structured, document-like look.

Line spacing and the gaps between roles are smaller than in Sidebar Blue, so it holds noticeably more text per page without shrinking the type.

Good for: longer work histories, and anyone who finds the default a little too colourful.

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Ink Serif

Left sidebar · Times throughout · 8.4 pt body

A traditional design set entirely in Times, with a deep red accent, widely spaced capital headings and a rule under each one. The sidebar is centred, as in Sidebar Blue.

A serif face reads as formal and established. Times is also slightly narrower than Helvetica, so the same sentence takes a little less room.

Good for: law, finance, academia, government and other fields where a conservative document is the expected one.

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Mono Tech

Left sidebar · Courier headings, Helvetica body · 8.4 pt body

A left sidebar with headings and your name in Courier, the classic typewriter and terminal face, over ordinary Helvetica body text. The accent is teal, sidebar items are bulleted, and headings are ruled.

Only the headings are monospaced, so the body stays as readable and compact as in the other designs.

Good for: software, data, infrastructure and security roles, where a small nod to the terminal is understood.

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Right Rail

Right sidebar · Helvetica · 8.4 pt body

The mirror image of the sidebar designs: experience on the left, and the photo, contact details and lists in a tinted rail on the right.

People read from the top left, so this puts your most recent role where the eye lands first and treats the sidebar as reference material. It also means that software reading the page left to right meets your experience before your skills list.

Good for: CVs where the work history is the strongest part and should not have to compete with a photo.

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Filled-band designs

The same two-column structure, but the sidebar is a solid block of colour with light text on it.

Navy Band

Filled sidebar · Helvetica · 8.4 pt body

The sidebar becomes a solid dark navy band running the full height of the page, with your name and details reversed out in white and pale blue. The main column stays black on white.

It is the most visually distinctive of the nine. The band colour, its text colour and its accent can each be changed in the Design panel. A filled band uses a lot of ink if the CV is printed, and it relies on the reader seeing colour, so check a greyscale print before a paper application.

Good for: design-aware, client-facing and marketing roles, and CVs that will mostly be read on screen.

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Forest Band

Filled sidebar · Helvetica · 8.4 pt body

A filled sidebar in dark green, with left-aligned, bulleted sidebar lists and ruled section headings in the main column. It is to Navy Band what Slate is to Sidebar Blue: the same idea with a more structured sidebar.

The same printing caveat applies as for Navy Band.

Good for: the same roles as Navy Band, when you want a warmer colour or have longer sidebar lists that read better left-aligned.

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Single-column designs

Everything in one full-width column, read from top to bottom. Slightly less compact than a sidebar layout, and the most predictable for software to read.

Single Column

One column · Helvetica · 9 pt body

No sidebar. Your name is centred at the top in large type, contact details sit on one line beneath it, and every section runs the full width of the page under a ruled heading. The lists that would live in a sidebar are folded into the main flow.

One column means one unambiguous reading order, from top to bottom, which is why this is the design to use for applications that go through an applicant tracking system. Text is slightly larger than in the sidebar designs because the lines are longer. The photo is optional; if you remove it the header simply closes up.

Good for: online application portals, large employers, recruiters who re-format CVs, and US-style resumes. See the ATS guide.

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Single Serif

One column · Times throughout · 9.6 pt body · no photo

A single column set in Times with a dark brown accent, the largest body text of the nine and no photo. A rule separates the header from the body, and headings are widely spaced capitals.

It looks like a well-typeset letter or paper rather than a designed page, and it copes well with long passages of text.

Good for: academic, research, medical and legal CVs, which often run to several pages and are judged on content alone.

Use this design

At a glance

Design	Layout	Fonts	Body text	Sidebar lists
Sidebar Blue	Sidebar left	Helvetica	8.2 pt	Centred
Slate	Sidebar left	Helvetica	8.4 pt	Left, bulleted
Ink Serif	Sidebar left	Times	8.4 pt	Centred
Mono Tech	Sidebar left	Courier headings, Helvetica body	8.4 pt	Left, bulleted
Right Rail	Sidebar right	Helvetica	8.4 pt	Centred
Navy Band	Filled sidebar left	Helvetica	8.4 pt	Centred
Forest Band	Filled sidebar left	Helvetica	8.4 pt	Left, bulleted
Single Column	One column	Helvetica	9 pt	Folded into the page
Single Serif	One column, no photo	Times	9.6 pt	Folded into the page

Making a design your own

After you pick a design, open the Design group in the editor. You can change:

Layout - sidebar left, sidebar right, filled band or single column, independently of everything else.
Fonts - Helvetica, Times or Courier for body text, and a separate choice for headings.
Colours - the accent colour, and for band designs the band colour and its accent.
Sizes - body, heading and name sizes, and line height.
Spacing - page margins, sidebar width and the gaps between sections and roles.
Details - photo size, sidebar alignment and bullets, heading rules, divider marks and page numbers. The photo itself is added or removed in the header group.

When a design has been changed, its tile in the editor is marked edited, and Reset to theme defaults puts it back. If you arrive at something you like, Save current design as a theme stores it next to the built-in ones, and it travels with your CV when you use Save data.

Why only three font families?

Helvetica, Times and Courier are the standard fonts every PDF reader is required to provide. Using them means the exported file does not have to carry font files inside it, stays small, and displays identically everywhere - including inside the applicant tracking systems that many employers use. The cost is that scripts outside English and Western European languages cannot be shown.

If the sidebar overflows

A sidebar is one page tall. If your lists and photo do not fit, the editor shows a Sidebar overflows warning in the toolbar. Remove an item or two, make the photo smaller, reduce the body size slightly, or switch to a single-column design, where those lists move into the main flow and can run on to a second page.

Try one. Open the editor and use the Theme group at the top of the left panel to switch designs as often as you like. Your text is never changed by switching.