Populate values: use cases & examples

This article collects common design requests that you can build with the Populate Content from another option feature. Each case shows the result first, then the exact setup.

To learn how to turn on the feature and see every available value, read Auto-populate values from other options first.

📖 Table of Contents

• 1. Show each partner's initial in its own position
• 2. Turn years together into months, days, or a start year
• 3. Let buyers type many names in one box, one name per position

1. Show each partner's initial in its own position

Use it when: buyers enter a couple's names in one field, eg. "Daniel & Sophie", and your design shows each initial separately, eg. a big "D" on the left and a big "S" on the right.

Setup:

1. Add a Single-line Text layer for the names. In Personalization Settings, keep Create a new option and enter an option title such as Couple names (eg. Henry & Lisa).
2. Add a second Single-line Text layer for the first initial.
3. In its Populate Values section, turn on Populate Content from another option, choose the names layer in Source option, and enter {{value.initialofword.1}}.
4. In its Personalization Settings, choose No personalization, so buyers do not see a second field.
5. Duplicate this layer for the second initial, and change the value to {{value.initialofword.3}}.

Why word 3, not word 2? Words are separated by spaces, and a symbol standing on its own also counts as a word. "Daniel & Sophie" has 3 words: {{value.initialofword.1}} → D, {{value.initialofword.2}} → &, {{value.initialofword.3}} → S.

NOTES:

• The letter keeps the case buyers typed. "sophie" gives a lowercase s.
• If buyers type "Daniel&Sophie" without spaces, the whole value is a single word, so {{value.initialofword.3}} has nothing to return.

2. Turn years together into months, days, or a start year

Use it when: buyers enter one number, eg. how many years they have been together, and your design shows the same time in other units, eg. "300 months" and "9,131 days", or the year it started.

Setup:

1. Add a Single-line Text layer for the number. In Personalization Settings, enter an option title such as How many years together? and set Input type to Only numbers (123).
2. Add one Single-line Text layer per result. For each one, turn on Populate Content from another option, choose the number layer in Source option, enter the value below, and set Personalization Settings to No personalization.

NOTES:

• You can type normal text before or after the value, eg. Since or months.
• In a formula, origin is the number buyers entered. You can use +, -, x, / and parentheses.
• Leave .comma out when the result is a year, so it shows as 2001, not 2,001.
• Unit conversion uses average lengths: a year is 365.2425 days, and a month is one twelfth of a year.
• The value only works with a plain number, eg. 25 or 2.5. Setting Input type to Only numbers (123) stops buyers from typing "25 years".

3. Let buyers type many names in one box, one name per position

Use it when: your design has several fixed name positions, eg. a family tree or a team shirt, and you want buyers to type all the names in one box, one name per line, instead of filling many separate fields.

Setup:

1. Add a Paragraph layer (+Layer > Paragraph > Normal). In Personalization Settings, enter an option title such as Family names (one name per line).
2. Still in Personalization Settings, turn on Limit number of lines. Set Max to the number of name positions, and set Counter label to names. Buyers then see a counter such as "3/3 names".
3. In the Paragraph's Extra section, set Display this layer on to None (personalization option still available). Buyers still see the box on the form, but the Paragraph itself is not printed.
4. Add one Single-line Text layer per position (eg. Name #1, Name #2, Name #3).
5. For each one, turn on Populate Content from another option, choose the Paragraph in Source option, and enter {{value.line1}}, {{value.line2}}, {{value.line3}}, and so on. Set its Personalization Settings to No personalization.

NOTES:

• Blank lines are skipped. If buyers type "Olivia", an empty line, then "Sophia", Name #2 shows Sophia.
• If buyers delete a line, the names below move up by one position.
• A line with spaces in it, such as "Emma Jones", is still one name.
• The text layer's own settings, such as character limit and text case, still apply to the name it receives.
• A Paragraph can only populate a Text layer. It cannot populate another Paragraph.

Learn more about the Paragraph layer in Paragraph (Multi-line Text) feature

Updated on: 19/10/2026