ProPresenter Quick Start Template: What's Inside and How to Install

Open ProPresenter after a fresh install and there’s nothing. No playlists, no library items, nothing in the media bin, no screens set up, no macros, and nothing configured for the livestream. For a volunteer who has to run a service this weekend, that blank window is intimidating.

I built the ProPresenter Quick Start Template so ProPresenter opens to a working layout instead. Here’s what’s in it, how to install it on both older ProPresenter and versions with Workspaces, how to bring your existing content along, and what to check on day one.

What the Template Is

The template is a complete, pre-built ProPresenter setup rather than a pack of slides. You get pre-built playlists, songs, sermon-note layouts, headers and announcement presentations, plus the Macros, Looks, Themes and Props that make them work together.

A few basics:

• Compatibility: ProPresenter 7.1 or newer, on Mac or Windows. It works the same on either.
• Versions: it includes install guides for both the newer Workspaces format and legacy versions.
• Ownership: it’s a one-time purchase, not a subscription. The files are yours to keep and reuse.
• Your content: the lyrics, sermon notes and announcements are already built, and you drop in your own. The announcement presentations are ready for your church’s branding.

What’s Inside

Playlists, Songs and Announcements

The main layout opens with a playlist of songs and a set of pre-built announcement slides. Click into a song and you’ll see the output right away, so a new operator can see exactly what the room and the stream are getting.

Outputs, Already Configured

Under Screens → Configure Screens you’ll find the audience and stage outputs already laid out:

• Main output for the audience
• Livestream output
• Stage display output
• Two multiview options: a quad view, and a three-up vertical multiview for people who prefer it

I prefer the three-up version, since I don’t really use the fourth square of the quad. You can put something else in that square if you like. The output preview can also switch to a multiview, so one glance shows the main output, the stream output and the stage display together.

Stage Display Layouts for Every Part of the Service

Under Screens → Edit Layouts there are stage display layouts already built for:

• Pre- and post-service
• Full-screen main output
• Video timer
• Countdown timer
• The sermon
• Current slide text
• Worship
• A multiview

Looks: Deciding What Goes Where

Looks are what let one slide show up differently on different screens. The template’s Looks are set up like this:

• Default look sends everything everywhere, for the most part.
• Worship look sends the lower-third version of the lyrics to the livestream while the main screen gets the full slide.
• Sermon looks are separate, depending on whether your sermon content runs full screen or as lower thirds.

The worship look can also switch between chroma key and alpha key, depending on whether you send the stream graphics over NDI or into a physical video switcher. The Looks and Themes are color-tuned for livestream, so your stream doesn’t come out looking washed out.

Macros: What Makes the Stream Work

Here’s the key piece. The livestream output only works because of the macros.

The first slide of every song in the template carries a macro that switches to the worship look. Fire that slide and the stream gets lower thirds while the room gets full-screen lyrics, without the operator touching anything else.

That’s the idea behind the one-click Macros: a brand-new volunteer can run a service without having to remember which look belongs to which moment.

Props

There’s also a Props library you can drop straight into your services.

Before You Install: Download and Check Your Version

After you buy the template, you get an email with a download link. Unzip the file to get a folder. It includes install notes, but the whole folder is the template, so keep it together.

Next, figure out which install method you need. Open ProPresenter’s Settings and go to the General tab. If you see Active Workspace at the top, your version uses Workspaces, so follow the Workspaces steps. If you don’t see it, use the legacy steps.

Install on Legacy ProPresenter (No Workspaces)

On older versions, ProPresenter looks for a folder named ProPresenter in your Documents folder and opens whatever is inside. The install swaps the template in for that folder.

Step 1: Quit ProPresenter

Close it completely before touching any folders.

Step 2: Rename Your Current Folder

Open Documents, find the folder called ProPresenter, and rename it ProPresenter old. Nothing gets deleted. Your existing content just moves aside where you can reach it later.

Step 3: Rename the Template Folder

In Downloads, rename the unzipped template folder so it’s only the word ProPresenter, with a capital P at the start of both “Pro” and “Presenter.”

Step 4: Move It Into Documents

Drag that folder into Documents.

Step 5: Launch ProPresenter

With no other folder named ProPresenter in Documents, it opens straight into the template.

Install on ProPresenter With Workspaces

Workspaces changed how the template gets installed. A fresh install now creates a workspace named ProPresenter, but it’s no longer stored in Documents. It lives inside your user Library → Application Support folder. So instead of dropping the template into Documents, you import it through Settings. Labels below are from the version shown in the video.

Step 1: Import the Template as a Legacy Folder

1. Open Settings → General and click Manage Workspaces.
2. Click + and choose Import Legacy ProPresenter Folder.
3. Select the template folder, give the workspace a name (I used “ProPresenter Template”), and click Create.
4. Allow access when your computer asks.

Step 2: Don’t Leave It in Downloads

This is the gotcha. The imported workspace stays stored wherever you imported it from. If you imported straight from Downloads, your whole Sunday setup now lives in your Downloads folder. I highly recommend moving it somewhere permanent.

The simple option is to put the template folder in Documents and import it from there. The thorough option, which I walk through in the video, puts it right next to ProPresenter’s own workspaces:

1. In Manage Workspaces, create a temporary new workspace with any name.
2. Use Open in Finder. That opens the User Workspaces folder inside Renewed Vision’s folder.
3. Paste a copy of the template folder into User Workspaces.
4. Back in Settings → General, switch the active workspace away from the temporary one, then delete the temporary workspace in Manage Workspaces.
5. While that Finder window is open, drag User Workspaces into the Finder sidebar so it’s one click away.
6. Run Import Legacy ProPresenter Folder again. This time, choose the template inside User Workspaces from your sidebar, name it, and import.
7. Delete the first workspace you imported from Downloads, since you don’t need it anymore.

Now you have a clean template stored where ProPresenter keeps its workspaces.

Bring Your Old Content Along

Installing the template doesn’t overwrite what you already have. Your old content is still sitting in ProPresenter old (legacy) or your previous workspace. The template includes a transfer guide, and the pieces to move from your old folder are the configuration file, the Libraries folder, playlists and themes.

The move itself is plain copy and paste:

1. Open two Finder windows side by side, with the new template on the left and your old folder on the right.
2. Open Libraries in both.
3. Copy a library from the old folder (Command-C).
4. Paste it into the template’s Libraries folder. If a library with the same name is already there, merge the two rather than replacing the template’s copy.

Not everything can come along. Macros and similar settings from your old system have to be rebuilt inside the template. The template already has so much built in that you shouldn’t need to rebuild much.

With Workspaces, you can also switch back and forth between your old workspace and the template while you sort things out.

Day One: Run a Test Service

Once it’s installed, walk through a mock service before anyone depends on it.

• Match the outputs to your hardware. The template has the screens set up, but your projectors, TVs and stream computer are your own. Confirm each output in Screens → Configure Screens goes where it should. Our screen setup guide covers that part.
• Fire the first slide of a song. Watch the multiview. The main output should show full lyrics while the stream shows lower thirds.
• Set the key for your stream path. Choose chroma key or alpha key on the worship look, depending on whether graphics travel over NDI or into a hardware switcher.
• Add one of your own songs. Since the worship look is triggered by a macro on each song’s first slide, give your songs that same first-slide macro.
• Brand the announcements and pick the stage display layouts your band and pastor will actually use.
• Hand the mouse to a volunteer. If they can get through a song and a sermon using the macros, you’re ready.

Who It’s For (and Who It Isn’t)

The template is built for small-to-medium churches running ProPresenter 7 that want a professional, consistent presentation setup without spending weeks building one. It fits whether you’re brand new to ProPresenter or rebuilding an existing library that’s grown messy.

It isn’t the right fit if:

• You’re on a version older than 7.1. The template requires 7.1 or newer.
• You depend on a large set of custom macros. Old macros don’t transfer, so plan time to rebuild the ones you truly need.
• You already have a standardized setup your team runs well. The template’s biggest payoff is not starting from an empty screen.

If you get stuck on the install, email me and I’ll help you get it running. The template also has a 14-day money-back guarantee if it isn’t what you expected.

Watch the Walkthrough

There’s a full video tour of the template, covering the outputs, stage display layouts, looks and macros, plus both install methods step by step. You can watch it on the template’s page before you decide: enter your email there and it plays right on the page.

Keep Going

• Get the ProPresenter Quick Start Template
• ProPresenter Screen Setup for Church
• ProPresenter Live Stream Output: Graphics and Audio
• ProPresenter Song Lyric Slides: Import, Format & Best Practices

More training is on the YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CrazyAmazingDesigns.