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Under the General section of a file's File Info, there is a checkbox for Stationery Pad and Locked. The Locked option is pretty straightforward, but what does Stationery Pad do?

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I have absolutely no idea what I should tag this, so if anybody has a better suggestion, feel free to change it. – Kevin Y Apr 8 '11 at 18:06
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Funnily enough, if I translate the text used by that option in the Finnish OS X to English, it's roughly "Work template". I think even just "template" would describe the option better than "stationery pad" – koiyu Apr 9 '11 at 11:25
This is a really nice OS feature. Just discovered its use. No need for complex /template folders and duplicate files everywhere. Just a master for each type and copies made as needed. Surprised not to hear of this more. – user20926 Mar 30 '12 at 7:23

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up vote 11 down vote accepted

Basically, it tells an app opening the file to open a copy.

You do this on files that you want to use like templates. Since the app is given a copy, you'll never accidentally change the original.
Basically, it automatically copies the file into its original location (as 'name copy') and lets you work on the copy.

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