Every recipe in Food Label Maker already holds your nutrition data, ingredients, allergens, and costing. Report Builder turns that information into branded documents. If none of the three built-in templates fit what you need, you can build a report from scratch using sections, elements, and dynamic variables that pull directly from your recipe.
This guide walks you through building a report without a template.
Step 1: Open Report Builder
Open your recipe and go to the Reports tab. Select Report Builder from the row of report types.
Step 2: Start a New Report and Choose a Layout
Every report is made up of sections, and each section starts with a layout. Click Start by choosing a layout for this section and pick a single column, or split the section into two, three, or four columns when you want content to sit side by side.
Step 3: Add Elements to Your Section
Inside the section, click Add element to open the element palette. Every block pulls live from the recipe you are working on:
Label — the formatted Nutrition Facts panel, with a label-style selector
Ingredient Breakdown — a table listing each ingredient with its weight and percentage contribution to the recipe
Nutrient Breakdown — a nutrient table you can toggle per serving or per 100 g, with column and nutrient controls
Claims — product claims associated with the recipe
Allergen Breakdown — allergens mapped to the ingredients that contain them
Allergens — a simple allergen / "Contains" statement
Cost Breakdown — recipe cost detail
Nutrition Card — a compact nutrition summary card
Front of Pack — your front-of-pack label
Heading, Paragraph, Image, and Divider — layout blocks for titles, body text, images, and visual dividers
Step 4: Add Dynamic Variables
On any text block, click Add variables to insert a field that pulls straight from your live recipe instead of typing it in manually. Available variables include {recipe_name}, {serving_size}, {calories}, {number_of_servings}, and {date_today_plus_12_months}, among others. If you update the recipe later, every variable in the report updates with it, so your documents never go stale.
Step 5: Add More Sections
Click Add section to add as many sections as you need. Mix in tables, images, and text across your columns to build out the full document.
Step 6: Save, Preview, and Share
Click Save when your report is ready, then Preview to see the finished document as it will print or download. From there, use Share to send a live link, Download to export a file, or QR Code to generate a scannable code.
Step 7: Save Your Layout as a Template
If you want to reuse this exact layout on another recipe, open the Templates menu and click Save As Template. Your custom report becomes a reusable template alongside the three built-in ones.
Tips
Add variables instead of typing static text wherever possible. It's what keeps your report in sync every time the recipe changes.
Switching templates on a report you've already edited triggers a warning that the new template will override your current layout, so save or duplicate your work first if you want to keep it.
Combine elements like Ingredient Breakdown and Image side by side using a split-column layout for a more visual document.