The nanomaterials have been widely used in various fields, such as photonics, catalysis, and adsorption, because of their unique physical and chemical properties. Therefore, their production methods are of utmost importance. Compared with traditional synthetic methods, the template method can effectively control the morphology, particle size, and structure during the preparation of nanomaterials, which is an effective method for their synthesis. The key for the template method is to choose different templates, which are divided into hard template and soft template according to their different structures. In this paper, the effects of different types of templates on the morphology of nanomaterials during their preparation are investigated from two aspects: hard template and soft template, combined with the mechanism of action.