diff --git a/src/plots/array_container_defaults.js b/src/plots/array_container_defaults.js
index 5f258544309..f03c5253f98 100644
--- a/src/plots/array_container_defaults.js
+++ b/src/plots/array_container_defaults.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ module.exports = function handleArrayContainerDefaults(parentObjIn, parentObjOut
 
     var previousContOut = parentObjOut[name];
 
-    var contIn = Lib.isArrayOrTypedArray(parentObjIn[name]) ? parentObjIn[name] : [];
+    var contIn = Lib.isArrayOrTypedArray(parentObjIn[name]) ? parentObjIn[name] : (opts.fromTemplate || []);
     var contOut = parentObjOut[name] = [];
     var templater = Template.arrayTemplater(parentObjOut, name, inclusionAttr);
     var i, itemOut;
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js b/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js
index b1cae96206d..10f697b3618 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/axis_defaults.js
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ module.exports = function handleAxisDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, coerce,
 
     var visible = coerce('visible', !options.visibleDflt);
 
-    var axType = containerOut.type;
+    var axType = containerOut.type || options.axTemplate.type || '-';
 
     if(axType === 'date') {
         var handleCalendarDefaults = Registry.getComponentMethod('calendars', 'handleDefaults');
@@ -125,9 +125,12 @@ module.exports = function handleAxisDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, coerce,
     }
 
     if(containerOut.type === 'date') {
-        var rangebreaks = containerIn.rangebreaks;
+        var fromTemplate = (options.axTemplate || {}).rangebreaks;
+        var rangebreaks = containerIn.rangebreaks || fromTemplate;
+
         if(Array.isArray(rangebreaks) && rangebreaks.length) {
             handleArrayContainerDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, {
+                fromTemplate: fromTemplate,
                 name: 'rangebreaks',
                 inclusionAttr: 'enabled',
                 handleItemDefaults: rangebreaksDefaults
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js b/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js
index 9e163329c7b..9640509a030 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/layout_defaults.js
@@ -230,7 +230,13 @@ module.exports = function supplyLayoutDefaults(layoutIn, layoutOut, fullData) {
                 axHasImage[axName]
               ));
 
+        var axTemplate;
+        if(Lib.isPlainObject(layoutOut._template)) {
+            axTemplate = layoutOut._template[axLayoutOut._name];
+        }
+
         var defaultOptions = {
+            axTemplate: axTemplate || {},
             letter: axLetter,
             font: layoutOut.font,
             outerTicks: outerTicks[axName],
@@ -295,7 +301,13 @@ module.exports = function supplyLayoutDefaults(layoutIn, layoutOut, fullData) {
         axLayoutOut = Template.newContainer(layoutOut, axName, axLetter + 'axis');
         newAxLayoutOut();
 
+        var axTemplate2;
+        if(Lib.isPlainObject(layoutOut._template)) {
+            axTemplate2 = layoutOut._template[axLayoutOut._name];
+        }
+
         var defaultOptions2 = {
+            axTemplate: axTemplate2 || {},
             letter: axLetter,
             font: layoutOut.font,
             outerTicks: outerTicks[axName],
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/tick_label_defaults.js b/src/plots/cartesian/tick_label_defaults.js
index 877c1acb40e..bf26dcacaef 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/tick_label_defaults.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/tick_label_defaults.js
@@ -59,9 +59,12 @@ function handleOtherDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, coerce, axType, options)
 
         if(axType !== 'category') {
             var tickFormat = coerce('tickformat');
-            var tickformatStops = containerIn.tickformatstops;
+            var fromTemplate = (options.axTemplate || {}).tickformatstops;
+            var tickformatStops = containerIn.tickformatstops || fromTemplate;
+
             if(Array.isArray(tickformatStops) && tickformatStops.length) {
                 handleArrayContainerDefaults(containerIn, containerOut, {
+                    fromTemplate: fromTemplate,
                     name: 'tickformatstops',
                     inclusionAttr: 'enabled',
                     handleItemDefaults: tickformatstopDefaults
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
index ad06ff73e53..43662ec3ee4 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
@@ -5411,3 +5411,49 @@ describe('Test tickformatstops:', function() {
         .then(done);
     });
 });
+
+describe('Test template:', function() {
+    'use strict';
+
+    var gd;
+    beforeEach(function() {
+        gd = createGraphDiv();
+    });
+    afterEach(destroyGraphDiv);
+
+    it('apply axis *type*, *rangebreaks* and *tickformatstops* from template', function(done) {
+        Plotly.newPlot(gd, {
+            data: [{
+                x: [1e10, 2e10, 3e10, 4e10, 5e10, 6e10, 7e10],
+                y: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
+            }],
+            layout: {
+                template: {
+                    layout: {
+                        xaxis: {
+                            type: 'date',
+                            rangebreaks: [{
+                                bounds: ['sat', 'mon']
+                            }],
+                            tickformatstops: [{
+                                enabled: true,
+                                dtickrange: [1000, 60000],
+                                value: '%H:%M:%S s'
+                            }]
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        })
+        .then(function() {
+            var xaxis = gd._fullLayout.xaxis;
+            expect(xaxis.type).toBe('date');
+            expect(xaxis.rangebreaks).not.toBe(undefined, 'rangebreaks');
+            expect(xaxis.rangebreaks.length).toBe(1);
+            expect(xaxis.tickformatstops).not.toBe(undefined, 'tickformatstops');
+            expect(xaxis.tickformatstops.length).toBe(1);
+        })
+        .catch(failTest)
+        .then(done);
+    });
+});