Methods, systems, and apparatus for of adjusting a shape of an imprint lithography template, including identifying a shape of an active area positioned on a first side of the template, the active area including patterning features; determining a correspondence between a shape of an adaptive chuck and the shape of the active area positioned on the first side of the template, the adaptive chuck coupled to a second side of the template, the second side opposite the first side of the template; and adjusting, by an actuation system coupled to the adaptive chuck, the shape of the adaptive chuck based on the correspondence to obtain a target shape of the active area positioned on the first side of the template.