Qoblex includes a designer for each of the documents you print most: packing slips, invoices, purchase orders, refunds and product labels. You choose what appears, tick or untick fields, add your logo and wording, and watch a live preview update as you go.
This article walks through creating, configuring, saving, using, editing and deleting a design. If you need full control over the layout, see How .docx templates work instead.
What the designer can and cannot change
The designer shows or hides fixed sections of a document. It does not let you move sections around.
| You can | You cannot |
|---|---|
| Show or hide header fields and line-item columns | Move a section to a different place on the page |
| Drag line-item columns into a new order | Rename a column heading |
| Upload a logo and write a company header and a footer | Add extra images, a watermark or a background |
| Set the title, paper size, orientation, text colour and table border colour | Choose a font family |
If you need any of the right-hand column, use a Word template. The overview helps you choose.
Create a design
Designs are created from the Branding and Customization page, which you open from Account Settings by choosing Documents. The Document Customization section on that page holds every design and every uploaded .docx template.
- Open Account Settings and click Documents. The Branding and Customization page opens.
- In Document Customization, click Add Template.
- Choose the document type: Packing Slip Template, Invoice Template, Purchase Order Template, Refund Template or Product Labels.
- Type a Design name, then adjust the options described below.
- Click Save & Close.
The designer opens as a full-screen window. Settings are on the left and the preview is on the right. The first new design of each type after the page loads starts with the default settings listed for its type further down. Without a reload, any further new design of that type starts with the settings of the last new design you opened, including its logo, header and footer text and ticked fields. Reload the page before Add Template for a clean start. Product label designs always start from the defaults.
Each click on Add Template creates a separate design, so you can keep several designs of the same type, for example one invoice design per brand. There is no copy action, so a variation means starting a new design.
Options shared by the document designers
The Packing Slip, Invoice, Purchase Order and Refund designers share most of their controls. Product Labels is different and is covered on its own below.
| Option | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Design name | The name shown on the Branding page and in every template picker when you print or email | Empty |
| Paper size: | A3, A4 or A5 | A4 |
| Orientation | Landscape or Portrait | Portrait |
| Title | The heading printed on the document; see the placeholders table below | Depends on the type |
| Font size | 12, 14, 16, 18 or 20. Only the Packing Slip and Invoice designers have it | 12 |
| Logo | Your logo for this design, uploaded as .gif, .jpg, .jpeg or .png | None |
| Company Information Header | Free text with basic formatting, printed at the top | Empty |
| Colors | Text Color and Table Border Color | Black text, dark red borders |
| Header Fields | Tick boxes that show or hide each header item | Depends on the type |
| Columns | Tick boxes that show or hide each column; drag a column to reorder it | Depends on the type |
| Footer | Free text with basic formatting, printed at the end | Sample payment text |
| Show on a separate page | Controls where the footer sits | Ticked |
The Purchase Order and Refund designers have no Font size control, so their text prints at a fixed size you cannot change.
Logo
Click the logo area and choose an image. Other file types are refused with the message File not supported.
If you do not upload a logo to the design, Qoblex uses your company logo on the printed document instead. A design has no remove-logo button, so to go back to the company logo, reload the page and create a new design.
Company Information Header
The tooltip differs by document, and so does the effect.
- On Invoice and Refund designs, your text replaces the default header, which shows the company name, phone number and similar details. On refunds the default company details print only while Ship From Location is ticked.
- On Packing Slip and Purchase Order designs, your text creates an additional header section.
- On packing slips, an empty header section is left out of the printout.
Footer
The footer is not empty on a new design. Qoblex pre-fills it with sample wording about paying by card or cheque, including a phone number placeholder.
On packing slips, Show on a separate page puts the footer on its own page when ticked and the footer has text.
On invoices, sale orders and purchase orders, unticking Show on a separate page moves the footer text into the page footer at the bottom of every page. The order’s own comments move there too and print just ahead of your footer text. Keep a bottom-of-page footer short, because a very long one can be cut off. Run a test print to see the result you want.
On refunds, Show on a separate page only adds a page break before the footer text. The footer does not move to the bottom of every page.
Title and placeholders
Type {number} or {customer} in the Title to merge in the order details. The invoice, sale order and purchase order PDFs also use the finished title as the file name.
| Document | {number} becomes |
{customer} becomes |
|---|---|---|
| Packing slip | The order number | The customer name |
| Invoice | The invoice number | The customer name |
| Sale order | The order number | The customer name |
| Purchase order | The purchase order number | The supplier name |
| Refund | The refund number | The customer name |
Columns
Tick a column to print it, and drag the column’s row up or down to change its position.
Column headings print in English (for example “Product Name”) whatever language you use in Qoblex. Purchase orders are the exception: the designer shows Product Name, but the printed heading is “Product”. On packing slips, a Batches column is added automatically after Product Name when any line on the slip has batches.
Options for each designer
Packing Slip Designer
Defaults are A4, portrait, font size 12 and the title “Packing Slip”. Every header field is ticked except Show Bundle Items.
| Group | Options |
|---|---|
| Header Fields | Order Number, Order Barcode, Logo, Customer Notes, Ship From, Ship To, Bill To, Carrier, Method, Tracking Code, Units Count, Reference Number, Show Product Image, Show Bundle Items (unticked), Order Date, Shipment Date, Show Currency |
| Columns | Product Name, Product Barcode, SKU, Price, Quantity, Weight, Bin Number (all ticked) |
The Packing Slip Designer also has Sort line items by, which sets the order of the product lines.
- Sale order line order keeps the lines as they appear on the order. This is the default.
- Product Name, SKU and Bin Number sort by that value.
- Sorting by bin number follows the pick-and-pack walking order (A1, A2, A10), and lines with no bin print last.
Invoice Designer
Defaults are A4, portrait, font size 12 and the title “TAX INVOICE”. The same design is offered when you print a sale order and when you print an invoice. Lots and serials print on invoices, not on sale-order prints.
| Group | Options |
|---|---|
| Header Fields | Ship To, Bill To, Invoice Number, Show Logo, Reference, Ship From Location, Tax Number, EORI Number, Created At Date, Due At Date, Order Date, Assignee, Show Product Image, Comments, Show Bundle Items, Show Lots / Serials (unticked), Show Currency |
| Columns | Product Name, Quantity, Unit, SKU, Country Of Origin, Price, Tax Rate, Barcode, HS Code, Discount, Subtotal (all ticked) |
| Footer Columns | Amount Paid and Amount Due (both ticked) |
When Show Lots / Serials is ticked, the lot or serial numbers are listed against each invoice line. A lot with an expiry date prints it after the number, as “Exp. 31 Dec 2026”.
Purchase Order Designer
Defaults are A4, portrait and the title “Purchase Order”. There is no Font size control.
| Group | Options |
|---|---|
| Header Fields | Order Number, Show Logo, Ship From, Ship To, Bill To, Reference Number, Order Date, Due At Date, Show Product Image (unticked), Line Comments, Show Bundle Items, Show Currency |
| Columns | Product Name, Quantity, Received Quantity (unticked), Unit, Discount (unticked), SKU (unticked), Barcode (unticked), Supplier SKU, Price, Tax Rate, Subtotal |
Columns not marked unticked are ticked by default.
Refund Designer
Defaults are A4, portrait and the title “Refunds”. There is no Font size control.
| Group | Options |
|---|---|
| Header Fields | Ship To, Bill To, Number, Reference, Show Logo, Ship From Location, Refund Date, Assignee, Show Product Image, Comments, Show Bundle Items, Refund Comments, Show Currency |
| Columns | Product Name, Quantity, Unit, SKU, Restock, Price, Tax Rate, Barcode, Subtotal |
Everything is ticked by default.
Product Label Designer
Labels have their own, simpler designer. There is no paper size, logo, colour, header, footer or column list. Instead you set the label size and what appears on it. Product labels can only be made with this designer, because there is no .docx option for labels.
| Option | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Design name | Name shown when you pick a label design | Empty |
| Label Preset | Custom Size, Brother 62x100mm, DYMO 62x29mm, Zebra 100x50mm or Zebra printer ZD410 | Custom Size |
| Width, Height and Unit | The label size, in Inch or Millimeter | 62 x 29 Millimeter |
| Content | Show Product Name, Show Product Options, Show Product Type, Show Brand, Show SKU, Show Retail Price, Show Barcode (all ticked), Show Custom Text (unticked) | See left |
| Custom Text | Your own wording; appears only when Show Custom Text is ticked | Custom Label Text |
| Font Sizes | A number for each of Product Name (12), Product Type, Brand, SKU, Price, Custom Text (10 each) and Barcode (8) | See left |
| Barcode Image Height (px) | How tall the barcode picture is | 50 |
Choosing a preset may not change the size fields, so always type the Width, Height and Unit yourself.
The finished label is a PDF with one label per page, each page cut to the label size with no margin. The layout is fixed and centred:
- Product name in bold.
- Product type and brand on one row.
- SKU and retail price on one row.
- Barcode picture with its digits underneath.
- Your custom text.
Other behaviors to know:
- Show Product Options adds the variant options to the name line, for example “T-Shirt – Blue, XL”. Options never print when Show Product Name is unticked.
- The price is always the variant’s retail price, in your base currency with two decimals.
- The barcode prints only for variants that have a barcode.
- A label taller than it is wide is turned 90 degrees and scaled to fit.
Preview and save
The preview on the right refreshes about half a second after each change. It uses sample data, not one of your real orders, so a printed document can have longer names and more lines than you see here.
- Print Preview opens your browser’s print window for the preview, so you can see it on paper.
- Save & Close saves the design immediately and closes the designer.
- Cancel closes the designer. A brand-new design you cancel is discarded.
You do not need the Branding page’s own Save button for a design, because Save & Close stores it.
Print or email with a design
Once a design exists, it appears wherever you pick a template. Each of the actions below opens the Print Document dialog.
| Where you print | Designs offered |
|---|---|
| The print icon on a sale order, then Print | Invoice designs (and Sales .docx templates) |
| The print icon at the top of an invoice | Invoice designs (and Sales .docx templates) |
| The print icon at the top of a refund | Refund designs (and Refunds .docx templates) |
| Print Packing Slip on a shipment | Packing Slip designs (and Packing Slip .docx templates) |
| The print icon at the top of a purchase order | Purchase Order designs, Purchases .docx templates and Product Labels designs |
How the default behaves depends on what you have saved:
- With no design and no label design for that document, the dialog offers a single Default Template, which is Qoblex’s built-in layout. A goods received note is different, as described under Print product labels below.
- Once you have any design or Word template for the document, the dialog lists those instead, with the first pre-selected, and Default Template is no longer offered.
- The exception is a purchase order or goods received note when you have exactly one label design and no other design for it. The dialog then lists that label design first and pre-selected, with Default Template second. Keep your label design selected.
- Check the selection before you click Print. A label design chosen here prints one label per unit ordered, not a purchase order, so a large order makes a large PDF.
- The same lists include any .docx templates for that document. A design and a Word template sit side by side.
Packing slips are also printed in bulk from the Packing Slips dialog, opened from a bulk action on the Sales list or from a single sale order. Choose your packing slip design in Please select one of the available templates., optionally tick Include orders that are neither picked nor packed., click Generate, then Preview. Create a packing slip design first if you want to print in bulk from here.
To email a document with a design, use the email dialog’s Template to use to generate the Pdf Attachment: list. It shows the designs and .docx templates for that document type, or Default Branding Theme if there are none. Email is offered only on sale orders, invoices and purchase orders.
Print product labels
Label designs are used from the Print Labels action. It works differently on the Products list, on a purchase order and on a goods received note.
From the Products list or a purchase order:
- On the Products list, tick the products. On a purchase order, tick the line items first; Print Labels stays disabled until you do.
- Click Print Labels.
- In Select Label Template, choose your design.
- Untick any variants you do not want and set a quantity for each (it starts at 1); the quantity is the number of copies.
- Click Print, then Download when the PDF is ready.
Print stays disabled until you choose a template. A quantity of 0 or less skips that variant and shows a warning.
You can select up to 100 products on the Products list, or 100 line items on a purchase order. Beyond that you see a warning (Too many products selected on the Products list).
From a goods received note:
- Open the goods received note and click Print Labels. Qoblex saves the note first, so any unsaved edits on it are saved.
- The Print Document dialog opens, not Select Label Template. Choose a label design. If Default Template also appears in the list, leave your label design selected.
- Click Print, then download the PDF. You get one label for each unit received on that note, and you cannot tick variants or set quantities.
A goods received note has no built-in default label, so create a label design first and choose it in the dialog.
Edit or delete a design
To edit, click the design’s card on the Branding page. The designer opens with your saved settings, and any option added to Qoblex since you saved the design appears with its default value.
To delete, open the design and click Delete Template.
The design then disappears from every template picker.