Once your Word template is built, you add it in Branding and Customization, choose the kind of document it is for, and then pick it when you print. This article covers the upload, how to replace or delete a template, and where each document type offers it.

It also gives you a safe test routine, so you find layout and field problems on a sample order instead of in front of a customer.

Before you start

Have your finished Word file ready, saved as .docx. If you have not built one yet, start from Build a .docx Template in Word.

To manage templates you need access to Account Settings.

Only .docx files are accepted. .doc, .dotx and .docm files are rejected.
Keep the file under 5 MB.
Qoblex only checks the file type and size on upload. A file with a mistake in it uploads fine and only shows the problem when you print.

Upload a template

Open Account Settings and click Documents. The Branding and Customization page opens.
Find the Document Customization section and scroll to the Word templates area.
Click Add .docx Template. The Document Template Editor opens.
Type a Template name.
Choose the Category (see the table below).
Under Template .docx file, click Click to upload a template… or drop your file on it.

When the upload finishes, the upload area turns into Click to download this template…. The template then appears as a card with a Word icon on the Branding page.

Click Close to leave the editor. Qoblex saves the upload as soon as it completes. Close does not work on a new template until a file is attached.

Use Save at the top of the page to keep any later change to the name or category. Saving also takes you back out of the Branding page, so reopen it for your next step.

Choose the right category

The category decides which print screens offer the template. One template belongs to one category.

Category	Offered when you print	Fields to use
Sales	Sales orders and invoices	Sales documents
Purchases	Purchase orders	Purchase orders
Packing Slip	Packing slips	Packing slips
Refunds	Refunds	Refunds

There is no Product Labels option for Word templates. Labels use the built-in designer.

Sales orders and invoices share the Sales category, so one Sales template shows up in both places. Give it a name that says what it is for.

Name your templates clearly

The Branding page cards show only the template name, not the category. The print screens also list templates by name only.

A name such as “Invoice – blue logo (Word)” saves your team from picking the wrong one. The name is also how you tell a Word template from a designer one.

Start from a default file

The editor links to starter files for sales, purchase and packing slip documents. Download one, change it in Word, and upload the result.

There is no starter file for refunds. Build a refund template from your own layout using the refund fields.

Upload errors

The first three messages appear as a pop-up while you upload. The last one appears inside the editor.

Message	What it means and what to do
The selected file is not a valid Microsoft Word DOCX document	The file name does not end in `.docx`. Save the file as a Word Document (`.docx`) and try again.
This file is too big. The maximum file size allowed is 5MB	Shrink the file, usually by compressing or removing large pictures.
Unable to upload the .docx template. Please try again	The upload did not complete. Check your connection and upload again.
Please correct the following: Please upload a custom template file to continue or delete this element	You clicked Close on a new template with no file attached. Upload a file, or click Delete this template.

Download, replace or delete a template

Download the current file

Open the template from its card on the Branding page and click Click to download this template…. You get the Word file you uploaded. Use it as the starting point for your next edit.

Replace a template

The editor has no replace button. Once a file is attached, the upload area is replaced by the download link.

To change the file:

Open the template and download it.
Edit it in Word and save it as .docx.
Click Add .docx Template and upload the edited file in the same category, under a test name such as “TEST – invoice”. A different name lets you tell old from new in the print list.
Test the new template (see below).
Open the old template, click Delete this template, then click Save at the top of the page.
Reopen Branding and Customization, open the new template, change its name to the real one and click Save.

Keep the old template until the new one prints correctly. Delete it only after your test passes.

Delete a template

Open the template and click Delete this template. The editor closes. Click Save at the top of the Branding and Customization page straight away, before you upload anything else. Uploading a file saves any pending template changes, including a deletion, so a deletion left unsaved can no longer be cancelled once you upload.

Deleting a template does not change documents you already printed or emailed.

Where you pick the template when you print

For sales orders, invoices, purchase orders and refunds, Qoblex offers your templates in a Print Document dialog with the label Please select one of the available templates. The PDF opens in a new browser tab. Packing slips use their own dialog, described below.

Document	Where to print it
Sales order	Open the order and click Print (on some orders it is under the printer icon menu at the top of the order).
Invoice	Open the invoice and click the printer icon.
Purchase order	Open the purchase order and click the printer icon or Print.
Refund	Open the refund and click the printer icon.
Packing slips	In the Sales list, select the orders and choose Packing Slips under DOCUMENTS.

The dialog lists the templates for that document type. Designer templates and Word templates appear together, by name. The purchase order list can also include Product Labels designer templates, so pick the one named for the purchase order.

What the list shows once you have a template

Once at least one template exists for a document type, Qoblex preselects the first one in the list. It stops offering the built-in layout.

If you already have a designer template for that document type, pick the Word template by name every time, and check the selected name before you click Print.

To return to the built-in layout, remove every template for that document type. The dialog then offers Default Template. The packing slips dialog shows no template list when you have no packing slip templates. For purchase orders, a single Product Labels template still leaves Default Template in the list.

Packing slips

Printing packing slips from the Sales list is the route built for Word templates.

Select the orders in the Sales list.
Choose Packing Slips under DOCUMENTS.
Pick your template under Please select one of the available templates.
Tick Include orders that are neither picked nor packed. if you want slips for orders with no shipment yet.
Click Generate. With many orders it can take a while, so allow some time.
When the file is ready, click Preview.

You get one PDF with one slip per shipment, each starting on a new page and keeping your template’s page setup, headers and footers. Design your template as a single slip. Cancelled and draft shipments do not get a slip.

On orders where Print sits under the printer icon menu at the top of the order, that menu also has Print Packing Slip, which opens this same dialog for that order.

A Print Packing Slip item in a shipment’s row menu is not the route for Word packing slips. On other orders, use the Sales list.

If packing slips fail, Qoblex shows the message “Could not download packing slips. Please try again”.

Refunds

Print Word refund templates from the printer icon on the refund page.

Emailing a document

You open the Email document dialog from the envelope icon on an invoice, from the envelope icon or Email on a purchase order, or from the Email button or envelope icon on a sales order. Refunds and packing slips have no email option. The attachment template applies to sales orders, invoices and purchase orders.

The Email document dialog has a Template to use to generate the Pdf Attachment: list and a Preview button.

It lists the templates for that document type. The attachment is built from the template you select, so click Preview before you send.

If no template exists for that type, the list shows Default Branding Theme.

The purchase order approval request email also lets you pick a Purchases template, preselects the first one and has its own Preview. A Word purchase order template is used there too, so preview it as well.

Test your template before customers see it

Print a real document with your new template and read the PDF line by line. A sample with awkward data finds problems that a tidy order hides.

Give the test template an obvious name such as “TEST – invoice”, and delete it afterwards, so colleagues do not pick it by mistake.

Pick or create a test order

Use an order that is deliberately messy. Printing does not change the order.

Many lines, enough to run onto a second page.
At least one discounted line, and a discounted extra cost item (on purchase orders, a discounted landed cost).
Notes, ideally with some bold text.
A customer or supplier missing part of an address, such as no second address line.
A product with no picture.
A line with a long product name.
For sales documents, an order with extra cost items and one without.

Read the PDF

Go through the PDF with this checklist.

Check	What to look for
Missing values	A spot that should show a value but is blank. A misspelled or unknown field name prints nothing and gives no error, so compare each name with the field list. Capital letters do not matter.
Blank lines	A field with no value prints nothing, so an empty address line leaves a blank gap. A notes field set up with `Html:` on its own line disappears with no gap.
Repeating rows	Every order line appears once, in order, and the table continues cleanly on page two. Inside a repeating block only that item’s fields fill, so a field from outside the block prints blank there.
Empty blocks	A block with nothing to show, such as extra cost items on an order with none, disappears. In a table, the header row above it stays.
Amounts	Decimals, currency and totals look right next to the order on screen. A number with no format prints every decimal and no thousands separator, and a true/false field prints True or False.
Dates	The format is the one you intended. A date with no format also prints the time, in a style you do not control, so always add a date format.
Notes	If you used the `Html:` notes field on its own line, formatting such as bold text is kept. Check any plain notes field on your test print too. See the field article for your document type.
Pictures	Product images show at a sensible size, and a product with no image leaves the layout intact. Only a test print tells you.
Fonts	Text looks the way it does in Word. Common fonts are the safest choice, so check the test print.
Page layout	Margins, headers and footers match your design.

Number and date formats come from the Word format settings inside your fields, so copy them from the sales or purchase starter file and confirm the result on your test order. The packing slip starter has none.

Test each way you will use it

Print, email preview and bulk print can differ. Test each one you plan to use.

Print one order from its own page.
For sales orders, invoices and purchase orders, open the Email document dialog and click Preview. Do the same in the purchase order approval request.
For packing slips, generate slips for two orders from the Sales list and check that each starts on a new page.

A repeating block whose start and end names do not match makes the print fail. If a print fails, check those names first.

Go live

When the test passes:

Delete the test template, or rename it to the real name.
Click Save on the Branding page. This also takes you back out of the page.
Print one real document as a final check.
Tell your team how to find it. If it is the only template, or the first one, for that document type, it is preselected. Otherwise tell them to pick it by name every time.

For fixes, see Troubleshooting .docx Templates.

Troubleshooting

There was an error while generating the pdf document.

Qoblex shows this on a blank page when it cannot produce the PDF. It does not say which field caused the problem. Open the template in Word, remove recent changes and try again. Check that every repeating block’s start and end names match. Test with a different order to see whether the problem is the order or the template.

“Could not download packing slips. Please try again”

The packing slip job failed. Try with one order first. If it fails again, test with the starter packing slip file to see whether your template is the cause.

The wrong template printed

The print list preselects the first template for that document type. Open the dialog again and check the name under Please select one of the available templates. before you print.

The built-in layout is no longer offered

Qoblex offers Default Template only when no template exists for that document type. Delete all templates for that type to get it back.

My Word packing slip or refund does not print from another menu

Print Word packing slips from the Sales list. On orders where Print sits under the printer icon menu at the top of the order, that menu’s Print Packing Slip item also works. The Print Packing Slip item in a shipment’s row menu is not the Word route. Print Word refunds from the printer icon on the refund page.

My Word template is not in the list

Check its category in the Document Template Editor. A Sales template does not show for purchase orders or refunds. Packing slips need the Packing Slip category.

I cannot change the file on an existing template

See Replace a template.

Upload and Test a .docx Template