Overview
The PDF Template Designer lets you build your own PDF layouts for Invoices, Sales Orders, Sales Quotes, and Purchase Orders. Instead of a fixed layout, you compose the template visually from text, tables, lists, images, and layout elements, and bind each one to the document's own data — so your invoices and orders go out looking exactly the way you want them to.
Note: If you don't see a designer like the below image when accessing the admin>templates section, be sure to reach out to support@softledger.com to request the softledger team enable the PDF Designer.
Opening and Editing in the Designer
Go to your Templates settings page — one list covering all supported document types, with each row's Type column telling you which document it belongs to. Select Designer from the actions menu at right on any row to open it.
Building a template
The canvas holds the elements that make up your PDF:
Element | What it does |
Text | A single field or block of static text |
Table | The document's line items, rendered as a structured table |
List | A bulleted or numbered list, typically bound to a multi-line notes field. Indentation in the source field (nested bullets, the indent control, or a tab) carries through to the rendered PDF |
Image | A static image |
Logo | Your company logo — the canvas shows a live preview of your actual logo while you design (the logo is set under the Financial>Locations section when editing the location) |
Line / Rectangle | Dividers and borders for layout |
Inserting a field
Text, table, and list elements are bound to document data through the Data Field picker in the element's property panel. Fields are grouped by document fields, line-item fields, custom fields, and company fields — always matching the document type the template belongs to — and listed by their plain-language label, like "Amount" or "Invoice Date."
See a sample of available fields for the Invoice template when editing a text box and reviewing options in the Data Field section:
Picking a field inserts a placeholder text surrounded by {brackets}, such as {money amount} or {date invoiceDate}. The word before the field name (money, date, address, or itemName) tells the system how to format the value on the generated PDF: as currency, a date, a multi-line address block, or a line item's product name. The picker adds all of this automatically — there's nothing to type by hand.
One difference by element type:
Text elements — picking a field in the menu above inserts the placeholder directly into the element.
Table and List elements — picking a field copies the placeholder to your clipboard (with an on-screen confirmation of what was copied) for you to paste into the cell or list item you're editing within the Table.
Warning: Don't edit a placeholder value by hand once it's inserted. A placeholder value that's been changed, or wasn't pasted in full, won't resolve when the PDF is generated — depending on the error, that can fail the PDF entirely or leave the raw placeholder text itelf(like {money amount}) visible on the PDF instead of your data.
Saving
Once adjusted, make sure to name and save the template, like in the image below:
Where the template is used
Once a template is created for a document type, it is available to be selected when creating that document:
Download — the document's PDF is generated from your template.
Preview — the PDF preview (from the document itself, or from the Email or Issue dialogs) renders the same template.
Questions about designing your templates? Reach out through the chat bubble or at support@softledger.com — happy to help.