Invoicing : PDF template

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avatar nferrari Nov 12. 2009. 5:25 pm #1
Hi, i'm new on activ' collab and presently checking if using it would be a good choice for my company. It seems to be a very good tool for me but I've got, IMO, an important question :

Is it possible to include some text information in the footer of invoices, because some information are legally required ? I didn't find the possibility to customize the invoices' PDF template...

Thank you !
avatar Ilija Studen Staff Nov 12. 2009. 6:25 pm #2
You can include all custom information in invoice note or in company identity fields (just enter company address and all additional info, like VAT number for example, bellow that).

Can you please tell us more about specific of your request? Where are you from and what information your invoices need to include?
avatar nferrari Nov 12. 2009. 6:38 pm #3
Thanks for your quick answer and interest. Here are some information that could be interesting to have in AC, about the company, and to re-arrange in the PDF template (Invoicing module), in the header or footer :

- Company status (in France we have SARL, SA, SAS, EURL, etc.) ;
- Company capital ;
- and other company identifiers (in France we have SIRET number, NAF code, VTA code) ;
- and of course : address, phone, email).

But the best and most flexible way is perhaps to fill template header and footer... so we can do anything we want with the PDF template. Those information are, in France, almost always in footer...
avatar Leon Pro Nov 13. 2009. 6:40 am #4
I'd love to see a bit more control over invoicing templates too. There's a recent post on smashing magazine with so many gorgeous invoice layout designs (Link: Invoice like a pro)... Looking through that post makes me want to tear up my invoicing template and get creative!

I'm not sure how better invoice PDF customisation could be handled with activecollab but if control over things like header, footer, background image, styles(colours etc. with CSS?) was possible that would be awesome!
http://www.creativeworld.com.au | Twitter:@creativeworld | New: Free & Premium ActiveCollab Themes
avatar Goran Radulović Staff Nov 13. 2009. 2:12 pm #5
We have idea, that give you way to upload background image for invoice page which can contain your branding and design, header and footer, so activeCollab would use that image and add only invoice items and calculation.

What do you think about that idea?
Goran Radulovic
A51 DOO | Cofounder

http://www.a51dev.com/
http://www.activecollab.com/
avatar Leon Pro Nov 14. 2009. 12:16 am #6
@ Goran

Being able to change the background image would be a great start to customising the look and feel of the Invoice PDF. If something like this does became possible, I would need to know (as a designer creating the background image) :

- the exact height for both header and footer area's would need to be known (from experience i think header/footer would need to be fixed if using a background image)
- if the invoice has many items then it should flick over to page 2 without going into the footer/header area (I haven't tested to see how this is handled in currect AC)

:)
http://www.creativeworld.com.au | Twitter:@creativeworld | New: Free & Premium ActiveCollab Themes
avatar Robert Lidberg Pro Nov 14. 2009. 1:59 am #7
We are missing some essential functions in the template managment, the note feature for example is too poor to fill with necessary information. In Sweden, for example, we are bound by law to print the company name, company registration number, VAT, etc.

I've made a simple mockup out of our sketches, this is how we would like the template management to work: http://duva.nu/duva_temp/invoice_mockup/.

Ability to move around the "data containers" on top of the template, adjust the height/width and then save. It would give you X and Y coordinates to implement in PDF with relative ease. (Why use images instead of PDF as template? PDF saves space and is much more appropriate) :)

@Goran. The question is when we have time to do it (if we ever will), hopefully you can use our thoughts in future release?

Best regards,
Robert
avatar Goran Radulović Staff Nov 17. 2009. 4:16 pm #8
@leon and @robert

I think that combination of background image + positioning of those 'boxes' would make great 'template generator'.

What do you think?
Goran Radulovic
A51 DOO | Cofounder

http://www.a51dev.com/
http://www.activecollab.com/
avatar bryan Pro Nov 18. 2009. 3:03 pm #9
Thumbs Up from me :)

I'd love a template generator.
avatar c.daum Pro Dec 2. 2009. 10:47 pm #10
hey guys,

i also love to use active collab but the invoice module needs to get a pdf template generator. actually i can not get our corporate design in invoices that are made with ac, so i have to use a third party tool for invoicing.
That's pretty bad. please be so kind and improve functionality as you said ...

- background image (jpg, png, maybe pdf)
- placing textfields with x and y coordinates
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