Documentation

PDF Designer overview

Edit every customer-facing document block-by-block with live preview.

3 min readLast updated 13 Apr 2026

The PDF Designer is where you customise every customer-facing document the platform generates — quotations, invoices, booking confirmations, delivery orders, arrival notices. Fully block-based with live preview, version history, and per-doc-type templates.

Overview

Lives at /app/admin/pdf-designer (requires TENANT_ADMIN or ADMIN).

The designer has three panels:

  • Layers (left) — tree of blocks on the current template.
  • Canvas (centre) — live preview of the current template + sample data.
  • Properties (right) — properties of the selected block: colours, fonts, visibility toggles, text content.

Plus a top bar for doc-type selection, template name, Save / Publish buttons, and version history.

Doc type picker

The top-left dropdown picks which doc type you're editing:

  • Editable (block-based): Quotation, Booking Confirmation, Invoice, Credit Note, Debit Note, Payment Receipt, Statement of Account, Shipping Instruction, Delivery Order, Arrival Notice, Trip Manifest, Load Receipt, POD, Waybill, Goods Receipt Note, Pick List, Packing List, Stock Report.

  • NOT editable (regulated layouts, backend-rendered): MAWB, HAWB, MBL, HBL, Consol Manifest, TCN. These follow IATA / FIATA / CMR standards and are not user-customisable. They render automatically; company branding (logo, colours, footer) applies via Tenant Settings, not the Designer.

Draft vs Published

  • Draft — your work-in-progress changes. Only visible in the Designer preview.
  • Published — live: what customers see on generated documents.

Every tenant-per-doc-type template has a current published version and optionally an active draft. Save updates the draft; Publish makes the current draft live.

Step-by-step — quick customisation

  1. Open PDF Designer → pick Quotation from the top-left.
  2. In Layers, click HeaderBlock.
  3. In Properties, upload your logo and set the accent colour to your brand palette.
  4. Canvas updates instantly with your logo + colours.
  5. Scroll Layers to FooterBlock → edit the footer text (T&C disclaimer, company registration, etc.).
  6. Click Save Draft (saves progress) then Publish (makes it live for new quotations).
  7. Test by creating a new quotation and checking the PDF.

Blocks — the building units

Every template is a tree of blocks. Each block type:

  • HeaderBlock — logo + company name + address.
  • FooterBlock — disclaimer / T&C text + page number.
  • BillToCardBlock / ShipToCardBlock — party info cards.
  • QuoteDetailsBlock / InvoiceDetailsBlock — document metadata (number, dates).
  • ShipmentBarBlock — pills showing mode, origin, destination, weight, volume.
  • CargoTableBlock — cargo-line grid.
  • ChargesTableBlock — charges grid with sell / qty / basis / tax.
  • TotalsBlock — subtotal / tax / grand total.
  • ValidityNoteBlock — validity date + commercial-terms bullets.
  • TermsBlock — T&C / Notes / Special Instructions.
  • SignatureBlock — signature lines (optional, add-on only).
  • BankDetailsBlock — bank wire instructions for invoices.
  • CustomHtmlBlock — free-form HTML escape hatch.
  • PageBreakBlock — forces a new page.

Each block's Properties differ. The common ones: visibility toggle, padding, font size.

Sync to all templates

If you change the header (logo, colours), you probably want it applied to every doc type — not just the one you're currently editing. The Apply Header/Footer to all templates button does exactly that:

  • Takes the current Header and Footer blocks' properties.
  • Overwrites them on every other doc type's template.
  • Leaves other blocks untouched.

Useful for branding refreshes — one edit, every doc updated.

Common pitfalls

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