How to migrate PDF templates that 'Need updating'

In May, 2024, we launched our new PDF generator, which makes creating and customizing templates easier. The new generator comes with a number of benefits, such as improved visual accuracy and CSS customization options.

PDF templates marked with the 'Needs updating' label were created with the old generator. While you can still use them to generate and send out documents, they can no longer be modified. 

The old PDF generator will be deprecated gradually in 2025. The exact dates that affect your site are outlined in the email sent to your site administrator. After the old generator is deprecated, these templates will be archived and can no longer be used for generating and sending the PDFs to your clients. You will still be able to duplicate the archived templates to move them to the new generator.

To modify these templates and keep using them after the old generator is deprecated, you need to migrate them to the new PDF generator.

1. Why was the PDF generator updated?

We have implemented a new PDF generator to make creating and customizing templates easier. The old generator offered limited styling options and the visual previews weren’t always reliable – the formatting in the editor did not necessarily match up with the actual PDF, which means achieving the desired look involved some trial and error.

Here’s what the new generator brings to the table:

• More accurate and reliable previews
  Our new PDF generator is built on top of the same modern web technologies that are used in the template editor. It means we can provide full HTML5 support. In other words – what you see in the editor now also matches the final document. 
• Custom CSS support
  With our in–built visual editor, you can easily create a simple layout and manage the content that goes into the PDF, but it doesn’t offer any advanced styling options. This is where the new CSS feature comes into play. It gives you complete control over the appearance of the document as you’re no longer limited by the in-built editor. Some of the most useful possibilities include:
  • Custom font support
    We understand how important fonts are to branding, so the new generator gives you complete freedom in that regard. You can implement any of the thousands of fonts available in libraries like https://fonts.google.com/ or host your own custom font.
  • Background image support
    Background colors, patterns, or photos can add a lot to documents. Our new generator now supports all of those options fully.

Read more about creating and customizing PDF templates.

2. How to migrate the templates?

You can find your PDF templates under Settings > Site Settings > PDF templates.

Templates marked with the 'Needs updating' label were created with the old PDF generator and need to be migrated. You can migrate templates one by one only; there is no option for migrating them in bulk.

The migration process has three quick steps:

Step 1: duplicate the existing template

• Click on the name of the old template you want to migrate. After the old PDF generator is deprecated, you can find your old templates by filtering the Archived templates.
• Click the Duplicate button in the top-right corner to create a copy of that template. The duplicated template opens in the modify view. You can recheck its contents and settings, but you don’t need to make any specific changes here. Simply save the new duplicated version.

By duplicating and resaving the template, you’ve already migrated it over to the new PDF generator.

Step 2: test the new template
The new template will be saved with the same name as the original one. You can recognize the new migrated template by the fact that it no longer has the ‘Needs updating’ indicator next to its name.

Next, generate at least one PDF document with the new template to test it in action. This step is important to ensure that everything looks correct, the new template works as expected, and there are no visual issues.

For example, if you updated an invoice template, navigate to the Invoices module. Open any invoice from the list, select the new template from the dropdown menu, and click the PDF button to generate a preview.

Check the preview to ensure the invoice looks as expected. If any adjustments are needed, navigate back to the PDF template list to modify the template accordingly.

If you detect any visual errors that you’re not sure how to solve, reach out to us via our contact form.

Step 3: archive the old template
Once the new template works as expected, return to the PDF template list and archive the outdated template to prevent anyone from using it accidentally. To do that, click on the Active status indicator on the template row and change the status to Archived.

Important! If you’re using the Customer Portal, you need to update the PDF template choice for the portal as well. Navigate to Settings > Site settings > Customer Portal > Settings and select new templates from the dropdown list. This ensures the Customer Portal documents use the most up to date version of the template and there are no issues with displaying the PDFs.

Important! If a scheduled invoice is using an outdated PDF template, the invoices generated from that scheduled invoice will no longer be sent out after the old generator is deprecated. To ensure that scheduled invoices will reach your client, modify your scheduled invoices and select an active template. This can be done one by one only – there is no bulk-modify option for changing the PDF templates used on scheduled invoices.