Fabaddons Woocommerce PDF Invoice

Admin Panel and Dashboard

The heart of the plugin is its intuitive admin interface, designed to feel like an extension of WooCommerce itself. No steep learning curve: everything is tabbed, searchable, and previewable.
Access via WooCommerce > PDF Invoice in your WordPress dashboard. It opens a clean, tabbed layout with three main sections: PDF Invoice, Credit Notes, and Packing Slip. Each tab loads independently, showing a left-side settings panel (toggles, dropdowns, inputs) and a right-side live preview pane that updates instantly as you make changes. At the bottom, a prominent Save Changes button applies everything—no partial saves or hidden confirmations.
This setup lets you configure documents without leaving the dashboard, reducing clicks and errors. The preview ensures what you see is what customers get, preventing “it looked fine on my end” support issues.

Template Builder and Design

Forget generic PDFs—build custom templates visually, like editing a document in Word but with e-commerce smarts.

In each tab (e.g., PDF Invoice), start with Select PDF Design dropdown, which lists 3 pre-built templates (Template 1: Modern with purple accents; Template 2: Detailed for full breakdowns; Template 3: Compact for quick prints). Selecting one populates the preview. Then, customize headers (headings, logos), body (data tables), and footers (notes). Changes render live—no “apply and reload” delays. For advanced users, copy template files from /wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-pdf-invoice/templates/ to your theme folder for code-level tweaks.
Customers receive documents that match your brand, boosting perceived professionalism. It saves design time compared to external tools like Canva or Adobe, and ensures consistency across thousands of orders.

Step-by-Step Setup:

• In PDF Invoice tab, choose a template from the dropdown preview updates immediately.
• Invoice Heading: Enter text like “Tax Invoice” in the field; it centers in the header.
• Upload Logo: Click the upload icon (drag-drop supported), select PNG/JPG; use the slider for height (e.g., 50px) to fit perfectly.
• Add Add Text for Invoice Heading for subtitles, like “Order Summary.”
• Scroll to colors (see below) and save.
  For seasonal branding, duplicate a template and swap colors (e.g., red for holidays). Test on mobile—previews are responsive, mimicking customer views.

PDF Types and Management

Generate three core document types, each optimized for its purpose,switch seamlessly without separate plugins.

• PDF Invoices: Full billing docs with itemized tables (SKU, QTY, Price, Total, Tax). Auto-includes payment details (e.g., “BACS”) and due dates.
• Credit Notes: For refunds/returns—grid of 4 design variants (e.g., blue for minimal refunds). Heading like “Credit Note” auto-pulls refunded items.
• Packing Slips: Shipment labels without sensitive info (prices toggleable). Includes tracking placeholders.

All types store as order attachments (viewable in order edit screen). Sequential numbering applies globally (e.g., “INV-001”), with auto-regeneration on order updates.
One plugin covers your entire fulfillment cycle,invoices for sales, credits for support, slips for warehouse. Reduces errors like wrong totals and ensures legal compliance (e.g., VAT breakdowns).

Colors and Styling

Transform bland PDFs into vibrant, on-brand assets with simple color controls.
Left-panel pickers let you select hex colors for specific elements (e.g., PDF Header Background Color). Defaults to a purple scheme (#9C27B0 for headers), but click any swatch to open a full picker (RGB/hex input). Preview updates colors instantly, text contrasts automatically for readability.
Matches your site’s palette, making PDFs feel like natural extensions of your brand. Improves open rates on emailed invoices by 20-30% (per user feedback).

Footer Notes and Terms

Add personalized touches at the bottom, legal disclaimers, thank-yous, or calls-to-action.
Two rich text editors: Add Note to Footer for casual messages (e.g., “Questions? Reply to this email”) and Terms and Conditions for policies (supports bold/italic/links). Content renders below the table in preview, with auto-formatting for line breaks.
Builds relationships (e.g., “Loyalty points added!”) while covering legal bases, reduces disputes by clarifying terms upfront.

Email and Delivery Automation

No more manual attachments—send PDFs as part of your workflow.
In Email & Delivery (Advanced tab), set triggers (e.g., “On Completed”) to attach PDFs to Woo emails. Shortcodes fill bodies (e.g., {pdf_url} links to secure download). Recipients include customer/admin; test button sends a mock to you.
Speeds up communication—customers get invoices instantly, cutting “where’s my receipt?” queries by half.

Frontend User Experience

Extend the magic to customers—self-service without support tickets.
Adds “Invoices & Slips” tab to My Account, listing documents with download buttons (links expire after X days). Shortcodes embed on pages (e.g., thank-you). GDPR mode auto-deletes old files.
Empowers users, reduces admin load—logged-in customers access anytime, anywhere.

Free vs Premium

Integrations

WooCommerce PDF Invoice enhances your stack seamlessly:

• WPML/Woo Multilingual: Translates templates and fields for multi-language stores—setup: Enable in WPML > String Translation.
• Woo Subscriptions: Auto-generates recurring invoices with cycle-aware numbering—triggers on renewal hooks.
• Advanced Custom Fields (ACF): Inject custom data (e.g., product notes) into PDFs—map fields in template data filters.
• Elementor: Shortcode support for embedding previews in page builders—drag shortcode widget to pages.

Note: Test in staging; premium unlocks deeper hooks for custom flows. All integrate via standard Woo actions—no conflicts.