Advanced PDF Templates

Create professional, branded PDF documents for invoices, purchase orders, and other transactions.

Overview

ADVANCED PDF TEMPLATE SYSTEM
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ What It Is:                                                                  │
│ • Built-in PDF template engine using BFO (Big Faceless Organization)        │
│ • XML/FreeMarker-based templates                                            │
│ • Access to record data via template variables                              │
│ • CSS-like styling support                                                  │
│                                                                              │
│ Best For:                                                                    │
│ • Custom invoice layouts                                                    │
│ • Branded purchase orders                                                   │
│ • Professional packing slips                                                │
│ • Customer statements                                                       │
│ • Any standard transaction document                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Navigation: Customization → Forms → Advanced PDF/HTML Templates

Template Structure

Basic Template

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE pdf PUBLIC "-//big.faceless.org//report" "report-1.1.dtd">
<pdf>
    <head>
        <link name="NotoSans" type="font" subtype="truetype"
              src="${nsfont.NotoSans_Regular}" />
        <style type="text/css">
            body {
                font-family: NotoSans, sans-serif;
                font-size: 10pt;
            }
            table {
                width: 100%;
                border-collapse: collapse;
            }
            th {
                background-color: #333;
                color: white;
                padding: 5px;
            }
            td {
                padding: 5px;
                border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;
            }
            .header {
                font-size: 18pt;
                font-weight: bold;
            }
            .right {
                text-align: right;
            }
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
        <!-- Template content here -->
    </body>
</pdf>

Template Sections

TEMPLATE STRUCTURE
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ <?xml version="1.0"?>                    XML Declaration                    │
│ <!DOCTYPE pdf ...>                       Document Type                      │
│                                                                              │
│ <pdf>                                                                        │
│   <head>                                                                     │
│     <link ... />                         Font definitions                   │
│     <style>                              CSS styling                        │
│       ...                                                                    │
│     </style>                                                                │
│   </head>                                                                    │
│                                                                              │
│   <body header="..." footer="...">       Main content                       │
│     <!-- Record data and layout -->                                         │
│   </body>                                                                    │
│                                                                              │
│   <body header="..." footer="...">       Additional pages (optional)        │
│   </body>                                                                    │
│ </pdf>                                                                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Accessing Record Data

FreeMarker Syntax

<!-- Simple field value -->
${record.tranid}

<!-- Entity name -->
${record.entity}

<!-- Formatted date -->
${record.trandate?string["MM/dd/yyyy"]}

<!-- Currency formatting -->
${record.total?string.currency}

<!-- Null-safe access -->
${record.memo!}

<!-- Default value if null -->
${record.memo!"No memo provided"}

<!-- Conditional display -->
<#if record.total gt 1000>
    <p class="highlight">Large Order!</p>
</#if>

Common Record Fields

TRANSACTION FIELDS
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Header Fields:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ${record.tranid}           │ Transaction Number (INV-001)                   │
│ ${record.trandate}         │ Transaction Date                               │
│ ${record.entity}           │ Customer/Vendor Name                           │
│ ${record.total}            │ Total Amount                                   │
│ ${record.subtotal}         │ Subtotal                                       │
│ ${record.taxtotal}         │ Tax Total                                      │
│ ${record.duedate}          │ Due Date                                       │
│ ${record.memo}             │ Memo                                           │
│ ${record.terms}            │ Payment Terms                                  │
│ ${record.status}           │ Status                                         │
│ ${record.salesrep}         │ Sales Rep                                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Address Fields:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ${record.billaddress}      │ Full Billing Address                           │
│ ${record.shipaddress}      │ Full Shipping Address                          │
│ ${record.billaddressee}    │ Bill To Name                                   │
│ ${record.shipaddressee}    │ Ship To Name                                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Custom Fields:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ${record.custbody_po_number}    │ Custom Body Field                         │
│ ${record.custbody_project}      │ Custom Body Field                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Line Items

Iterating Over Lines

<!-- Items Sublist -->
<#list record.item as item>
<tr>
    <td>${item.item}</td>
    <td>${item.description!}</td>
    <td class="right">${item.quantity}</td>
    <td class="right">${item.rate?string.currency}</td>
    <td class="right">${item.amount?string.currency}</td>
</tr>
</#list>

Complete Line Item Table

<table class="itemtable">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th style="width: 15%">Item</th>
            <th style="width: 40%">Description</th>
            <th style="width: 10%">Qty</th>
            <th style="width: 15%">Rate</th>
            <th style="width: 20%">Amount</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <#list record.item as item>
        <tr>
            <td>${item.item}</td>
            <td>${item.description!}</td>
            <td class="right">${item.quantity}</td>
            <td class="right">${item.rate?string.currency}</td>
            <td class="right">${item.amount?string.currency}</td>
        </tr>
        </#list>
    </tbody>
</table>

Complete Invoice Template Example

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE pdf PUBLIC "-//big.faceless.org//report" "report-1.1.dtd">
<pdf>
    <head>
        <link name="NotoSans" type="font" subtype="truetype"
              src="${nsfont.NotoSans_Regular}" />
        <link name="NotoSansBold" type="font" subtype="truetype"
              src="${nsfont.NotoSans_Bold}" />

        <style type="text/css">
            body {
                font-family: NotoSans, sans-serif;
                font-size: 10pt;
                margin: 0;
                padding: 20px;
            }
            .company-name {
                font-family: NotoSansBold;
                font-size: 24pt;
                color: #2c3e50;
            }
            .invoice-title {
                font-size: 18pt;
                font-weight: bold;
                color: #333;
            }
            .header-table {
                width: 100%;
                margin-bottom: 20px;
            }
            .address-block {
                background-color: #f8f9fa;
                padding: 10px;
                border-radius: 3px;
            }
            .label {
                font-weight: bold;
                color: #666;
            }
            .value {
                color: #333;
            }
            .item-table {
                width: 100%;
                border-collapse: collapse;
                margin-top: 20px;
            }
            .item-table th {
                background-color: #2c3e50;
                color: white;
                padding: 8px;
                text-align: left;
            }
            .item-table td {
                padding: 8px;
                border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
            }
            .item-table .right {
                text-align: right;
            }
            .totals-table {
                width: 300px;
                margin-left: auto;
                margin-top: 20px;
            }
            .totals-table td {
                padding: 5px;
            }
            .grand-total {
                font-size: 14pt;
                font-weight: bold;
                border-top: 2px solid #333;
            }
            .footer {
                margin-top: 40px;
                padding-top: 10px;
                border-top: 1px solid #ddd;
                text-align: center;
                font-size: 9pt;
                color: #666;
            }
        </style>
    </head>

    <body size="Letter" padding="0.5in 0.5in 0.5in 0.5in">

        <!-- Header with Logo and Invoice Info -->
        <table class="header-table">
            <tr>
                <td style="width: 50%; vertical-align: top;">
                    <span class="company-name">${companyinformation.companyname}</span>
                    <br/>
                    ${companyinformation.mainaddress_text}
                    <br/>
                    Phone: ${companyinformation.phone}
                </td>
                <td style="width: 50%; text-align: right; vertical-align: top;">
                    <span class="invoice-title">INVOICE</span>
                    <br/><br/>
                    <table style="margin-left: auto;">
                        <tr>
                            <td class="label">Invoice #:</td>
                            <td class="value">${record.tranid}</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td class="label">Date:</td>
                            <td class="value">${record.trandate}</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td class="label">Due Date:</td>
                            <td class="value">${record.duedate!}</td>
                        </tr>
                        <tr>
                            <td class="label">Terms:</td>
                            <td class="value">${record.terms!}</td>
                        </tr>
                    </table>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>

        <!-- Bill To / Ship To -->
        <table style="width: 100%; margin-top: 20px;">
            <tr>
                <td style="width: 48%; vertical-align: top;">
                    <div class="address-block">
                        <strong>Bill To:</strong><br/>
                        ${record.billaddress}
                    </div>
                </td>
                <td style="width: 4%"></td>
                <td style="width: 48%; vertical-align: top;">
                    <div class="address-block">
                        <strong>Ship To:</strong><br/>
                        ${record.shipaddress}
                    </div>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>

        <!-- PO Number and Sales Rep -->
        <#if record.otherrefnum?has_content || record.salesrep?has_content>
        <table style="width: 100%; margin-top: 15px;">
            <tr>
                <td style="width: 50%">
                    <#if record.otherrefnum?has_content>
                        <span class="label">PO Number:</span>
                        <span class="value">${record.otherrefnum}</span>
                    </#if>
                </td>
                <td style="width: 50%; text-align: right;">
                    <#if record.salesrep?has_content>
                        <span class="label">Sales Rep:</span>
                        <span class="value">${record.salesrep}</span>
                    </#if>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
        </#if>

        <!-- Line Items -->
        <table class="item-table">
            <thead>
                <tr>
                    <th style="width: 15%">Item</th>
                    <th style="width: 35%">Description</th>
                    <th style="width: 10%" class="right">Qty</th>
                    <th style="width: 15%" class="right">Rate</th>
                    <th style="width: 10%" class="right">Disc%</th>
                    <th style="width: 15%" class="right">Amount</th>
                </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
                <#list record.item as item>
                <tr>
                    <td>${item.item}</td>
                    <td>${item.description!}</td>
                    <td class="right">${item.quantity}</td>
                    <td class="right">${item.rate?string.currency}</td>
                    <td class="right">
                        <#if item.custcol_discount?has_content>
                            ${item.custcol_discount}%
                        </#if>
                    </td>
                    <td class="right">${item.amount?string.currency}</td>
                </tr>
                </#list>
            </tbody>
        </table>

        <!-- Totals -->
        <table class="totals-table">
            <tr>
                <td class="label">Subtotal:</td>
                <td class="right">${record.subtotal?string.currency}</td>
            </tr>
            <#if record.discounttotal?has_content && record.discounttotal != 0>
            <tr>
                <td class="label">Discount:</td>
                <td class="right">(${record.discounttotal?string.currency})</td>
            </tr>
            </#if>
            <#if record.taxtotal?has_content && record.taxtotal != 0>
            <tr>
                <td class="label">Tax:</td>
                <td class="right">${record.taxtotal?string.currency}</td>
            </tr>
            </#if>
            <#if record.shippingcost?has_content && record.shippingcost != 0>
            <tr>
                <td class="label">Shipping:</td>
                <td class="right">${record.shippingcost?string.currency}</td>
            </tr>
            </#if>
            <tr class="grand-total">
                <td class="label">Total:</td>
                <td class="right">${record.total?string.currency}</td>
            </tr>
        </table>

        <!-- Memo -->
        <#if record.memo?has_content>
        <div style="margin-top: 20px;">
            <strong>Notes:</strong><br/>
            ${record.memo}
        </div>
        </#if>

        <!-- Footer -->
        <div class="footer">
            Thank you for your business!<br/>
            Payment is due within ${record.terms!"30 days"}.
        </div>

    </body>
</pdf>

Page Formatting

Headers and Footers

<body header="nlheader" footer="nlfooter"
      header-height="100px" footer-height="50px">

    <!-- Page content -->

</body>

<!-- Define header macro -->
<macrolist>
    <macro id="nlheader">
        <table style="width: 100%;">
            <tr>
                <td style="width: 50%;">
                    <img src="${companyinformation.logourl}"
                         style="max-height: 60px;"/>
                </td>
                <td style="width: 50%; text-align: right;">
                    Invoice: ${record.tranid}
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </macro>

    <macro id="nlfooter">
        <table style="width: 100%;">
            <tr>
                <td style="width: 50%;">
                    ${companyinformation.companyname}
                </td>
                <td style="width: 50%; text-align: right;">
                    Page <pagenumber/> of <totalpages/>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </table>
    </macro>
</macrolist>

Page Breaks

<!-- Force page break before element -->
<div style="page-break-before: always;">
    New page content
</div>

<!-- Force page break after element -->
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
    This appears on its own page
</div>

<!-- Keep content together (avoid breaking) -->
<div style="page-break-inside: avoid;">
    This block stays together
</div>

Images and Logos

<!-- Company logo from File Cabinet -->
<img src="${companyinformation.logourl}"
     style="max-height: 80px;"/>

<!-- Image from File Cabinet by ID -->
<img src="https://system.netsuite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=123&c=ACCOUNT&h=abc" />

<!-- Inline barcode (if supported) -->
<barcode value="${record.tranid}" type="code128"
         height="30px" showValue="true"/>

Conditional Logic

<!-- If statement -->
<#if record.total gt 10000>
    <p style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">HIGH VALUE ORDER</p>
</#if>

<!-- If-else -->
<#if record.status == "Paid In Full">
    <span style="color: green;">PAID</span>
<#elseif record.status == "Partially Paid">
    <span style="color: orange;">PARTIAL</span>
<#else>
    <span style="color: red;">UNPAID</span>
</#if>

<!-- Check if field exists -->
<#if record.memo?has_content>
    <p>Memo: ${record.memo}</p>
</#if>

<!-- List with index -->
<#list record.item as item>
    <tr class="${item?is_odd_item?then('odd', 'even')}">
        <td>${item?counter}</td>  <!-- 1, 2, 3, ... -->
        <td>${item.item}</td>
    </tr>
</#list>

Applying Template to Transactions

TEMPLATE ASSIGNMENT
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

1. Create/Edit Template:
   Customization → Forms → Advanced PDF/HTML Templates

2. Assign to Transaction Form:
   Customization → Forms → Transaction Forms → [Your Form]
   → Printing Fields → PDF Layout: [Select Template]

3. Assign to Transaction Type:
   Setup → Company → Company Information
   → Printing & Fax → Transaction Forms

4. Role-Based Assignment:
   Customization → Forms → Transaction Forms
   → Select form → Roles tab → Assign to specific roles

Best Practices

ADVANCED PDF BEST PRACTICES
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

DESIGN:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✓ Use tables for layout (more reliable than CSS positioning)               │
│ ✓ Keep font sizes readable (9-12pt for body text)                          │
│ ✓ Use null-safe operators (${field!} or ${field!"default"})               │
│ ✓ Test with various data lengths                                           │
│ ✓ Include page numbers for multi-page documents                            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

PERFORMANCE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✓ Minimize image sizes                                                      │
│ ✓ Avoid complex nested tables                                               │
│ ✓ Use efficient CSS (avoid redundant styles)                               │
│ ✓ Test with maximum line item count                                        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

MAINTENANCE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✓ Comment sections of template                                              │
│ ✓ Use consistent naming for styles                                         │
│ ✓ Version control templates (SDF)                                          │
│ ✓ Test in sandbox before production                                        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Next Steps

Goal	Go To
Script-driven PDF	Suitelet PDF Generation →
Bulk PDF generation	Bulk PDF Generation →
Return to PDF overview	PDF Customization →

Overview​

Template Structure​

Basic Template​

Template Sections​

Accessing Record Data​

FreeMarker Syntax​

Common Record Fields​

Line Items​

Iterating Over Lines​

Complete Line Item Table​

Complete Invoice Template Example​

Page Formatting​

Headers and Footers​

Page Breaks​

Images and Logos​

Conditional Logic​

Applying Template to Transactions​

Best Practices​

Next Steps​

Overview

Template Structure

Basic Template

Template Sections

Accessing Record Data

FreeMarker Syntax

Common Record Fields

Line Items

Iterating Over Lines

Complete Line Item Table

Complete Invoice Template Example

Page Formatting

Headers and Footers

Page Breaks

Images and Logos

Conditional Logic

Applying Template to Transactions

Best Practices

Next Steps