Explains how to print packing slips, create custom packing slip templates, apply custom templates to your orders, and other important notes.
Since packing slips are often part of the shipping workflow, ShipStation includes the ability to print packing slips directly in ShipStation so you don't have to rely on printing from your various selling channels.
ShipStation includes a pre-made default packing slip that will automatically use the branding options you configure in each of your store's Branding settings (including your store logo, company name, phone number, and email address) and the packing slip footer message you add to your store's Packing Slips settings.
Figure 3. ShipStation's Default Packing Slip Sample
The packing slip uses the Company Name (top left) and Store Logo (top right) uploaded to the Branding tab of the store settings, as well as any footer text added to the store's Packing Slips settings.
The default packing slip is available for all orders and for users on all plan levels. ShipStation also includes both basic and advanced methods to customize your packing slips.
You can print packing slips from several locations in ShipStation.
To print packing slips for individual or multiple orders at once, select the order(s) in the Orders or Shipping grids, and choose Packing Slips from the Print menu.
Orders Tab Print Menu
Shipments Tab Print Menu
For a single order, you can instead select the Packing Slip option from the Print menu in the Orders grid shipping sidebar, just above the Configure Shipment Widget.
Orders Grid Shipping Sidebar
You can also print the packing slip for an individual order in the Order Details screen.
Order Details Print Menu
Open the Order Details screen by clicking an order number or double-clicking an order in the Orders grid.
You can print a packing slip for an individual shipment in either the Shipment Details screen or using the Shipment Record menu in the Order Details screen.
Shipment Details Print Menu
Open the Shipment Details screen by clicking a shipment number or double-clicking a shipment in the Shipments grid.
Shipment Record Menu - Order Details
This method is available for Planned, In Progress, and Shipped shipments.
When Printing Packing Slips
Printing a packing slip for a row selected in the Orders grid will print the packing slip just for that individual shipment. If the order has been split into multiple shipments, you must select all of the shipments on the order to print the packing slips for all of them.
Smart Document Tracking will display when a packing slip has been printed for a shipment.
ShipStation will alert you if you attempt to print a packing slip that has already been printed.
ShipStation allows you to customize your packing slips in two ways:
Basic customization with the Packing Slip Document Options (available to all ShipStation accounts).
Advanced customization with Packing Slip templates and the HTML editor (requires a Silver plan or higher).
Both methods are detailed in the sections below.
The Document Options allow you to choose your packing slip format, the order items appear on packing slips, and whether your store logo, item prices, item SKUs, and the Scan to View barcode appear on your packing slips.
To access your Packing Slip Document Options:
The options for packing slips allow you to customize parts of your packing slip no matter which subscription plan you have. These are account-wide settings.
Option |
Details |
|---|---|
Packing Slip Format |
Format is determined by the printer used to print the packing slips. If Label Format is set to include packing slips, this option is linked to that option and cannot be modified here. Available options:
|
Order Items By |
Determines the sequence an order's items are listed on the packing slips. Order Items By:
|
Store Logo |
Will add the store logo uploaded in your Store Settings to the packing slip. On the default packing slip, the logo is added to the top right corner of the packing slip. For customized packing slips, the logo will appear where you have designated the [Store Logo] field replacement to appear in the packing slip HTML editor. |
Item Prices |
Allows you to choose whether to show or hide item prices on the packing slip. For customized packing slips, disabling this option hides any HTML element using the "price" class. |
Item SKUs |
Allows you to choose whether to show or hide item SKUs on the packing slip. For customized packing slips, disabling this option hides any HTML element using the "sku" class. |
"Scan to View" Barcode |
Allows you to choose whether to show or hide ShipStation's Scan to View barcode from your packing slips. The Scan to View barcode is a special barcode that allows you to scan with a barcode scanner and pull up the Order Details of that order while in any part of the ShipStation interface. TipIf you plan to use ShipStation's Scan to Print feature, your packing slip must include the Scan to View Barcode. |
Item Locations (New ShipStation layout only. Not available in ShipStation Legacy.) |
This option only selectable if Inventory Tracking is enabled. Allows you to include the product's Inventory Warehouse Location (set in the Inventory tab of the Product Details) on the default packing slip. Requirements:
NoteThere are two fields displayed as Warehouse Location in ShipStation:
This setting will only display the Inventory Warehouse Location. To display the Product Default Warehouse Location instead, you must customize a packing slip and include the [Warehouse Location] field replacement. |
For customizing packing slips beyond the basics available in Document Options, ShipStation provides a packing slip template and HTML editor so you can design your packing slips exactly as you like.
You can create as many packing slip templates as you need. For example, create a custom template for each selling channel, or templates that include discount codes for customers who spend more than $100.
Once you create custom packing slip templates, you'll need to assign them to your orders. You can do this at the store level or at the individual order level.
Subscription Plan Requirement
You must be on a Silver plan or higher to create and edit packing slip templates.
Requires HTML
Editing packing slip templates requires some basic HTML knowledge.
ShipStation does not provide custom HTML assistance. Our support team is available to troubleshoot, but they do not provide design or consultation services. Visit our user forum for Custom Template help from other ShipStation users.
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If the Packing Slips option is not visible in your Settings, you may be on a Bronze or lower subscription plan.
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Select which size template you'd like to edit (either 4" x 6" or 8.5" x 11") from the Type drop-down menu.
Be sure to choose the size that corresponds to the packing slip format you've selected in
Settings > Printing > Printing Setup(indicated by the word default in parenthesis).
Next, you can choose to do one of three options:
Click the +New Packing Slip Template button to create a packing slip from scratch.
Click Copy to make a copy of an existing template and edit the copy.
Click Edit to edit an existing packing slip.
No matter which option you choose, a window will then display an editor where you can customize your packing slip HTML.
The packing slip editor contains an HTML editor for each of the four sections of the packing slip, which are indicated by the Section Headers.
In the default template, each section contains specific order information:
Order Header: Store logo, Ship From and Ship To address, Order #, Order Date, customer Username, Ship Date
Order Items Header: Item (Sku), Description, Price, Qty, Ext. Price headers for the Order Items list.
Order Items: A list of the items contained in the order with item SKU, description, item price, quantity, and total price.
Order Footer: Order Notes, Sub Total, Tax, Shipping, Total, Packing Slip Message, Scan to View Barcode.
Clicking a section header reveals the HTML editor for that section. You can edit each section using HTML and inline and internal CSS.
ShipStation's packing slips rely heavily on HTML tables for formatting. Some of the table elements are hidden and cannot be edited. If you are experienced with HTML and CSS, download the sample template file at the bottom of this article, open in a browser, and view the source code to understand all elements, style attributes and classes, and the overall structure of the packing slip.
If you are not experienced with HTML and CSS, don't worry! We have several articles in our FAQ section with sample HTML for commonly requested customizations and step-by-step instructions on how to implement them.
Field Replacements are used to dynamically create the content in the packing slip appropriate for each order. This includes elements like your store logo, the order number, recipient address, and item details.
Most available field replacements are listed in the right-hand sidebar of the template editor.
To delete an existing field replacement from the template code, highlight it and press Delete.
To add a field replacement, place your cursor where you wish to place it and either click the field replacement button in the list or type the field replacement text into the editor exactly as it appears in the list (including the square brackets, capitals, and spaces).
Note
Certain field replacements will not appear in the Field Replacement list when certain section headers are selected. For example, Order Item-specific field replacements (like [Sku] or [Image URL]) can only be added to the Order Items section, and will not be available when editing other sections.
View the Field Replacements list below for more details on what information each field replacement adds to a packing slip.
Packing Slip Editor Notes
ShipStation does not currently have a visual editor for packing slips.
ShipStation uses a specific toolkit library to convert the HTML into a PDF for printing. The toolkit does not support all HTML tags and also relies on quirk mode. However, the editor will validate your code when saving to ensure all elements are supported.
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The Packing Slip editor does not support Javascript, or any other scripting. If you need to show or hide certain content based on specific criteria, we recommend creating multiple packing slip templates and using Automation Rules to assign the templates to orders based on that criteria.
You can also create some conditional styling using CSS pseudo-selectors.
Use the Download Sample button in the editor to view your packing slip as you work. Your browser will download a PDF of your packing slip using ShipStation's sample packing slip details.
Once you have created custom packing slip templates, you can apply them to orders in a few ways.
Apply the template at the store level. This method will apply the same template to all orders importing from that selling channel.
Apply the template at the order level. This method allows you to change the template used on individual orders while leaving the store's default template in place.
Apply the template using automation rules (advanced feature). Use automation rules to apply a different template to an order when it imports based on some preset criteria. For example, apply a template that includes a coupon code for all orders over $100.
To ensure all orders that import from a specific store use the same packing slip template, assign the template in the store's Packing Slips setting.
Go to the Packing Slips tab.
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Choose the template from the Packing Slip Template drop-down menu.
ShipStation will only show the template format that matches your selected Packing Slip format from Printing Setup > Document Options.
Click Save Changes.
Repeat the above steps for each connected store. The selected template will then apply to all new orders when they import from the store.
Note
Orders that have already imported will not be affected by this change. To change the template used by orders that have already imported, follow the instructions in the next section: Apply to Individual Orders.
You can change the packing slip template used for each shipment on an order either in the Order Details screen (for a single order) or using a bulk action (for multiple orders).
To change the packing slip template used by any shipment on a single order:
Open an order's Order Details screen.
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Click the Packing Slip drop-down in the Templates section.
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Select the desired template from the drop-down.
ShipStation will only display the format that matches your selected Packing Slip format from
Printing Setup > Document Options. Close the Order Details screen.
ShipStation will now use the selected template for the shipment when printing the packing slip.
To change the packing slip template for multiple orders at once, do the following:
Go to either the Orders tab.
Select the orders you wish to apply the new template to in the grid.
Click on the Bulk Update menu and choose Packing Slip Template.
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Select a template from the Packing Slip Template drop-down menu.
Click Update Selection.
ShipStation will update the templates for the selected shipments and use those templates when printing the orders' packing slips.
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Resizing Store Logos: By default, the 8.5" x 11" packing slip templates set a max-width of 300 and a max-height of 80, and the 4" x 6" packing slip templates set a max-width of 150 and a max height of 60 to your store logo image.
For methods on how to resize your store logo image, review the [Packing Slip HTML FAQ] article.
The [Store Logo] field replacement only uses the image uploaded to your Store's Branding tab in ShipStation. However, you can use externally hosted image URLs in your <img> tags if you choose. Please note that ShipStation may be limited by the image host's response time.
ShipStation must query our databases for all the data to include on each packing slip. If image files are too large (whether hosted in ShipStation or externally), this can cause ShipStation to generate the packing slip before the full image has loaded, resulting in missing images on your packing slip.
ShipStation does not cache packing slip PDFs. This means ShipStation generates a new packing slip PDF every time you select the option to print a packing slip. This allows ShipStation to always print the most up-to-date information on the packing slips.
For help troubleshooting common issues with ShipStation's packing slips, please review our Packing Slip Troubleshooting Guide.
If you are using ShipStation's Legacy Layout, follow the instructions below to print packing slips or adjust the packing slip that is selected for the order.
The process to customize packing slips is the same in both the new and legacy layouts.
There are several locations where you can print packing slips.
To print packing slips for individual or multiple orders or shipments at once, select the order(s) or shipment(s) in the Orders or Shipments grids, and choose Packing Slips from the Print menu.
Orders or Shipping Tab Print Menu
Select orders from the Order or Shipments grid and click Packing Slips from the Print menu.
Order Details Print Menu
Print the packing slip for an individual order in the Order Details or Shipment Details screen.
Order Details Shipments Menu
Use any of the above methods to print or reprint a packing slip for an order.
You can change the packing slip template used for individual orders either in the Order Details screen (for a single order) or using a bulk action (for multiple orders).
Open the Order Details screen for an order.
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Select the custom template from the Packing Slip drop-down menu in the Order Template areas.
Continue to process the order.
