Packing Slip template reference
The packing slip is the paper that travels in the box: a contents checklist, not an invoice.
What makes it different
It's the only document type that deliberately withholds money — no unit price, no line total, no order total, only unit counts. It's also the only one with pickup and address-warning switches, and the only one whose preview can be pointed at a real order.
Most importantly, one design has to work in three situations at once:
| Situation | What prints |
|---|---|
| A whole order | Every ordered line. |
| One shipment | Only what went in that box, at shipped quantities, and the shipment named in the header. |
| A planned warehouse fulfillment | Planned quantities, referenced like SO-0001.1. |
Anything you add has to read sensibly in all three.
What you can print
Store
Store name, logo and address. The logo falls back to your company name in bold text when no logo is set, so the header never collapses.
Addresses
Bill-to and ship-to, each available three ways:
- a ready-formatted block
- a block with the recipient name on the first line
- individual parts — name, company, three address lines, city, state and state code, postal code, country and country code, phone and email
Order details
Order number · order date · the customer's own reference · shipping method · shipment number · order notes · tracking numbers · currency code · payment status · fulfillment status · customer memo.
Extras
- A styled shipping method that prints highlighted when it matches one of your shipping-method rules. Pickup and click-and-collect are highlighted green out of the box — see Set up packing slip rules.
- A scannable barcode.
- The store's thank-you message, which keeps the formatting you typed.
- A total units count.
Serial numbers
Each serial-tracked product's row lists the serials that shipped. There is no setting to turn this off. For how serials get onto a shipment, see Ship serials with an order.
If the slip is produced before serials have been assigned, the row shows — serials pending — instead, so nobody assumes the box shipped without serials. Products that aren't tracked by serial never show the block at all.
In a hand-written item loop the pieces are the has-serials switch, the serials list, and the pending switch.
Product images
Product photos stored in SKU.io are embedded directly into the document, so they print reliably. Photos hosted on an outside site are linked instead and may not appear — the same restriction described in Add logos, images & footer banners.
Products with no image get a plain grey placeholder box so rows stay aligned.
How rows are merged, hidden and labelled
Duplicate lines are merged. If a customer ordered the same product on two separate lines, the slip combines them into one row with the quantities added together, so a picker never walks the same SKU twice. When the merged lines had different wording, the row falls back to the product's own name.
Non-product lines are kept separate. A fee, a note or a custom charge is never merged into a product row.
Charge-only lines can be hidden. Shipping protection, insurance and gift wrap are left off the slip when you list them under Settings → Packing Slip Rules → Hidden line descriptions. Nothing is hidden until you add it there. The unit total above still counts a hidden line.
Brand notes. A short note prints under every line of a brand you've configured under Settings → Packing Slip Rules → Brand notes — commonly regional sizing guidance. Nothing prints until you add a brand there.
Substituted lines. When a line was fulfilled with a substitute, the built-in table prints the ordered product as the row — that's what the customer bought and what they'll check against their confirmation email — and adds a small Shipped as: line underneath naming what's actually in the box. The customer sees both, so the paperwork can't quietly disagree with the contents.
The substitute's details and a "was substituted" switch are also available individually if you're writing your own loop.
The shipment line in the header
The stock template contains a ready-made shipment row in the header. It prints:
- Shipment: the shipment's own number
- Tracking: its tracking number, once there is one
On a slip printed for a whole order there's no single shipment to name, so the row prints nothing at all — it can sit in the header permanently without leaving a gap on the page.
The carrier is not part of this row; it prints separately as the shipping-method field, which the stock template already puts on its own line.
On a split order every box otherwise gets identical paperwork. Keep this row.
What the stock template contains
Out of the box the packing slip is deliberately plain:
- a Packing Slip title with the store logo on the right
- an Order / Order Date / Shipping block
- the store's name and address
- boxed Bill to: and Ship to: panels
- the item table
- a Total Units: line
- the store message under a divider
It does not include a pickup banner, an address-warning banner, a barcode, a serials block or multi-quantity colours. Every one of those is something you add — see Common customizations by document type.
Reset to default brings this version back at any time. SKU.io also ships a few example store-specific slips you can start a store copy from rather than a blank page.
The Blind dropship template
A second packing template, Blind dropship, prints the slip for orders you ship for a retailer under dropship for retailers. It carries the retailer's branding, never yours, and no prices:
- the retailer's logo and name, and the retailer's order number and the order date
- the shipping method and a barcode
- Ship to: with the retailer's customer's address
- the items, with SKU and quantity, and the total units
- the retailer's slip message, and a Gift message when the order has one
- Questions with the retailer's support email and phone, when set
- Returns with the retailer's return address, when set
A dropship order prints with the packing template chosen on the retailer's Dropship tab, else this one. You can edit it like any other template; its variables are listed in Variables reference. It prints only dropship orders, so it can't become a store's packing slip, and Reset brings back the built-in Blind dropship slip.
Next steps
- Set up packing slip rules — hide lines, highlight methods and addresses, add brand notes.
- Common customizations by document type — barcodes, banners and highlights.
- Print, email & share these documents — printing, bulk printing and print history.