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Vtiger Print Templates

Learn how to use Print Templates in Vtiger CRM.
B
Bindu Rekha Babu
11 Apr, 2025 - Updated  27 days ago

Feature Availability 

Vtiger Editions: One Pilot | One Growth | One Professional | One Enterprise | One AI

Introduction

Managing documents and ensuring seamless communication are essential for maintaining smooth business operations. Vtiger CRM’s Print Templates feature offers a powerful solution by enabling you to customize, export, and share records in a professional PDF format. Unlike manual processes that require designing templates from scratch, Print Templates provide ready-to-use designs, streamlining your workflow and saving time.

To further enhance productivity, Print Templates allow for efficient document handling by enabling printing, emailing, or downloading as PDFs. For instance, sales representatives can effortlessly select a template to generate and send quotes to customers, ensuring consistency and professionalism in communication.

Benefits of Using Vtiger Print Templates

Here are the benefits of using Vtiger Print Templates:

  • Predefined Templates: Use default templates without the need to design from scratch, saving time and effort.
  • Customizable: Modify templates to suit your business needs, ensuring consistency and professionalism.
  • Multi-Purpose: Print opportunities, invoices, or quotes and share them with relevant stakeholders.
  • Efficiency: Streamline workflows by attaching templates to emails or exporting them to PDFs.

In this article, you will learn about:

  • Creating a Template
  • Viewing Existing Templates 
  • Editing a Template 
  • Duplicate a Template
  • Deleting a Template
  • Setting a default Template for a module 
  • Printing Records using a Template
  • Attaching Template to Workflow Email

Creating a New Print Template

Follow these steps to create a new print template:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click Main Menu.
  3. Go to Tools >Templates > Print Templates. The Print Templates page opens. 
  4. Click + Add Print Template. The New Print Template page opens. 
  5. Enter or select the following information to create a template:
  6. Details:
    1. Template Name - Enter a name for the template.
    2. Module - Select the module to which the template applies.
    3. Assigned To - Assign the template to specific users or groups. 
    4. Page Format - Choose the document size.
    5. Orientation - Select Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal).
    6. Margin Left - Enter the left margin size. 
    7. Margin Right - Enter the right margin size.
    8. Margin Top - Enter the top margin size. 
    9. Margin Bottom - Enter the bottom margin size. 
    10. Click Next, and the Template Editor section opens. 
  7. Template Editor:
    1. Header - The top section of the document. 
    2. Body - The main section of the document where most of the information (e.g., CRM data) will appear.
    3. Footer - The bottom section of the document.
    4. Merge Fields: 
      1. Special fields - Predefined fields that automatically add general information. 
        1. Use the Merge Tag from the Special Fields drop-down to calculate the total of formula-type fields with Integer and Decimal data types. This calculated value can then be included in the Section subtotal.
        2. Note: You can configure Merge Tags by adding custom fields through Module Layouts and Fields. To learn more about Module Layouts and Fields, click here.
      2. Record fields - Fields that fetch specific details from a CRM record (e.g., customer name, invoice number, deal amount). 
      3. Related modules - Fields that pull data from modules linked to the main record, such as products associated with a sales order.
      4. Company details - Fields that extract information about your organization, such as company name, address, tax ID, or phone number. 
      5. Bar codes - Generate scannable barcodes for records, such as invoice numbers or unique identifiers. These improve document searchability and tracking when scanned.
      6. Custom functions - Personalized rules or formulas, such as calculations or conditional formatting, that customize how data appears or behaves in the template.
        1. You can include date and date-time formats in your templates. European date formats such as DD.MM.YYYY are supported. For example, you can send a quote and related document from the CRM with the date in the DD.MM.YYYY date format.
        2. Additional formats include:
          1. DD-MM-YYYY
          2. MM-DD-YYYY
          3. YYYY-MM-DD
      7. Esign tabs - Merge DocuSign tabs in the template, such as mandatory sign tabs. It makes it easy for you to insert configured signatures into the document. 
        1. Configure Timezone field to show date and time information based on the Contact’s time zone.
    5. Currency Preference: 
      1. Currency to word format - Converts numeric currency values to words in Uppercase, Lowercase, or Title Case.
      2. Word format terms - Adjusts the language style for currency conversion to Finance or General. 
    6. PDF Setup:
      1. Page format - Determines the paper size of the document. 
      2. Orientation - Defines layout as Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal).
      3. Apply watermark - A checkbox option to overlay a watermark on the document. 
      4. File name - Allows you to add a custom name and select a field from a dropdown, then combine the given name with the selected field’s value from the record.
  8. Click Save.

Best Practices for Creating Print Templates

Before you start creating print templates in Vtiger CRM, it's helpful to follow some best practices. 

Follow these best practices to create print templates smoothly and avoid common issues:

  • Avoid Browser Extension Issues
    • Use an incognito (private browsing) window to prevent issues caused by browser extensions interfering with the template editor.
  • Clean Up Copied Content
    • Paste the content into a plain text editor like Notepad to remove hidden formatting.
    • Then paste it into the template editor and use the editor’s formatting tools.
  • Prevent Source Code Issues When Adding Products
    • Before pasting code related to Products, first paste it into Notepad. This ensures any hidden styles or broken tags are removed.
  • Manage Large Content or Image Alignment
    • Review your code to make sure text, tables, and images are properly sized and consistently aligned throughout the template.
    • This prevents overwriting and misalignment issues.
  • Ensure Proper Currency Display
    • Verify that your preferred currency is enabled and active in the CRM’s currency list to ensure it appears correctly in the template.
  • Header or Footer Display Issues
    • Check for broken HTML, such as missing closing tags or misplaced elements, which can cause headers or footers to display improperly.
  • Merge Tag Issues
    • Check Field Values: Ensure the fields used in merge tags contain data. Blank fields will prevent merge tags from resolving.
    • Review Source Code: If the issue persists, examine the template’s source code to ensure the merge tag isn’t inside broken HTML or unnecessary styling tags.


Viewing Existing Templates

You can view existing templates in the list view. The List View is the first page that opens when you access Tools >Templates > Print Templates.

Follow these steps to view existing templates:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click Main Menu.
  3. Go to Tools >Templates > Print Templates. The Print Templates page opens, showing a list view of all available templates.
  4. The list view will display a list of all templates with the following details:
    1. Template Name - Name of the template.
    2. Module - The module the template is associated with.
    3. Default Template - The number of emails sent using the template.
    4. Assigned To - The users or groups assigned to the template.

Editing a Template

Follow these steps to edit an existing print template:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click Main Menu.
  3. Go to Tools >Templates > Print Templates. The Print Templates page opens. 
  4. Select the template you want to edit from the list view
  5. Click the Edit icon. The Edit Print Template page opens.
  6. Make the required changes in the template fields or design.
  7. Click Save to update the template
Note: You can't edit the default templates provided

Duplicating a Template

Follow these steps to duplicate an existing template:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click Main Menu.
  3. Go to Tools >Templates > Print Templates. The Print Templates page opens.
  4. Select the template you want to duplicate by clicking on it.
  5. Click the more icon on the template’s detail page.
  6. Click Duplicate.
  7. Update the necessary details in the duplicate template.
  8. Click Save to create the new template.

Deleting a Template

Follow these steps to delete a template:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click Main Menu.
  3. Go to Tools >Templates > Print Templates. The Print Templates page opens.
  4. Select the template you want to delete by clicking on it.
  5. Click the More icon on the template’s detail page.
  6. Click Delete. A confirmation pop-up window appears.
  7. Type DELETE in the provided field.
  8. Click Confirm to delete the template permanently.
Note: Deleted templates will move to the Recycle Bin and are permanently erased after 30 days.


Setting a Default Template for a module

You can set a template as the default for a module, ensuring that when a record is printed or exported, it follows the format of the selected default template. Only one template can be set as default per module. If a template is marked as default, the default option for other templates in the module will be disabled.

Follow these steps to set a default template:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click Main Menu.
  3. Navigate to Tools > Templates > Print Templates. The Print Templates page opens.
  4. Hover over the template you want to set as default.
  5. Click Default.
Once set, records will automatically use the default template when printed. However, you can still select a different template if needed while printing.

Printing Records Using a Template

Follow these steps to print a record using a template:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click on the required module(e.g., Invoices, Quotes).
  3. Select the record you want to print.
  4. Click Print. The Print window opens.
  5. Enter or select the following details to print a record:
    1. Select Template -  Choose a template from the list or use the search bar to find a specific one.
    2.  Customize - Make changes to the selected template if needed.
  6. Click Save as PDF to save the record as a PDF file
  7. Click Email with PDF to email the document directly to a recipient.
  8. Click Print to print the document.

Note:

  • If a default template is assigned to the module, it will be displayed by default, but you can select a different template if required.
  • If no templates are created or assigned for the module, an option to create a template will appear, allowing you to create a new template.

Attaching Templates to Workflow Emails

To attach a Print Template to a workflow email:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click Main Menu > Settings on the top right corner of the page.
  3. Go to Automation.
  4. Select Workflows. The Workflow page opens.
  5. Choose or create a new workflow.
  6. Go to the Action section. 
  7. Click Add Action.
  8. Select Send Mail from the drop-down. The Add Actions for Workflow> Sent Email page opens.
  9. Enable the Add Merge Template checkbox.
  10. Select the print template from the picklist associated with the module.
  11. Click Save to complete the workflow setup.

Note: The Scheduler sends emails at timed intervals in a queue (minimum scanning period is 15 minutes). So, an email may not be delivered immediately.

To learn more about setting up workflow actions to send mail, click here.

Adding Custom Functions in Print Templates

You can use Custom Functions in the Print Templates feature to insert function merge tags. Function merge tags help you perform specific actions based on the parameters specified.
You can add the following list of essential functions: 

  • IF function
  • NOT EMPTY Function
  • EMPTY Function
  • Expressions

 Now let’s discuss each function broadly.

  • IF function: The if function is a conventional if-else statement in programming in which we compare one value with other.
    • merge-tag : #CF|IF|param1|param2|operator|return1|return2|CF#
    • param1, param2 : Parameters to compare. The values should be any of (A-Z, a-z, 0-9).
    • operator : Operator to compare parameters. The value should be of any (<,>,<=,>=,!=, ==).
    • return1 : Return value, if the comparison is true.
    • return2 : Return value, if the comparison is false.
  • NOT EMPTY Function: This function checks if the value is non-empty or not.
    • merge-tag : #CF|NONEMPTY|param|return1|return2|CF#
    • param : Value to check for non-emptiness.
    • return1 : Value to return “if value” is not empty(True condition)
    • return2 : Value to return “if value” is empty(False condition)
  • EMPTY Function: This function is the reverse of the above function(NOT EMPTY).
    • merge-tag : #CF|EMPTY|param|return1|return2|CF#
    • param : value to check non-emptiness.
    • return1 : Value to return “if value” if empty(True condition)
    • return2 : Value to return “if value” is non-empty(False condition)
  • Expressions: Computes values while generating PDF by adding expressions in Rrint Templates.
    • merge-tag : #CF|EXPRESSION|({param1}(arithmetic operator){|param2})|CF#
    • param1, param2: Parameters to compare. The values should be any of (0-9).
    • arithmetic operator: Arithmetic operators such as +,-,/,* and %.

Troubleshooting Tips 

Error: Template Preview Displays a Blank Page

Follow these steps to resolve the issue:

  1. Log in to the CRM.
  2. Click the Main Menu.
  3. Go to Tools > Templates > Print Templates. The Print Templates page opens.
  4. Open the template that is showing as blank.
  5. Click Edit. The Edit Print Template page opens.
  6. Go to the Template Editor page. 
  7. Ensure there are no extra spaces at the beginning of the template content, as these cause the template to display a blank page upon printing. 
  8. Click Save. 

The issue is now resolved, and the template will display correctly.

Reference 

Set up a Workflow Action to Send Mails

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