Shopify packing slip template: edits to make before holiday orders ship

Your Shopify packing slip template lives in Settings > Shipping and delivery, in the Documents section. You can edit it with HTML, CSS and Liquid, preview it against a real order on stores that have the newer document templates, and put it back with Revert to default if an edit goes wrong.

Before holiday orders start shipping, a few small edits do most of the work: a logo, a short thank-you and returns line, the shopper's gift note, any personalization they entered on the product page, and a line that explains a split shipment. This guide shows where each edit goes, gives the Liquid for it, and covers the checks to run before you print a big batch.

What a Shopify packing slip shows, and what it can't

A packing slip lists the items in one shipment, with the shipping and billing addresses and product details such as SKU and quantity. It goes in the box. If an order ships in more than one package, you can print a separate packing slip for each shipment.

The template can only use the variables in Shopify's packing slip variable reference. Those cover your store name and address, the order number, date and note, the customer's name and email, the shipping and billing addresses, and the line items in the shipment (image, title, variant, vendor, SKU, quantity, quantity in this shipment, properties and bundle groups). There are no price variables in that list. That makes the packing slip, rather than an invoice, the document to put in a gift parcel.

Where to edit the packing slip template

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
2. In the Documents section, click Packing slip template. If the section lists your document templates by name instead, click your packing slip template.
3. Edit the code. If your store lists templates by name, your changes show in the preview as you type, and you can click Preview and pick a real order. Otherwise, click Preview template.
4. Click Save.

Shopify is rolling out order document templates gradually, in early access. With them, you can keep more than one packing slip template, duplicate one to test changes, and choose which is the default. Print packing slips always uses the default, so edit that one, or tick Set as default template for packing slips on the version you want to print.

A safe habit: duplicate the template before a big edit. The copy opens in the editor as "Copy of" the original, and your live slip stays untouched until you make the copy the default.

Five edits worth making before the holidays

1. Add your logo

Upload the logo in Content > Files and note the exact file name, including the extension. Shopify's packing slip customization guide shows where to place it, using the file_img_url and img_tag filters in place of, above or next to the store name. The file name must match exactly, capital letters included. Images only load from Shopify's own CDN, so a logo hosted elsewhere won't show.

2. Add a thank-you and returns line

Plain text is the easiest edit. Near the bottom of the template, add a short paragraph such as "Thanks for your order. Need to swap a size? Start a return at yourstore.com/returns." Keep it in line with your return policy. If you're extending returns for holiday gifts, say the date here as well as on the site.

3. Print the shopper's gift note

Every free Shopify theme has a cart note box you can switch on: in the theme editor, open the Cart page, click Subtotal, check Enable cart note and save (Shopify's steps). You can relabel the box in Edit default theme content, for example to "Gift note or delivery instructions".

What the shopper types is saved as the order note, which the template reads as order.note. To print it only when there is one, add this where you want it to appear:

{% unless order.note == blank %}<p><strong>Note:</strong> {{ order.note }}</p>{% endunless %}

One caution. Staff can also add notes in the Notes section of an order, and those land in the same field. If your team uses order notes for internal comments, use Timeline comments instead, which only staff can read, or every internal comment will print in the box.

4. Show personalization from the product page

Engraving text, a monogram or a "gift wrap this item" choice collected on the product page is stored as a line item property, which the template reads as line_item.properties. Check whether your template already prints them. If it doesn't, add a loop inside the existing line item loop, for example:

{% for property in line_item.properties %}{% assign first_char = property.first | slice: 0 %}{% unless first_char == '_' or property.last == blank %}<p>{{ property.first }}: {{ property.last }}</p>{% endunless %}{% endfor %}

Preview it with a real order that has properties before you print a batch, so you see exactly what the packer will see.

5. Explain split shipments

When part of an order ships later, a shopper who opens a box with two of five items may assume the rest is missing. The variable includes_all_line_items_in_order is true only when the shipment holds every item in the order, so you can add:

{% unless includes_all_line_items_in_order %}<p>More items from your order are on their way in a separate package.</p>{% endunless %}

You can also show "2 of 5" for each item with line_item.shipping_quantity and line_item.quantity. If you sell bundles, line_item.groups lets you print which bundle an item belongs to.

A worked example: a gift order, before and after

Say you sell candles, and a shopper orders two candles and a matchbox as a gift, shipped straight to a friend. The candles are in stock, but the matchbox ships next week. This is a hypothetical example.

Before: the default slip shows your store name, the friend's shipping address, the buyer's billing address and three items. The friend opens a box with two candles, sees no message, and wonders where the matchbox went.

After: the slip has your logo, the sender's note ("Happy birthday, Sam. Love, Alex"), the candles shown as "2 of 2", the line "More items from your order are on their way in a separate package", and a short note on how to swap a scent. Still no prices, because the packing slip has none to show.

Total work: four small template edits and one cart setting.

Printing packing slips in bulk

To print packing slips for one order, open it and click Print > Print packing slips. For a batch, go to Orders, select the orders, and click Print > Print packing slips. If you have more than one location, choose the location the orders ship from and click Continue. The Shopify app on iPhone and Android can print in bulk too.

On stores with the newer document templates, you can also click Print > Print multiple documents to print packing slips with other documents (Shopify's steps):

• Packing slips can print as thermal, letter or A4.
• Each page size opens in its own browser tab, so allow pop-ups for your Shopify admin first, or nothing prints.
• You can print up to 1,500 documents for each page size.
• Staff need the Manage order information permission to print documents from the order details page or the Orders page.

Before sale week, give temporary packers that permission and run a test print.

Pre-holiday packing slip checklist

• Duplicate the current template before editing, where your store has document templates.
• Logo uploaded to Files, file name matched exactly.
• Thank-you and returns line points to a live page and matches your policy.
• Cart note switched on and relabeled, and order.note printing only when there is one.
• Internal staff comments moved to Timeline comments.
• Line item properties showing, checked against a real order.
• Split shipment line added.
• Edited template set as the default for packing slips.
• Pop-ups allowed, page size chosen, and one test batch printed.

Common mistakes and what this won't fix

• Editing the wrong template. With more than one packing slip template, only the default prints from Print packing slips.
• Testing only with a simple order. Preview with a real order that has a note, properties and a partial shipment.
• Hosting images or CSS elsewhere. Images load only from Shopify's CDN, and CSS hosted outside Shopify won't render properly. Upload both to Files.
• Expecting a separate gift receipt. The packing slip is one document per shipment. It won't hide a gift note from the buyer or create a second slip for the giver.
• Expecting it to fix fulfillment. A better slip won't catch a wrong address or a fraud risk. Run those checks first; see what to check before you ship on Black Friday and how to edit an order when a shopper asks for a change.

Tell shoppers the gift note exists

A cart note only helps if shoppers know it's there before checkout. With Atomato, you can add a NotiFeed message to the feed shoppers open from the bell in your header, such as "Sending a gift? Add a note in your cart. We'll print it on the packing slip, with no prices." Targeting rules on every plan can limit it to product or cart pages with a Page URL rule. NotiFeed is on the free Starter plan, with one active campaign of one message. Start and end dates for the holiday window need Scale, at $49.99 a month. More holiday ideas are on the Black Friday Cyber Monday page.

Common questions

How do I change the packing slip on Shopify?

Go to Settings > Shipping and delivery, click Packing slip template (or your template's name) in the Documents section, edit the code, preview and save.

Does a Shopify packing slip show prices?

The packing slip variable reference has no price variables, so the packing slip is the document to send with gifts. Use an invoice when you need to show charges.

How do I add a gift message to a Shopify packing slip?

Switch on the cart note in your theme, then print order.note in the template. For per-item messages collected on the product page, print line_item.properties.

How do I reset my packing slip template?

Open the template and click Revert to default. On stores with document templates, reverting can't be undone, so duplicate the template first if you might want your edits back.

Next step

Duplicate your packing slip template today, add the gift note and split shipment lines, and preview them against a real order. Then print a test batch on the printer your team will use during sale week.

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