Quick start
A five-minute walkthrough — once BestPDF is installed and the license key is set, this is the fastest path from zero to a custom-branded PDF.
If you haven't installed BestPDF yet, start with Installation.
1. Open BestPDF
In the Blesta admin area, go to Tools → BestPDF. You land on the Overview tab, which shows the currently active invoice and quote designs (none yet, on a fresh install).
2. Create your first design
Switch to the Designs tab in the left sidebar of the BestPDF interface. Click + Create Template.
- Template Name —
My First Invoice - Document Type —
Invoice
Click Create Design. The editor opens.
3. Drop in a few components
On the Content tab inside the editor (the body of the document), click + Add Component at the bottom of the left list. Add these one at a time:
- Spacer — set height to about 50 mm. This pushes everything below the address window on page 1.
- Details Box — invoice number, dates, customer number.
- Spacer — 5 mm.
- Invoice Items — the line items table.
- Summary — totals. It arrives with every row selected; remove the ones your invoices never use.
On the Overlays tab, add:
- Image — pick an image asset (upload your logo on the spot via the + button on the Image Asset row). Set position to e.g.
X = 140 mm, Y = 15 mmand width60 mm. - Address Box — defaults are fine. Position to e.g.
X = 23 mm, Y = 61 mm, Width = 90 mmfor a typical DL window envelope. - Page Number — bottom-centred is the default.
Save the template with the Save Template button at the bottom-right.
4. Activate it
Close the editor (click outside or the ✕ button). Back on the Designs page, your new template appears with an Activate chip in the top-right. Click it — the chip turns green to show this is now the active invoice design.
5. Enable BestPDF as the invoice template in Blesta
If you haven't done this yet during installation, go to Settings → Billing/Payment → Invoice Customization in Blesta, set Invoice Template to BestPDF, and save.
From now on, every invoice Blesta produces uses your new design.
6. Preview
Back in the BestPDF interface, on the Designs page, click your template's thumbnail to open the generated preview PDF in a new tab. The preview is regenerated every time you save.
Where to go from here
That's a working design. To dig deeper:
- Designs — the conceptual model: document settings, content, overlays, styles, assets, and how they fit together.
- Components — every component documented in detail.
- Concepts — shared topics: positioning, visibility, styles, merge fields & Twig syntax.
- Translations — override the built-in strings (column headers, status labels, etc.) and add your own.
Common next steps
- Point the design's colour palette at your brand colours — every style and component follows automatically.
- Replace the default typography style with your brand font (Assets → Fonts, then Styles → Typography).
- Add a stationery PDF as branded letterhead (Document Settings → Stationery).
- Put the details box and your logo side by side with a Columns component.
- Add a payment QR code (Payment Code), and attach an e-invoice (E-Invoicing) — requires Billing Booster.