Agent Skills: Frappe Print Format Builder

Frappe Print Format Builder

Print Formats allow you to generate PDFs or HTML views of DocType data.

When to Use

• Creating professional invoices, certificates, or reports.
• Customizing the layout of data for physical printing or emailing as attachments.

Core Patterns

1. Print Format Definition

Standard print formats are stored in the print_format directory of your module.

File Path: [app_name]/[module_name]/print_format/[format_name]/[format_name].json

2. Jinja2 Templating

Most custom print formats use HTML + Jinja2.

Example Template (format_name.html):

<div class="print-format">
    <h1>{{ doc.doctype }}: {{ doc.name }}</h1>
    <hr>
    <div class="row">
        <div class="col-xs-6">
            <strong>Customer:</strong> {{ doc.customer_name }}
        </div>
        <div class="col-xs-6 text-right">
            <strong>Date:</strong> {{ frappe.format_date(doc.posting_date) }}
        </div>
    </div>

    <table class="table table-bordered mt-4">
        <thead>
            <tr>
                <th>Item</th>
                <th class="text-right">Qty</th>
                <th class="text-right">Rate</th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            {% for item in doc.items %}
            <tr>
                <td>{{ item.item_name }}</td>
                <td class="text-right">{{ item.qty }}</td>
                <td class="text-right">{{ item.get_formatted("rate") }}</td>
            </tr>
            {% endfor %}
        </tbody>
    </table>
</div>

Key Requirements

1. is_standard: 1: Ensures the print format is tracked in version control.
2. print_format_type: "Jinja": Specifies that the format uses a Jinja template.
3. Bootstrapping: Use Bootstrap classes (e.g., row, col-xs-*, table) as Frappe's PDF generator (wkhtmltopdf) handles them best.

Best Practices

• Formatting: Use frappe.format_date(), frappe.format_currency(), or doc.get_formatted("field") for localized data display.
• Images: Use absolute URLs or Base64 for images/logos to ensure they render in PDFs.
• Styles: Include a <style> block in your template for custom CSS specific to the print layout.