Packing slips are one of the most customized and most frequently asked-about features in SKULabs. This guide covers the most common issues customers run into, and explains how to control what appears on your packing slips — from notes and tags to kit components, dropship items, and bin locations.

The most common cause is a pop-up blocker preventing the print window from opening. SKULabs opens packing slips in a new browser tab or window — if your browser blocks pop-ups, the slip will never appear.

Print lag is almost always related to the SKULabs Printer Driver or the size/complexity of the packing slip template.

This usually happens when the batch type is set to print packing slips at two different stages — for example, both during picking and at batch end. Go to Settings > Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section and check the Print packing slips setting on the right side of the Batch type editor. Set it to print at only one stage.

This is a browser print settings issue. When printing packing slips, make sure your browser's print dialog has one page per sheet selected. Also check that your packing slip template doesn't have extra content pushing into a second order's area — a common cause is a missing page-break or a template with no defined page height.

When printing in bulk, SKULabs generates a combined PDF. If your template uses certain CSS that behaves differently in PDF rendering than in browser preview, the output may look different. Contact SKULabs support with an example order number and we can review your template.

If your packing slips are printing from your label printer (or vice versa), check the printer assignment in Settings > Printers. Each document type (packing slip, shipping label) can be assigned to a different printer. Make sure "Packing slip" is mapped to your correct printer.

Go to Settings > Change batch settings under the Profile Settings section. In the Batch type editor, find Print packing slips on the right side and set it to Never.

These errors mean the packing slip template has a syntax error — usually caused by special characters in order data being passed into the template in a way the browser's JavaScript can't handle.

This happens when order notes or customization fields contain raw JSON, app-injected metadata, or script output (common with Rebuy, Shopify Scripts, or custom apps). The fix is to use template variables that filter or exclude this data. Contact SKULabs support and share an example order — we can update your template to suppress the unwanted output.

Customer-facing notes are stored separately from internal notes in SKULabs. If they're not appearing on your packing slip, your template may be using the wrong replacement variable.

If both customer-facing and internal notes are showing, your template is using ##{{NOTES}} which pulls everything. Replace it with ##{{CUSTOMER_FACING_NOTES}} to show only notes intended for the customer. Contact SKULabs support if you need help updating the template.

Shopify separates standard order notes from "additional details" (note attributes). SKULabs imports both but they can end up combined in the notes field. If you want to show only one type, contact SKULabs support — this requires a template update to filter by note source.

When you create a dropship PO for an item in SKULabs, that item should be excluded from the in-house packing slip. To do this, your packing slip template needs to use the EXCLUDE_ITEMS_DROPSHIPPED_VIA_SKULABS replacement variable. This variable tells the template to skip any items that have been sent to a dropship supplier.

To add it, go to Settings > Printing > Templates, open your packing slip template, and add this variable to the items loop in your template. If you're not comfortable editing HTML templates, contact SKULabs support and we can apply it for you.

If part of an order was sent to a dropship supplier and the remaining in-house items are showing an empty packing slip, check the following:

For partially shipped orders, you can configure the packing slip to show only unshipped items. This requires a template update. Contact SKULabs support and request that your packing slip be updated to exclude already-shipped line items. The template variable for this is ITEMS_NOT_YET_SHIPPED.

This usually happens when the same item is linked to two different listings on the same order, or when the order was edited in a way that created a duplicate line item. Check the order in SKULabs to see if the item appears twice on the order itself. If it does, the packing slip is accurately reflecting the order — the duplicate is the root issue. If the order shows the item once but the packing slip shows it twice, contact SKULabs support with the order number.

By default, items on a packing slip appear in the order they were added to the order. To sort by bin/location, your packing slip template needs to use a location-sorted items variable. Contact SKULabs support and ask for your template to be updated to sort items by location — this is a common request and we can apply it for you.

This is a template customization. Contact SKULabs support and we can update your template to sort items so out-of-stock ones appear first, making it easier for pickers to flag them early.

By default, packing slips list the individual components of a kit. If you want the kit name to appear above the components, your template needs to be updated to include the kit name as a header. Contact SKULabs support and we can add this.

This usually means your packing slip template was recently updated (e.g. migrated to v2) and the items loop wasn't updated to correctly iterate through all kit components. Contact SKULabs support with an example order and kit — we'll fix the template.

If you want the kit's image to display on the packing slip (rather than component images), this requires a template update to pull the kit-level image. Contact SKULabs support.

This is a known rendering difference between single-order print (browser preview) and bulk PDF generation. It's usually caused by CSS that doesn't translate consistently to PDF. Contact SKULabs support with an example and we can adjust the template CSS.

The following are the most commonly requested fields that customers want on their packing slips. All of these require editing your packing slip template in Settings > Printing > Templates. If you're not comfortable editing HTML/CSS, contact SKULabs support and we can make the change for you.

Use the ##{{CUSTOMER_FACING_NOTES}} variable in your template to show customer-facing order notes.

Use the ##{{ORDER_TAGS}} variable to display order tags on the packing slip. To show only specific tags (and exclude others), contact SKULabs support — this requires conditional logic in the template.

Use the ##{{LOCATION}} variable within the items loop to show the bin or warehouse location for each item. This helps pickers verify they're pulling from the right location.

Use the ##{{SHIP_BY_DATE}} variable to show the ship-by date on the packing slip. This is especially useful for time-sensitive orders.

Use the ##{{ITEM_WEIGHT}} variable within the items loop to display each item's weight.

Use the ##{{SHIPPING_METHOD}} or ##{{SHIPPING_METHOD_REQUESTED}} variable to show the requested or selected shipping method.

Use the ##{{ORDER_BARCODE}} variable to include a scannable barcode for the order number. This is useful for scan-to-verify workflows.

Use the ##{{PAYMENT_METHOD}} variable to show how the customer paid.

Use the ##{{CUSTOMER_PO_NUMBER}} variable if your customers supply a PO number with their orders (common in B2B workflows).

Use the ##{{ITEM_OPTIONS}} or ##{{LINE_ITEM_OPTIONS}} variable within the items loop to show variant choices (e.g. size, color) selected by the customer.

Add an <img> tag pointing to your logo URL in your packing slip template header. Go to Settings > Printing > Templates to edit the template. Make sure the image is hosted at a public URL (e.g. your CDN or website) and is appropriately sized — large images slow down print times.

Add any static text directly to your template HTML. For example, place a "Thank you for your order!" message in the template footer.

This requires conditional CSS logic in the template (e.g. apply a background color to a row if the item has a specific tag). Contact SKULabs support — this is a common customization and we can help design it for you.

To create a gift packing slip that hides prices, you can duplicate your packing slip template and remove the price fields. You can then use a shipping rule to automatically apply the gift template to orders tagged as "Gift." Go to Settings > Shipping > Rules, create a rule that matches gift orders, and set the action to use the gift packing slip template. Contact SKULabs support if you need help setting this up.

SKULabs supports per-store packing slip templates. Go to Settings > Printing > Templates, create a new template for the store or location, and assign it to the relevant store in the store settings. This allows each store or fulfillment location to have its own branding and layout.

Your packing slip template needs to be designed for 4x6 dimensions. Go to Settings > Printing > Templates and either edit your existing template to set the page size, or contact SKULabs support and we can build a 4x6 template for you.

This is usually caused by excess whitespace or a missing explicit page height in the template. Open your template in Settings > Printing > Templates and look for excessive <br> tags, large margins, or a header section that's too tall. You can also contact SKULabs support to have the template corrected.

Same cause as above — the template has content that overflows the first page. Look for trailing whitespace, an oversized footer, or a missing page-break CSS rule. Contact SKULabs support if you can't locate the issue.

Bulk printing generates a combined PDF using the template's defined orientation. If landscape isn't working in bulk mode, the template needs to have landscape orientation set in its CSS. Contact SKULabs support to update the template.

Currently, SKULabs logs the first time a packing slip is printed as part of the order activity, but does not log subsequent reprints. If you need reprint tracking, one workaround is to require a manual note or tag to be added each time a reprint is done. If this is important to your workflow, submit feedback via the thumbs down button and let us know — it helps prioritize features.

The Printed tag is applied automatically when a packing slip is printed through SKULabs. If it's not being applied, check the following:

User-level print permissions are controlled via roles. Go to Settings > Team, find the user, and review their role. You can restrict what actions standard users can perform. Contact SKULabs support if you need a role configured to block packing slip printing for specific accounts.

No — printing a packing slip does not change the order's status in SKULabs. It may apply the "Printed" tag (if that setting is enabled), but the order remains in its current status until it is shipped.

Yes. Each store in SKULabs can have its own packing slip template. Go to Settings > Printing > Templates to create and assign templates per store.

Not natively — SKULabs prints one copy per print action. The most common workaround is to set the batch to print packing slips twice (at two different stages), or to use browser print settings to print multiple copies when the print dialog opens.

Not directly from SKULabs at this time. You can print the packing slip to PDF using your browser's "Save as PDF" option and then attach it to an email manually.

Yes, but it requires a template update. Contact SKULabs support and ask for location-sorted items on your packing slip template.

Your packing slip template is likely using the wrong variable for company name or support email. Check Settings > Printing > Templates and look for the company name and email fields in the template header. Make sure they're using your store's variables and not hardcoded values from a different store.

Yes — using item tags and conditional template logic, you can highlight specific items or add a visual flag (e.g. a colored row or a warning message) when certain items appear on a packing slip. Contact SKULabs support to set this up.