--- title: "PDF branding and documents" description: "Tailor your generated quote documents - logo, three brand colors, header, footer, terms - and control when Proposal, Confirmation, and Pro-Forma PDFs generate." url: "https://www.quotway.com/docs/documents/pdf-branding-and-documents" type: "documentation" category: "documents" updated: "2026-06-20" locale: "en" source: "QuotWay - B2B Quote & Negotiation App for Shopify" --- # PDF branding and documents **Read time:** 4 minutes. **Who it's for:** Merchants tailoring how their generated quote documents look - logo, brand colors, header and footer text, terms. QuotWay generates three PDF document types per quote: | Type | When it generates | Plan gate | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | | **Proposal** | The merchant sends a proposal to the buyer | All plans | | **Confirmation** | The buyer accepts the proposal (full or partial) | Professional+ | | **Pro-Forma** | The buyer accepts and needs an invoice ahead of conversion | Professional+ | All three use the same branding settings. > ⚠️ Confirmation and Pro-Forma PDFs require the **Professional** plan or higher. The Proposal PDF is available on every plan. --- > Watch: branded quote proposals, confirmations, and pro-forma invoices. ## What's customizable Open **Admin → Apps → QuotWay → Settings → PDF branding**. You'll see: | Field | Default | Notes | | --------------------- | -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | Logo URL | (none) | Paste a Shopify CDN URL from Shopify Admin → Files. | | Primary color | `#1B3A5C` (Navy 900) | Used for page headers, totals row, accents. | | Secondary color | `#374151` (Slate) | Used for table borders, body-text emphasis. | | Accent color | `#0D9488` (Teal 600) | Used for status pills and callouts. | | PDF header text | (empty) | Free-form text above the line items table. | | PDF footer text | (empty) | Free-form text below the totals. Often address + tax ID. | | Terms text | (empty) | Long terms-and-conditions block on the last page. | | Show product images | On | Toggle the small thumbnail next to each line. | | Show acceptance stamp | On | Adds a buyer-signed stamp on Confirmation PDFs. | | Show signature block | Off | Adds a print-and-sign block (authorised signature, name, date) to the proposal. | Each of the three brand colors has a **color picker** - choose a color from the swatch or enter a value, and QuotWay stores it for you. No need to hand-type a hex code. ## Signatures, PO numbers, and acceptance Three things buyers' purchasing processes commonly ask for, and where each one lives. ### The signature block Turn on **Show signature block** to add a print-and-sign area to the proposal - authorised signature, name, and date. It's there for purchasing processes that need a signed PDF in the file, and it's printed rather than interactive: the buyer prints, signs, and returns it through whatever channel their process uses. ### How acceptance is actually recorded Separately from the printed block, QuotWay captures acceptance natively when the buyer accepts in the portal or their customer account. That record carries a timestamp, an acceptance hash, and the accepting party's email, and it's stamped onto the **Confirmation PDF** (see *Show acceptance stamp*). For most buyers that's the artefact their finance team files - it names who accepted, what, and when, without anyone printing anything. ### Getting a PO number onto the proposal Buyers whose process runs on PO numbers usually want the number visible on the document itself. **Custom fields do this:** add a custom text field to your quote form labelled *PO number*, and the buyer's answer renders in a **Your request details** block on the proposal PDF - and travels onto the resulting order as a buyer-visible attribute, so it's on the order record too. That makes a custom field the right home for anything the buyer supplies that has to appear on paperwork: PO number, project reference, cost centre, delivery instructions. See [Custom fields and conditional logic](../quote-form/custom-fields-and-conditional-logic.md). ## How to upload your logo QuotWay reads the logo from a Shopify CDN URL. The pattern: 1. **Shopify Admin → Settings → Files.** 2. Click **Upload files**. Pick your logo PNG or SVG (max 1 MB). 3. After upload, click the file and copy its CDN URL - it looks like `https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/...`. 4. **QuotWay → Settings → PDF branding.** Paste the URL into the **Logo URL** field. Hit **Save**. The logo renders at about 120 px wide on every PDF page, top-left, above the header text. Best practices: - **PNG with a transparent background** is the safest. SVG works, but fonts inside SVGs render inconsistently across viewers. - **Aspect ratio under 4:1** (wider than tall). Tall logos get crammed. - **No background color** - the PDF page is white; if your logo has a non-white background it'll show as a colored rectangle. ## When PDFs auto-generate By default: - **Proposal PDF** - auto-generated when the merchant clicks **Send proposal**. Attached to the buyer's notification email. - **Confirmation PDF** - auto-generated on `FULLY_ACCEPTED` or `PARTIALLY_ACCEPTED`. Stored on the quote; the buyer can download it from the portal. - **Pro-Forma PDF** - generated on demand. The merchant clicks **Generate Pro-Forma** in the quote detail. Toggle auto-generation in **Settings → PDF branding** - there are auto-generate toggles per document type. ## Where PDFs are stored Each PDF is a regular attachment (see [File attachments](../attachments/file-attachments.md)): - Stored encrypted at rest. - Retention follows your plan (Lite 30 days, Starter 90, Professional 180, Enterprise 365). See [File attachments](../attachments/file-attachments.md) for the full retention table. - Visibility: buyer-visible for Proposal and Confirmation; merchant-only for Pro-Forma until the merchant explicitly shares it. - Re-generated on demand if the merchant updates the proposal (the old PDF is preserved; the new version overwrites only the latest pointer). ## Locale support PDFs use the buyer's quote-time locale. Text strings like "Quote #1234" become "Devis #1234" (FR), and labels like "Subtotal" become "Sous-total". The merchant's free-form text (header, footer, terms) is **not** auto-translated - write it in the languages you do business in, and use Shopify Translate & Adapt to localize storefront strings. --- ## Common gotchas - **Logo shows as a broken-image icon.** The URL isn't reachable from QuotWay's render worker. Use a Shopify CDN URL (always reachable), not a Google Drive or Dropbox share link (those need auth). - **Colors look washed out.** PDFs render at sRGB. If you pasted a wide-gamut color value, it'll snap to sRGB. Always pick from an sRGB palette. - **"Pro-Forma not available on your plan."** Upgrade to Professional or higher. Proposal PDFs are available on every plan; Confirmation and Pro-Forma PDFs require Professional or higher. - **Old PDFs still show old branding.** PDFs are generated once at the event time. Regenerate via the quote detail page if you changed branding mid-quote. --- ## Related articles - [File attachments](../attachments/file-attachments.md) - storage and retention details. - [Buyer portal vs customer account](../buyer-experience/portal-vs-customer-account.md) - the buyer's-eye view of generated PDFs. - [Plans, trial, and billing](../billing/plans-trial-and-billing.md) - which document types each plan includes.