How do I print packing slips for Shopify orders?
Shopify prints packing slips from the admin, and its help pages say you can print them for your orders individually or in bulk. For branded templates, the Shopify Order Printer app creates invoices, packing slips, pick lists and other documents. Printing is not fulfilling, so tracking is still a separate step on the order.
Print from the order, or print the batch
Shopify's printing orders help page lists invoices, packing slips, receipts and pick lists as order documents you can print to include with shipments or keep for your records, and says you can print packing slips for your orders individually or in bulk. One order gets a slip from its own page. A day's worth gets one print job.
Go to Orders in the Shopify admin.
Click the Unfulfilled tab to narrow the list to what still has to ship.
Select the orders you are packing.
Print the packing slips for the selection.
Pack against the slips, then fulfill with tracking.
When Shopify Order Printer earns its place
The default slip carries the order. If you want your logo, your returns wording, a second language or a different layout, Shopify's own words are that the Shopify Order Printer app lets you create branded templates for invoices, packing slips, pick lists and other documents. It changes presentation, not what Shopify knows about the order.
Templates are worth setting up once. Editing them per print run is a sign the template is wrong.
Pick list and packing slip are different documents
| Document | Who reads it | When it is printed |
|---|---|---|
| Pick list | You and your packers | Before packing, across orders |
| Packing slip | The customer | At packing, one per order |
| Invoice | The customer | With the order or on request |
A pick list is organised by item so one walk of the shelves covers the whole run. A packing slip is organised by order so the box can be checked against it.
Printing does not move the order
A printed slip changes nothing in Shopify. The order stays Unfulfilled until a fulfillment is created, and the shipping confirmation only goes out when an order is fulfilled. If you print in the morning and fulfill in the afternoon, the customer hears nothing until the afternoon, which is usually what you want.
A packing run that does not double back
Print one pick list for the whole run and pull stock once.
Print packing slips for the same selection.
Pack and weigh each box against its slip.
Buy the label for that box.
Fulfill the order with the tracking number so the confirmation carries it.
The order that costs time is printing slips per order as you go, because it puts a printer trip between every pack.
Key takeaways
- The admin prints packing slips individually or in bulk.
- Shopify Order Printer is for branded templates, not for extra data.
- A pick list is for your packers. A packing slip is for the customer.
- Printing a slip does not fulfill the order or send any email.
Slips and pick lists from the same queue as the labels
The Shopify connection is in early access. Orders pulled from your store land in The Workbench, which is part of Pro, and pick lists and packing slips are generated there for the rows that came from a connected store. Because the labels are bought from the same queue, the slip you packed against and the fulfillment that carries the tracking number describe the same box.
Related questions
No. Fulfilling creates the fulfillment and sends the shipping confirmation, but printing is a separate action you take from the Orders page. That is why most packing benches print first and fulfill second, so the paper is in the box before the customer is told anything.
That is what the Shopify Order Printer app is for. Shopify describes it as letting you create branded templates for invoices, packing slips, pick lists and other documents. The default slip is fine for a small run, and a template is worth the setup once you are printing every day.
It depends who opens the box. A gift order is the classic case for a slip with quantities and no amounts. Since the slip is a template, decide once for the way you sell rather than per order, and keep the order number on it either way so a customer service question can be traced.
Location and quantity across the whole run. A pick list exists so one pass of the shelves covers every order, so it is sorted by item or bin rather than by order number. The packing slip is the per order document that proves the box matches what was bought.