Invoice Designer Tips
yessirnosir
Money Invoice Designer, and given up in frustration, here's a couple of tips
about how I managed to finally get an invoice customized:
1.) the invoices are stored in HTML format, in the Documents and
Settings/All Users/Application Data/Microsoft/Money/Invoice folder. The
file names aren't very helpful in figuring out which file matches which
invoice, but you can view the file nvctmp2k.ntd in the same folder for a
handy crossreference.
2) If you have VERY simple edits to make, you may be able to use the
Invoice Designer and then make a minor correction. One of the most common
problems reported is that the saved invoices don't properly word-wrap
descriptions that don't fit on one line. I found that this is due to a
single parameter "RowHeight" being incorrectly specified as "11" instead of
"12" in the ActiveX invoice item object in the saved file. So simply open
the saved file in Notepad or other editor, search for "RowHeight", and
manually change the 11 to a 12.
3) If you have more complicated edits to make, I think many of us have found
that Microsoft's Invoice Designer messes it up. I had success editing the
HTML files directly with Dreamweaver MX 2004. The files use a complex
structure with many nested layers and lots of active X components, and my
first attempts to edit them with earlier generation HTML editors failed
(Dreamweaver 4 and FrontPage 2000). But Dreamweaver (available for free 30
day trial... should be long enough to design your invoice!) reveals the
layer structure, allowing you to understand which objects are "parents" and
"children". Once I understood that, I could select the "parent" layer for,
say, the invoice information, and easily move the entire invoice block
around the page. And I was able to easily see and edit all of the ActiveX
parameters. It was a little tedious, but after about an hour I was able to
make some significant changes to the invoice (different size logo, different
colors for borders, larger invoice item list with different column widths)
without messing up it's functionality. My skill with HTML editing is only
beginner level, so I think anyone with good computer skills and persistence
should be able to get this to work.
4) As mentioned above, Money keeps track of available invoice templates
with a text file called nvctmp2k.ntd. You can create a new invoice in
Dreamweaver, and then manually add it to this list. In my case, I added the
line
"my custom invoice/1100/850/portrait/myinvoice.htm" to the end of the file,
and the new invoice immediately appeared in Money's list.
Hope this helps someone experience a bit less anguish than I did!