Your own PDF voucher design

Every gift voucher has a downloadable PDF. By default it’s Sidedoor’s standard design; if you’d rather vouchers match your own branding exactly, upload a PDF you’ve designed yourself. Sidedoor fills in each guest’s details and a QR code, attaches the finished PDF to the purchase email, and makes it available as a download in both the guest app and the client portal.

Design the PDF

Design the voucher in any tool you like (for example Adobe Illustrator, Canva or Figma) and export it as a single-page PDF.

Then add form fields to the PDF so Sidedoor knows where to print each piece of information:

• In Adobe Acrobat: open the PDF, choose Prepare Form, then draw a text field over each spot you want filled and give it one of the names below.
• Free alternative: an editor such as LibreOffice can add the same kind of form fields. Insert a text-box form control where you want each value, name it, and export to PDF with form fields included.
• Don’t want to do it yourself? Send your PDF to support@thesidedoor.co and Sidedoor can add the fields for you.

Field names

Name each field exactly as shown. Any other field name is left blank.

Field name	Required	Filled with
code	Yes	The voucher code
recipient_name	No	The recipient’s name (or the purchaser’s, if they bought it for themselves)
from_name	No	The purchaser’s name, when the voucher is being sent to someone else
message	No	The gift message, if one was added
value	No	The voucher’s value
expiry	No	The voucher’s expiry date
venue	No	Your venue’s name
qr	No	Not text: Sidedoor draws the QR code into this field’s box and removes the field

code is the only field Sidedoor requires. Without a qr field, the voucher still works but prints without a QR code, so staff would need to type the code at redemption instead of scanning it.

Text and fonts

Each field keeps the font size and colour you set for it in your design tool, or you can leave the size as auto to have it sized automatically. Only the standard PDF fonts (the Helvetica, Times and Courier families) print correctly; anything else falls back to a standard font automatically. Long text shrinks to fit its box, so the voucher code, recipient name and so on always fit.

Upload it

1. Go to Settings → Marketing → Vouchers and find PDF voucher design.
2. Select Upload PDF and choose your file.
3. Sidedoor checks it straight away and shows a checklist as it goes, finishing with a verdict of Approved or Not suitable. An approved design is saved immediately and used for every voucher from then on.
4. Select Preview with sample data to see exactly how a finished voucher looks, filled in with sample details.

New vouchers use your uploaded design straight away. Vouchers that were already sent keep the design they were sent with, so replacing your template never changes a voucher a guest already has.

Select Remove to go back to the standard design. Vouchers already sent are unaffected either way.

File size

The upload limit is 5 MB, and anything over 1 MB shows a warning, because the voucher is sent as an email attachment and a smaller file arrives more reliably. If your PDF is too large, export it smaller:

• In Acrobat, use File → Save as Other → Reduced Size PDF.
• Export images at 150 dpi rather than full print resolution.
• Avoid embedding full-resolution photos directly in the page.

A sample template

Download a sample voucher template to see a working example, with every field already named correctly. It passes every check with no warnings, so it’s a good starting point to design from.

Troubleshooting

Sidedoor checks these things every time you upload, and shows which one needs fixing if a PDF isn’t suitable yet:

Check	If it fails
File size	The PDF is over 5 MB. Export it smaller (see File size above) and upload again.
Opens as a PDF	The file isn’t a readable PDF, or it’s password protected. Export it without a password, or re-save a fresh copy from a PDF reader.
One page	The PDF has more than one page. Trim it down to a single page.
code field	There’s no field named code, or it isn’t a text field. Add a text field named exactly code where the voucher code should print.
qr box	There’s no field named qr. The design is still approved, but vouchers print without a QR code until you add one.
Field names	A field is named something other than the names above. It’s left blank on the voucher; check the spelling matches exactly.
Test fill with sample data	Sidedoor couldn’t fill the PDF with sample data. Open it in a PDF reader, save a fresh copy, and upload that.

Tip

If text in a field looks cut off, it’s usually just a box that’s too small for what fills it (a long venue name or message, for example). Make the box wider or taller in your design tool and upload again.