Pages and overflow

A ShipPDF template contains explicit pages that you create in the editor. When an explicit page contains more content than fits on one sheet, ShipPDF creates overflow pages in the generated PDF.

This lets one invoice layout handle three line items or three hundred without requiring you to guess its final page count.

Explicit pages and overflow pages

Each explicit page always starts on a new physical PDF page. Its overflow pages are produced first, then the next explicit page begins.

For example, an invoice followed by a terms page can produce this result:

Template
|-- Invoice                 explicit page
|   |-- PDF page 1
|   |-- PDF page 2          overflow
|   `-- PDF page 3          overflow
`-- Terms                   explicit page
    `-- PDF page 4

The terms page starts on PDF page 4 because the invoice used three physical pages. Page numbering continues across the complete document.

How content creates overflow pages

The printable body is the paper height minus the top and bottom margins and any repeating header or footer. Body content flows from top to bottom. When the next content does not fit in the remaining space, the renderer moves or splits it onto another physical page.

Overflow commonly comes from:

• a Table receiving more rows than the preview data;
• a Loop repeating once for every item in a Collection or List;
• Text becoming taller after data is inserted;
• conditional content becoming visible;
• a Page Break or page-flow setting forcing a new page.

The editor canvas shows the complete authored page as one continuous layout. Use Preview PDF to see the physical page boundaries created from the current Default Data. A generated document can have a different page count when its request data is longer or shorter.

Repeating regions

A repeating header appears at the top of every physical page created from its explicit page. A repeating footer behaves the same way at the bottom. Their height reduces the space available to the body on every sheet.

Headers and footers belong to an explicit page. When the next explicit page uses a different header, footer, or has none, that change begins with the next physical page.

Tables across pages

Select a Table and open its pagination settings to control long tables:

• Repeat header shows the column headings on every overflow page.
• Allow rows to split lets a row continue onto the next page when it is too tall.
• Minimum rows after header avoids leaving a repeated header with too few body rows beneath it.

Control where content breaks

Select a supported element and open Page flow in the inspector:

• Break across pages — Allow lets the element continue on another page when needed.
• Break across pages — Avoid moves the whole element to the next page when it fits there. An element taller than a complete page must still split.
• Break before — New page starts the selected element on a new physical page.
• Break after — New page starts the following content on a new physical page.

You can also place a Page Break element between page-level Rows. It starts the following Row on a new physical page. Add a visibility condition when the break should apply only for certain data.

A Page Break does not create a new explicit page. Content after it keeps the same page setup, header, and footer.

Work with explicit pages

Expand Pages above the canvas to manage the explicit pages in the template:

1. Select + Page to insert an empty page after the current page. It starts with the current page’s setup.
2. Give the page a descriptive name such as Invoice, Terms, or Landscape appendix.
3. Use the arrow controls to change its position in the document.
4. Use Duplicate when the next page should begin with the current layout and setup.
5. Use Delete to remove the selected page. A template must retain at least one explicit page.

Select the page root and open Page setup to change its paper size, orientation, margins, or background. These settings apply only to that explicit page and all overflow pages produced from it.

Choose the right approach

Use automatic overflow when content is one logical section whose length depends on data, such as an invoice table, transaction report, or product list.

Add an explicit page when the document needs another authored section, such as:

• a cover followed by the main report;
• terms and conditions after an invoice;
• an appendix with a different orientation or paper size;
• a section with a different header, footer, background, or margins.

Use a Page Break or Page flow when you need a physical boundary inside the current explicit page but want to retain its setup and repeating regions.

Check pagination before publishing

Preview the template with short, typical, and long Default Data. Check that:

• tables and loops continue in a readable place;
• repeated table headers, page headers, and footers appear as expected;
• elements set to avoid splitting move cleanly to the next page;
• forced breaks do not create an unintended blank page;
• every explicit page begins after all overflow from the page before it.

Save and publish the template after its longest realistic example renders correctly.

Next steps

• Review the available layout and content building blocks in Elements.
• Add realistic preview values with Data Schema and Default Data.
• Generate a document using the Quickstart.