Use of the print service and sending invoices in Maventa

• Activation and settings of the print service

• Layout of an invoice sent through the print service

  • Technical requirements for the invoice material

  • Sending attachments

• Print service routing

  • Forcing an invoice to the print service

  • Automatic routing of consumer invoices to the OmaPosti service (Finland)

• Error situations: "Print service is not enabled"

Through the Maventa service, it is possible to send invoices as paper mail deliveries by utilising the integrated print service. Invoices are always printed double-sided if the material contains more than one page. The system delivers the invoices for printing during the night, and they transfer to postal distribution on the following working day.

Activation and settings of the print service

Editing the company's print service settings is started by logging into the Maventa service and navigating to the Print service section of the account settings. The company account's admin user can check or edit the company's print service settings and activate or deactivate the sending channel in question.

More detailed step-by-step instructions for activating or closing the service, selecting the letter class and colouring, and other configurations can be found from here: Invoice settings - Print service. This article focuses on the technical requirements of the invoice material, forcing invoices to printing, and managing error situations.

Layout of an invoice sent through the print service

Invoices sent through the print service are printed by default on a standard invoice image generated by Maventa. This invoice image is optimised for efficient processing, fulfills all technical requirements, and its layout is designed to fit the windowed envelopes used by each country's print service. Country-specific examples of the invoice images generated by Maventa can be found in Maventa's documentation here: Country specific rules and settings.

Alternatively, it is possible to use the company's own PDF invoice image for printing. The use of a custom invoice image can be defined as a company-level general setting either from the Maventa user interface or via the API. However, the invoice-specific use of a custom invoice image is only possible by utilising the API, and this choice cannot be configured in the settings of the Maventa user interface.

When using a custom invoice image, the system automatically adds a separate address page to the beginning of the letter so that the recipient's address details align correctly with the envelope window. A separate additional page fee is charged for the cover page.

Invoices are always printed double-sided if the material contains more than one page. If a custom invoice image is used in printing, it must be ensured that the material fulfills the technical requirements set for the service.

Technical requirements for the invoice material

For printing to succeed, all files to be sent must be in PDF format. The files must not contain dynamic components, and all fonts, images, and other elements must be embedded in the file. The precise requirements for the data are:

• Page size: The size of the PDF page must be standard A4 (210 x 297 millimeters)
• Margins: The top and right margins must be left blank
• Backgrounds and transparency: A black or dark background must not be used in invoice images or attachments, and the files must not contain transparency (no transparencies)
• Encryptions and security restrictions: PDF attachment files must be delivered without encryption or any kind of security restrictions. The printing service cannot process password-protected files or files whose access rights are restricted (for example, to prevent printing or content copying)
• Fonts and text: All fonts must be embedded (subset or full), and text should be saved in text format (not as a bitmap)
• Images and resolution: The recommended resolution for images is 250–300 dpi. A higher resolution does not significantly improve quality, but a lower resolution degrades print quality. Graphics, such as logos and charts, must be of good quality
• File size: The recommended maximum size per page is 1024 KB (the smaller the file is, the better)
• Colour settings in black and white printing: The data must be 2-colour (purely black and white only), and greyscales are not supported
• Colour settings in colour printing: Black text must be pure black (not 4-colour CMYK black), and all other colours must be CMYK colours

Sending attachments

The following system restrictions apply to sending attachments:

• A maximum of 3 separate attachment files can be included with the invoice (a total of a maximum of 4 files including the invoice image)
• The allowed size of a PDF attachment file is a maximum of 50 MB
• The total page count of the printable data can be a maximum of 110 pages

If any of these conditions are not met, not a single attachment will be printed. In this case, only the invoice image is sent, and the sender is provided with an email notification regarding the matter.

Print service routing

An invoice can be directed to the print service route either via automatic routing or by forcing it to be sent by post. Additional information about routing can be found in Maventa's documentation here: Printing.

Forcing an invoice to the print service

When ensuring that an invoice is sent specifically by post through the print service, the keyword PRINT can be used instead of an e-invoice address.

Through the API, an invoice can be directed to the printing service by using the POST /v1/invoices method. When other sending methods are defined as disabled in the metadata, the print service route activates automatically. The routing information given in the metadata overrides the address in the XML data.

For more information on forced routing of invoices through the print service, see Maventa’s documentation here: Forced print route.

Automatic routing of consumer invoices to the OmaPosti service (Finland)

In Finland, an automatic check via the OmaPosti service is used for invoices aimed at consumers (B2C). OmaPosti is an application that allows consumers to receive their mail electronically instead of as a paper printout.

When a consumer invoice is routed to the print service, Maventa's print service provider performs an automatic search in the OmaPosti consumer registry. If the recipient has an active OmaPosti account and has not blocked the receipt of digital letters from the sender in question, the invoice is routed electronically directly to the consumer's OmaPosti account instead of being printed on paper and posted.

Additional information about consumer invoice routing via OmaPosti can be found in Maventa's documentation here: Printing (Finland) - OmaPosti.

Error situations: "Print service is not enabled"

If sending an invoice fails and the system returns the error message: "The invoice could not be sent to the print service. The print service is not enabled", the error is caused either by a missing activation of the service or by incomplete address details in the sent XML invoice.

Invoice material sent through the print service must always include at least the following recipient information:

• Postal address
• Postcode
• City
• Country code

The absence of even one of the aforementioned details prevents the invoice from being sent to the print service. If the print service is activated in the company account settings in accordance with the separate activation instructions, the correctness and completeness of the recipient address details in the invoice material should be checked in the event of an error situation.