I think the confusion (at least mine) here is related to the fact that order_invoice.tpl and order_data.tpl reside in two directories: /mail and /mail/html.
That makes a lot of sense if the only time you deal with invoices is by sending them to customers via email. If you use plain text email, then you use the templates in /mail; if you use html email, then you use the templates in /mail/html.
That part is clear.
Where it gets confusing is that invoicing is not exclusively an email thing.
I want a customized invoice (with company logo, formatted like a typical invoice) for only one purpose: To include inside the package that is shipped. When I process orders for shipping, I want to click on the "Print Invoice" button, and get a page with a customized invoice I can send to my printer. This has nothing to do with email, of course. But it seems that in order to accomplish this, I need to edit email templates I would much prefer to keep as they are.
I cannot figure out what needs to be done so that only when clicking on "Print Invoice" do I get a page with a customized invoice, and for everything else (including the order details a user sees upon completing a purchase) the default invoice is presented.
On a related note, once I can get the above done, I want to add another function to order processing: Print Packing Slip. A packing slip is like an invoice exept it does not include prices and is afixed to the outside of a shipping package. On the "Order Details" page, I want to add a button (much like "Print Invoice") that prints a Packing slip.
I can easily figure out how to take customized versions of order_invoice.tpl and order_data.tpl, copy them into new templates, and retrofit them for Packing Slip purposes.
The part I can't figure out is how to add a button to the "Order Details" page an admin accesses (what is this template?) and how I would actually invoke the "Print Packing Slip" routine.
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