Template Resolution

The package resolves the path returned by wordTemplateFile() in a fixed order. Use this when placing templates and when choosing relative vs absolute paths.

Resolution order

1. Absolute path: If the returned string is an absolute path and the file exists, that file is used.
2. storage_path($path): The path is passed to Laravel’s storage_path() (e.g. storage_path('templates/invoice.docx')).
3. storage_path('app/'.$path): The path is tried under storage/app/ (e.g. storage_path('app/templates/invoice.docx')).

If no file is found after these steps, an exception is thrown.

Supported formats

• .docx (Word 2007+)
• .doc (legacy Word)

Examples

Return value	Resolved to (conceptually)
'templates/invoice.docx'	storage_path('templates/invoice.docx') or then storage_path('app/templates/invoice.docx')
storage_path('templates/invoice.docx')	Used as-is if the file exists
'/var/www/storage/templates/invoice.docx'	Used as-is if the file exists

Best practice

Use relative paths under storage (e.g. templates/...) so the same code works across environments. Put template files in storage/app/templates/ or adjust your path so one of the resolution steps finds the file.