Manta
A desktop application for creating invoices with beautiful and customizable templates.
Screenshots •
Features •
Downloads •
Technologies •
Why? •
Goals •
Development •
FAQ •
Acknowledgement
### Screenshots
Here's a few screenshots of Manta. [See more](https://github.com/hql287/Manta/wiki/Screenshots)
### Translation
Do you speak multiple languages? We need your help!
If you're interested in translating Manta, please see the [detailed instruction here](https://github.com/hql287/Manta/wiki/Translating-Manta).
The following languages are currently being translated, if you would like to Manta to support another language, [please submit your request here](https://github.com/hql287/Manta/issues/9).
* [🇨🇳 中文 (Chinese Simplified)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/zh-CN#)
* [🇨🇳 中文 (Chinese Traditional)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/zh-TW#)
* [🇩🇪 Deutsch (German)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/de#)
* [🇩🇰 Dansk (Danish)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/da#)
* [🇪🇸 Español (Spanish)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/es-ES)
* [🇫🇷 Français (French)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/fr#)
* [🇬🇷 Ελληνικά (Greek)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/el#)
* [🇮🇩 Indonesian](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/id#)
* [🇮🇹 Italiano (Italian)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/it#)
* [🇯🇵 日本語 (Japanese)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/ja#)
* [🇰🇷 한국어 (Korean)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/ko#)
* [🇱🇹 Lietuviškai (Lithuanian)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/lt#)
* [🇳🇱 Nederlands (Dutch)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/nl#)
* [🇵🇹 Português (Portuguese)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/pt-PT#)
* [🇧🇷 Portuguese, Brazilian (Brazil)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/pt-BR#)
* [🇷🇺 Русский (Russian)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/ru#)
* [🇹🇭 ไทย (Thai)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/th#)
* [🇹🇷 Türkçe (Turkish)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/tr#)
* [🇻🇳 Việt Nam (Vietnamese)](https://crowdin.com/project/manta/vi)
### Features
* 🎚 Flexible form. You can turn on/off field and save as default setting.
* 🏗 Drag & drop for reordering items. This makes editing easier.
* 📐 Use SVGs for logo for better printing.
* 🎨 Custom designed & highly customizable templates.
* 🏷 Custom statuses for invoices.
* 📊 Export PDF for print or email.
* 🔒Complete Privacy. You financial data stays where it belongs.
* 💯 Totally Free.
### Downloads
macOS | Windows | Linux
-----------------| ---| ---|
Download v1.1.4 | Download v1.1.4 | Download v1.1.4 |
[More Download Options](https://github.com/hql287/Manta/releases)
#### Supported Platforms
Following platforms are supported by Electron:
**macOS**
The minimum version supported is macOS 10.9.
**Windows**
Windows 7 and later are supported
**Linux:**
- Ubuntu 12.04 and later
- Fedora 21
- Debian 8
[More information](https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/tutorial/supported-platforms.md).
Note that on Linux, some users might experience a GPU bug where the select options rendered as a black box, see [issue #128 of Manta](https://github.com/hql287/Manta/pull/128) and [issue #4322 of Electron](https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/4322). This can be fixed by disabling hardware acceleration like so:
```sh
manta --disable-hardware-acceleration
```
> Remember that doing this might lead to some degradation of the app's performance. This is why "the fix" is not included by default.
### Technologies
* [Electron](https://github.com/electron/electron)
* [React](https://github.com/facebook/react)
* [Redux](https://github.com/reactjs/redux)
* [React-DnD](https://github.com/react-dnd/react-dnd)
* [React-Beautiful-DnD](https://github.com/atlassian/react-beautiful-dnd)
* [React-Motion](https://github.com/chenglou/react-motion)
* [Webpack](https://github.com/webpack/webpack)
### Why
The main reason I decided to build this is because I need a simple tool to create good looking invoices, estimates, and receipts but couldn't find one that suits my needs. I don't do invoicing for a living but I do need it occasionally so an ideal invoicing app just needs to be good at one thing and one thing only, which is making invoices. I really don't need a full-fledged bookkeeping or accounting software.
I believe there are many people such as freelance designers, developers, photographers or writers... also have such need. However, most (if not all) products I found have these these problems:
**Complexity**
* Most invoicing products nowadays is web-based, which means you’ll need to maintain a new account (possible a monthly fee, too) just to create an invoice.
* Sure, there some open-source products that can be self-hosted, but that will introduce a new layer of complexity to your workflow. Who will setup the product? Who will maintain the server? Who will cover the cost? ...
* You will always need internet connection to be able to create your invoices. It can be slow sometimes.
**Privacy**
* When you use a web service, most of the time, you’re giving away your data whether you want it or not. Financial data is sensitive and I believe that no one should know about your data except yourself.
### Goals
With that in mind, I know that Manta would need to satisfy these criteria:
* 🚀 Fast!!!
* 👍 Friendly UI & UX
* 🎉 Has nice looking templates
* 🔒 Does not touch user’s data
* 💰 Free! :)
If you think Manta delivers these, let me know by putting a star on this project 😉
### Development
It's very easy to get started with these 3 steps:
* Clone this project to your local machine.
* Open terminal and `cd` into the cloned folder, usually `cd Manta`.
* Run `yarn install` to install dependencies.
* Run `yarn dev` in one tab to start `webpack-dev-server`.
* Run `yarn start` in another tab to open the app.
This is still in beta and it's far from perfect so feedbacks, issues or PRs are greatly appreciated! :)
Note that on Linux you will need additional dependencies to provide the `icns2png` and `gm` commands.
Ubuntu/Debian users can run: `sudo apt install -y icnsutils graphicsmagick`.
### FAQ
* **Is this app built with Electron?**
Yes, it's built on top of [Electron](#). Please see the [Technologies](#technologies) section for more info.
* **What boilerplate did you use**
None. This is my attempt to integrate Electron with React from scratch. The idea was to get a better understanding of how things work together, especially Webpack.
But I do take cue from other projects.
* **What CSS/UI Framework did you use?**
I wrote all the CSS myself. I only use Bootstrap for prototyping at first. But I gradually encapsulate most of the style to the component with the help of [`styled-components`](https://www.styled-components.com/). There is some places still use Bootstrap mostly for layout purpose but I'll get rid of it eventually.
* **Where did you get the icons?**
[ionicons](http://ionicons.com/). They're great!
* **Why did you name the project Manta? It has nothing to do with invoicing.**
It's actually very common to associate an animal with your brand. There's a reason behind the Twitter bird, the famous MailChimp Freddy or the Docker whale ... It's called the Baby-Face bias. You can read more about it in the book [Designing for Emotion](https://abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion) by [Aaron Walter](http://aarronwalter.com/).
In my case, I was inspired by the movie [Racing Extinction](http://racingextinction.com/) and by naming this project Manta, I hope to raise people's awareness on some environmental issues mentioned in the movie. You can [read more about it here](https://manta.life/about)
* **I like Manta's logo, did you design it?**
Yes, I actually did all the illustrations as well as the templates that you see in the app.
* **Are you available for hire?**
Yes, I'm exploring new opportunities at the moment. Please let me know what you have in mind.
* **How do I contact you?**
If you find an issue, please report it here. For everything else, please drop me a line at hi@manta.life
### Acknowledgement
Special thanks to [Crowdin](https://crowdin.com) for providing [an open-source license](https://crowdin.com/page/open-source-project-setup-request) for Manta.
Feel free to check out [their website](https://crowdin.com/) for more information about this amazing localization management platform.
