Use this article when the quote total looks reasonable but the mix is wrong — for example you want a low substrate markup but a higher labor markup on a one-off rush job. After this you will have a quote whose cost-bucket markups match what you intended, with the headline pricing-model line and the Total estimate updated to match the new mix.
Steps
1. Open the breakdown for the option you want to adjust
On the quote, select See price breakdown. The breakdown opens and lists every priced option on the estimate. Find the row for the option whose mix you want to change and select View and edit on that row.
The pricing-and-imposition view opens. The cost buckets section shows six lines — Substrate, Other Material, Labor, Machine, Outwork, and Delivery — each with its calculated cost, its current markup percentage, and the resulting total.
2. Edit markup percentages by bucket
Select a markup field, type the new percentage, and tab out. The dependent totals recalculate as you move between fields.
Substrate — markup on paper or board base cost. Lower this when the substrate cost is already high and you do not want to compound it. Raise it on speciality stock where the perceived value sits in the material.
Other Material — markup on inks, consumables, and similar non-substrate materials. Move this when a specific consumable is driving cost (a UV varnish, a foil) and the customer should see that cost reflected in margin.
Labor — markup on setup and run labor. Raise this on rush jobs, on jobs with unusual operator demands, or on small runs where labor dominates the cost mix.
Machine — markup on press and equipment time. Raise this on high-demand presses to recover capacity cost; lower it to fill a quiet press at the margin.
Outwork — markup on subcontracted steps. Move this when the outsourced operation carries its own margin you want to pass through, rather than the shop's default.
Delivery — markup on freight and shipping. Typically held at the shop's default; move it for white-glove or expedited delivery where margin should reflect the service level.
For each bucket the cost itself is read-only on this view — only the markup percentage is editable. If the base cost looks wrong, fix it in setup rather than inflating the markup to compensate (see Things to know).
3. Apply changes
Select Apply changes to persist the markup edits to the quote. The breakdown closes, the totals on the quote refresh, and the Total estimate updates to the new mix. The headline pricing-model line — VA percentage, VA per press hour, or Gross profit percentage, whichever this product category uses — recalculates against the new bucket totals.
A markup edit applied through View and edit does not survive a full recalculate on this quote — re-opening the dialog reverts the fields to the rule-derived defaults. Treat Apply changes here as a quote-scoped override that you may need to re-enter if you change a structural input (quantity, substrate, run length) and re-estimate.
Things to know
Headline model overrides lock the bucket markups. If you have already overridden the headline pricing model on the quote (for example, forcing Gross profit percentage to 40%), the per-bucket markup fields lock. Reset the headline override first if you want to move markups by bucket — these two layers are not designed to be edited together.
Bucket markup edits are quote-scoped. Pricing rules, customer markups, and machine rates in setup are not touched. The next quote starts from the rule-derived defaults. For a permanent change to the substrate or labor markup that should apply to every quote, edit pricing rules in Pricing setup.
Markup is not the place to fix wrong base costs. If Substrate cost looks too high, the substrate price in the paper library is wrong — fix it in Substrates and the paper library rather than dropping the substrate markup to compensate. The same rule applies to machine rates and labor rates.