Scope
This reference describes the surfaces an estimator uses to inspect the route Estimator picked for a quote, and the Estimate Setup levers that control which route the engine returns. It does not cover the cost lines in the price breakdown (those are documented in the Price Breakdown Basics articles) or the underlying calculation engine (covered in the Route Review Concept article).
Route-review surfaces on the quote
Surface | What it shows | When to open it | What depends on it |
See price breakdown | The Estimation breakdown modal with step-by-step costs for the selected option. | Before sending any quote whose total looks unfamiliar, or as the entry point to Issue analysis. | The validation workflow in the quote cluster relies on this surface; Issue analysis opens from inside it. |
View estimation path | The Issue analysis dialog with assigned machines per step. | When the route on the totals panel does not match the route you expected. | The diagnosis path in the troubleshooting cluster relies on this surface — the dialog is the only place the engine reports why a machine was excluded. |
Excluded machines (inside Issue analysis) | Candidate machines the engine ruled out and the reason for each exclusion. | When the assigned machine looks wrong and you need the engine's reason before changing setup. | The Compare-route-details-to-setup task uses the reasons here to decide which Estimate Setup record to open. |
View details (per option in the totals panel) | Opens the Issue analysis dialog scoped to one option. | When two options have similar totals but different routes and you need to compare them. | Same downstream surfaces as View estimation path; this is a shortcut entry point. |
Setup levers that move the route
Each Estimate Setup record below changes what the engine evaluates at calculation time. Adjust one of these — not the quote — to change the route.
Setup lever | Where to edit it | When to change this | What depends on it |
Machine tags | Estimate Setup → Machines → press, finishing, or binding machine → tags. Mirror tags exist on substrate rows. | When a machine that should be eligible is appearing under Excluded machines for tag-related reasons, or when a tag scope needs to extend to a new substrate. | Every quote whose route was decided by tag compatibility; one tag change can shift the route on many open quotes after Recalculate. |
Machine speed and rate | Estimate Setup → Machines → press or finishing machine → speed, machine rate per hour, make-ready time. | When a machine's configured production speed or hourly rate drifts from shop reality. | The make-ready and run lines in the price breakdown, and indirectly any route choice that hinged on machine speed. |
Substrate sheet size and weight | Estimate Setup → Substrates → substrate row → sheet size, weight, coat. | When the substrate row used on a quote has the wrong sheet dimensions or weight and the engine excluded a press for size or capability reasons. | Every quote that uses the substrate; sheet size also drives the engine's imposition decision and which press accepts the sheet. |
Category production steps | Estimate Setup → Products → product category → included steps. | When a step is missing from the route entirely (no fold appears on a category that should fold) or an unwanted step is in the chain. | The set of steps the engine runs at all; a missing step here means the engine never even considers a finishing machine for that step. |
Conditional steps in price models | Estimate Setup → Price models → conditional steps on the relevant price model. | When an add-on operation should appear only for specific spec values (for example, lamination only on covers ≥150gsm). | Whether the optional operation is in the route at all for a given spec — the Additional Options picker on the quote reads from this. |
Common reasons routes differ from expectations
Route surprise | First lever to inspect | Why this is the lever |
A faster press was skipped | Machine tags on the substrate row vs the press row | Tag mismatches are the most common exclusion reason for offset presses. |
The digital press ran a job you expected on offset (or vice versa) | Run-length band on each press, plus tags | A configured run band can flip the cost-optimal route between offset and digital at a specific quantity. |
A finishing step is duplicated | Included steps on the category, plus the price model's conditional steps | Both surfaces can add the same operation; if both add it, the price breakdown shows it twice. |
A finishing step is missing entirely | Included steps on the category | The engine cannot route a step that the category does not include. |
The substrate row is the wrong weight | The substrate row picked on the quote vs the row weight in Estimate Setup | When two substrate rows share a display name, picking the wrong one routes through the wrong cost basis. |