Use this article when your shop creases covers, cards, or folded leaflets on a dedicated creaser and you need Estimator to price the crease step on quotes that include it. After this you will have a crease machine on the Crease table that prices correctly on quotes, with the crease step appearing on the price breakdown.
Steps
1. Add the crease machine
Open Estimate Setup → Finishing Machines → Crease, then select + Add New. Fill in the fields below.
Identification
Name — recommended format is brand and model, so the machine is easy to recognise on quotes (e.g., "Cylinder 1").
Tags — link this creaser to the substrates and upstream presses it can run after. Estimator uses tags to pair the creaser with compatible work.
Sheets this creaser accepts
Sheet sizes — the press sheet sizes that can be fed in. Select from the drop-down (e.g., SRA1, B1, RA1). The options come from your configured substrates, so to add a new sheet size you must first create a substrate with that size — it will then appear here.
Width (min/max) and height (min/max) — sheet dimensions in millimetres (metric) or inches (imperial). For example, 200–1100 mm, or 8–43 in. Only set these if you are not already restricting via Sheet sizes, to avoid double-constraining the same dimension.
Weight (min/max) — paper weight in gsm or lb. Creasers typically run heavier stocks. For example, 150–500 gsm, or 40–135 lb.
Thickness (min/max) — physical sheet thickness range in millimetres or inches. For example, 0.15–0.6 mm, or 0.006–0.024 in.
Speed
Sheets per hour — creasing speed (e.g., 4200 sheets/hour for a fast cylinder creaser, 820 sheets/hour for a slower bench unit). The output type is fixed at sheets for this machine class.
Cost
Machine rate per hour — all hourly running costs in tenant currency (amortisation, electricity, rule cost amortised). For example, €60–€100/hour depending on the machine.
Labor rate per hour — operator cost per hour (e.g., €20–€30/hour). If the operator can do other work while the machine runs, enter a fraction of their full rate (e.g., 50%). Leave at 0 if a dedicated operator is not required for this machine.
Minimum charge — floor amount. If the calculated crease cost is below this, Estimator applies the minimum instead.
Make-ready and spoilage
Make-ready labor per section — fixed labor cost added once per section to set the creaser up (e.g., €50 per section).
Running spoils % — extra sheets consumed as a percentage of the necessary run quantity (e.g., 0–2%).
Overs per section — extra sheets produced per section on top of the ordered quantity (e.g., 3–30 sheets, depending on how forgiving the machine is at setup).
Included steps
Included steps — operations performed in the same pass on this machine. Leave empty for a dedicated creaser; if the same machine also folds, configure fold here as an included step so Estimator does not double-count make-ready.
Open the card view on the machine row to set additional details:
Run speed variations — override Sheets per hour for specific paper weights or coatings — heavier or coated stock typically slows the cylinder.
Volume markup tiers — tier the markup by quantity (e.g., 50% on small runs, lower on large runs).
Save the change. The Pending Changes count increments by one in the sidebar.
2. Connect the creaser to the product category
Open the product category that uses creasing (for example, Folded Cards or a cover variant of a bound book). On the part row for the creased part, open Production Steps and add the crease operation so Estimator includes it on every quote that selects this category.
If the same machine creases and folds in one pass, do not add a separate fold operation — instead configure crease as an Included step on the folder (or vice versa) so Estimator uses the higher make-ready of the two rather than double-counting. See Configure included steps for a combined finishing machine.
Save the change. Pending Changes increments again.
3. Apply the changes
Open the Pending Changes panel in the sidebar and review the staged edits to the crease machine and the product category. Select Apply Changes to publish them to live setup.
The Pending Changes count returns to zero and the crease machine is now part of the active configuration.
Things to know
The most common configuration mistake is creating a combined crease+fold record on the Crease table and another on the Fold table for the same physical machine. Pick one tab and add the other as an Included step — adding both creates duplicate make-ready on every quote.
A creaser run for a folded leaflet typically processes the flat sheet before folding. The crease step is priced against the flat sheet size, not the finished folded size — confirm the right size on the price breakdown if the crease price looks off.
If your creaser only handles covers (e.g., for a perfect-bound book), it may be quicker to add crease as an Included step on the binder rather than a standalone machine — that way it follows the binder's tag set automatically.