Use this article when your shop runs roll-to-roll wide-format printers (HP Latex, Mimaki JV, Roland TrueVIS, Epson SureColor S, Canon imagePROGRAF, or similar) and you need Estimator to price ink area, roll changes, and run time on every roll-fed quote. After this you will have a roll-fed press that prices correctly on vinyl, fabric, banner, and paper-roll quotes, with the press appearing in route information and the ink, make-ready, and run lines appearing on the price breakdown.
Steps
1. Configure the large-format roll-fed press
Open Estimate Setup → Print Machines, then add or open the press you want to configure and set Machine Type to Large Format Roll-Fed. Fill in the fields below.
Identification
Name — recommended format is brand and model, so the press is easy to recognise on quotes (e.g., "Canon imagePROGRAF" or "HP Latex 800").
Manufacturer — free-text label captured alongside the name. Display only.
Machine Type — select Large Format Roll-Fed. Changing the type later rewrites the editor and discards roll-width and roll-change fields.
Status — set to Active when the press should be a candidate for routing.
Tags — link the press to roll substrates (vinyl, fabric, banner mesh, paper roll) and finishing equipment (cutter, hemming, grommet press).
Roll geometry and finished-size constraints
Roll Width — the roll width loaded on the press, in millimetres or inches. For example, 1625 mm or 64 in on a Canon imagePROGRAF.
Maximum Width — maximum imageable width (often slightly narrower than the roll because of the gripper or vacuum margin).
Maximum print height — maximum continuous print length per piece, in millimetres or inches. On a roll this is usually a software limit (e.g., 5000 mm or 16 ft) rather than a hard mechanical one.
Maximum stock caliper — maximum substrate thickness the carriage can clear.
Non-printable margins — edge area outside the head's travel and the unprintable strip at the leading and trailing edge of the roll.
Operational speeds and labour
Make-ready minutes — fixed overhead before the run starts (load roll, calibrate, RIP files, run colour check). For example, 4–5 minutes on a fast latex line.
Make-ready material cost — fixed substrate cost added to cover the leading roll length consumed during threading. For example, 250 mm of leader/trailer waste or 10 in.
Output per hour — maximum sustained production speed at standard quality, in square metres per hour. For example, 7.2 m²/hour or 77 sq ft/hour on a Canon imagePROGRAF.
Machine rate per hour — hourly machine running cost. For example, €40/hour or $46/hour on a mid-range latex line.
Labour rate per hour — operator cost per hour. For example, €20/hour or $23/hour.
Roll change minutes — time to change a roll mid-run, in minutes. Used on jobs that exceed a single roll length. For example, 5 minutes per change.
Over copies — extra pieces produced beyond ordered quantity to cover finishing loss (cut, weld, hem, grommet).
Running spoils % — additional spoils as a percentage of necessary quantity. For example, 2–3%.
Large-format cost fields
CMY cost per area — per-square-metre cost of CMYK ink at the Standard coverage tier. For example, €0.0013/m² or $0.0015/m² on a latex line.
Black cost per area — per-area black-ink cost component.
White-ink cost per area — per-area white-ink cost component. Used on coloured or transparent roll stocks.
CMY click rate / Black click rate / White-ink click rate — optional per-piece click costs. Leave at zero on purely area-based contracts.
Ink coverage tiers — multipliers on the ink rate by coverage classification (e.g., Very Light 0.70, Standard 1.0, Heavy 1.10).
Ink Type — free-text label (e.g., latex, eco-solvent, UV).
White-ink allowed — toggle controlling whether the white-ink line can appear on quotes from this press.
Default substrate loaded — the substrate currently on the press (e.g., "PR" for a paper roll). Used by the planning engine when the operator does not specify a substrate change.
Impose files price — per-file imposition or nesting charge added to prepress.
Preflight check price per page — per-page preflight cost added to prepress.
Panels and tile splits
Tile overlap — overlap or trim allowance added to the substrate quantity when a finished piece exceeds Roll Width and must be split into panels. For example, 25 mm or 1 in welded overlap on a vinyl banner.
Save the change. The Pending Changes count increments by one in the sidebar.
2. Connect the press to substrates and categories
Open the roll substrates that should run on this press under Substrates and confirm each one carries at least one tag matching the press's tags.
Open the product categories that should route here (banners, vehicle wraps, fabric backdrops, posters from a roll) and confirm a roll-fed path is configured.
Save the change. Pending Changes increments again.
3. Apply the changes
Open the Pending Changes panel in the sidebar and review the staged edits. Select Apply Changes to publish them to live setup.
The Pending Changes count returns to zero. Recalculate a test quote that uses a roll substrate; the press appears in the route information and the ink, make-ready, and run lines appear on the price breakdown.
Things to know
Roll-fed work is priced by ink area (square metres) rather than per impression. The CMY cost per area field is the primary cost driver — set it carefully against measured ink consumption per square metre at the Standard tier.
When a finished piece exceeds Roll Width, the quote is split into panels and the substrate quantity grows to cover the extra material plus any configured Tile overlap. Estimator surfaces the panel count on the quote breakdown.
White-ink allowed controls whether the white-ink line can appear at all. On a roll-fed record without white ink (typical for cheaper latex lines), leave this disabled even if you have set a white-ink rate.
Sheet-size and cutoff-length fields have no effect on a roll-fed record; the press uses Roll Width and the imposed piece length instead.