Use this article when the paper merchant adds a new stock, drops a stock, or changes a price and your Paper Library needs to match what the shop actually buys. After this you will have a substrate row that GelatoConnect Estimator can pick on a quote, with the cost the engine uses on the Substrate Cost line matching the merchant invoice.

Before you begin

Have the merchant spec sheet to hand, with the paper's weight (gsm), coat, sheet size, sheet dimensions in millimetres or inches, and price per ton (or the unit your merchant invoices on).
Decide whether this row is a regular Stocked paper the shop quotes every day, or a Special-order paper the operator picks deliberately.
Required role: MIS Admin (see Estimator permissions reference).

Steps

1. Open the substrate library

Open Estimate Setup from the GelatoConnect Estimator sidebar, then select Substrates. The substrates table loads with one row per paper your shop currently quotes against, grouped by sheet-size code in the leftmost column.

Use the search box above the table to filter by sheet-size code, weight, or coat when the library is large.

2. Add a substrate or open an existing row

To add a new substrate, select Add Substrate above the table. A new blank row opens in the editor panel.

To edit an existing substrate, select the row in the table. The editor panel opens with the row's current values populated. Editing an existing row never duplicates it — saving overwrites the same row in place.

If you are adding a row almost identical to one already in the library (for example, a heavier weight of a paper you already quote), the library does not infer it from the lighter row — each weight is its own substrate.

3. Fill the required fields

In the editor panel, set the fields the engine treats as required. The field labels in the panel are:

Name — what the substrate is called in the substrates table. By convention this is the sheet-size code (RA1, SRA1, SRA3, B1, LONG). Two rows that share the same Name are not duplicates; the weight and coat columns distinguish them.
Weight — paper weight in grams per square metre (gsm) on a metric shop, pounds basis weight on an imperial shop.
Coat — the paper finish. Common values are Silk, Gloss, Uncoated, and Recycled. Match what the merchant calls the paper, not what the product team prefers.
Material — the broader stock family (paper, board, specialty). For most commercial-print rows this stays on paper.
Sheet size — the named cut (RA1, SRA1, SRA3, B1, LONG, A4, A3, and so on). This pairs with the dimensions below.
Width and Height — the parent-sheet dimensions in millimetres (metric) or inches (imperial). The engine uses these to convert per-ton cost into per-sheet cost. For an SRA1 row, the dimensions are 900 mm wide by 640 mm high.
Cost — the price the shop pays the merchant for the substrate. Use the unit the merchant invoices on — most commonly per ton.

Every required field must be filled before the editor panel allows you to save. The save action stays greyed out until the row is complete.

4. Configure the optional fields

The remaining fields refine routing and pricing but are not required to save the row. Set the ones that apply to this paper:

Grain direction — long grain, short grain, or either. Use this when the product category enforces grain (folded leaflets and bound books usually do). See How grain direction works with substrates.
FSC certified — mark the row when the merchant supplies the paper with an FSC chain-of-custody claim. Customers asking for FSC stock filter on this field.
Brands — the merchant or paper-mill names attached to the row. Use this when customers or specifications call out a paper by brand. See How brands work with substrates.
Stock type — choose Stocked for papers the shop normally keeps on the floor, or Special-order for papers that have to be procured per job. The engine treats special-order substrates as a deliberate operator choice rather than a routine fallback.
Part assignment — restrict the substrate to specific category parts (Cover, Inner, Insert) if the same library row should not be available on every part. Leave empty when the substrate can run on any part of any product.
Mandatory pre-cut — switch on when the substrate must always be cut to a smaller size before printing. This is the entry point to the parent-sheets and cut-to-size configuration; see How parent sheets and cut-to-size work if this applies.

5. Save the row

Select Save at the bottom of the editor panel. The editor closes and the substrate row appears in the table with the new values.

The Pending Changes counter in the sidebar increments by one. The substrate is staged but not yet live — quotes calculated right now still use the previous configuration.

6. Apply the change

Open Pending Changes from the sidebar and review the row that lists the substrate you added or edited.

Select Apply Changes. The counter returns to zero, and the substrate is now live for every new quote the shop calculates.

Example: adding Silk 130gsm SRA1 to Northgate Press

We'll add a new sheet-fed paper to Northgate Press' library — a 130 gsm silk-coated paper in SRA1, supplied at €1,450 per ton — using the steps above.

Spec:

Name: SRA1 (the sheet-size code shown in the substrates table)
Narrative description: Silk 130gsm SRA1
Weight: 130 gsm
Coat: Silk
Material: paper
Sheet size: SRA1
Dimensions: 900 mm × 640 mm (matches Northgate Press' other SRA1 rows)
Cost: €1,450 per ton
Stock type: Stocked (the shop will run it daily)
Grain direction: long grain

Walking the steps with these values:

Step 1 result: The Substrates table shows four existing SRA1 rows — Silk 100gsm, Silk 115gsm, Silk 150gsm, and Gloss 100gsm. None of them is Silk 130gsm SRA1.
Step 2 result: Selecting Add Substrate opens a blank editor panel.
Step 3 result: After typing SRA1 into Name, 130 into Weight, choosing Silk for Coat, paper for Material, and 900 / 640 into the dimensions, the required fields are complete. Setting Cost to 1450 with the per-ton selector enabled finishes the required block.
Step 4 result: Setting Grain direction to long grain and Stock type to Stocked completes the row.
Step 5 result: After Save, the new row appears in the substrates table with SRA1 in the Name column, 130 in the weight column, Silk in the coat column, and 1,450 in the cost column. The Pending Changes counter shows 1 ready.
Step 6 result: After Apply Changes, the counter returns to zero. A test quote on a stitched book that picks Silk 130gsm SRA1 now finds the new row, and the Substrate Cost line on the price breakdown is driven by €1,450 per ton against 900 × 640 mm × 130 gsm.

What success looks like

The new or edited row appears in the Substrates table with the expected Name, weight, coat, dimensions, and cost.
The Pending Changes counter returns to zero after Apply Changes.
A test quote that should pick the substrate finds it and the Substrate Cost line on the price breakdown reflects the per-ton cost on the row.

Things to know

Two rows that share the same Name are not duplicates. SRA1 in the Name column is the sheet-size code; the weight and coat columns are what distinguish one SRA1 row from another. Do not rename a row to make it look unique in the table.
Cost is recorded in the unit your merchant invoices on — usually per ton. The engine handles the conversion to per-sheet using the row's dimensions and weight; do not pre-divide the price.
Editing a row in place changes how every existing quote that references that substrate recalculates. If you need to keep the old price live for in-flight quotes, add a new row instead of editing the existing one and retire the old row later.
Parent sheets and cut-to-size live on the substrate row but use a separate configuration block. If a paper must always be cut down before it is printed, switch on Mandatory pre-cut and follow How parent sheets and cut-to-size work.