Use this article when your shop runs folded marketing collateral — tri-fold leaflets, 4-panel zigzag brochures, half-fold menus, gate-fold flyers — and you need Estimator to price the folding pass and the press together on every quote. After this you will have a folded leaflets category that appears in the create-estimate product picker, lets the estimator pick the panel count, and routes the fold step to your folder.
Steps
1. Create the category
Open Estimate Setup → Products → Categories, then select + Add New. Fill in the fields below.
Identification
Name — the customer-facing product family (e.g., "Folded Leaflets", "Brochure"). The label appears in the create-estimate product picker.
Display Name — leave the same as Name.
Category Type — choose Folded. This tells Estimator to route every quote in this family through a folding step and to expose Page Folds as a quote input.
Calculation and imposition
Price Model — set to paper_calc for sheet-fed folded leaflets. Estimator prices by parent sheet, panel count, and run length.
Price Adjustment Model — pick Gross Profit% for the common case (mixed short-and-long run marketing collateral). Switch to VA per Press Hour if your shop reads margin against press throughput.
Bleed — default bleed in millimetres (e.g., 3 mm).
Flags
Allow Same Size Sheet — leave No. Folded leaflets need bleed on every panel and gripper margin on the press.
Mixed Production Enabled — leave No unless your folder routinely runs different leaflets on the same press pass.
Markups
Labor / Machine / Delivery / Outwork — default markup percentages (e.g., 20% each).
Save the row. The Pending Changes count increments by one in the sidebar.
2. Define the part
Open Category Parts for the new category. Folded leaflets carry a single part — the full sheet that prints both sides and folds into panels.
Add one part row:
Name —
body(orleaflet, whichever your shop uses).Production Steps — list the ordered operations: typically print → cut → fold. Folded leaflets do not bind, so the route ends at the folder.
Tags — pair the part with compatible substrates and presses (e.g.,
coated-text-130,offset). Estimator filters routes using these tags.
Save the part row. Pending Changes increments again.
3. Configure the quote inputs
Open Finish Sizes, Page Folds, Page Colors, and Field Rules under Products.
Finish Sizes — add the finished (folded) sizes your shop offers (e.g., DL 99 × 210 mm or 3.9 × 8.3 in, A5, A4 closed). Estimator uses these to work out the flat sheet for each fold scheme.
Page Folds — the heart of a folded category. Add every panel/fold combination you sell — 4 panels half-fold, 6 panels tri-fold (roll or zigzag), 8 panels Z-fold, 8 panels gate fold. Estimator uses the selected fold to compute the flat sheet dimension and to pair the job with a folder that accepts that fold scheme.
Page Colors — list the colour combinations (full colour both sides, full colour outside / black inside, etc.).
Field Rules — surface lamination, spot UV, perforation, and other conditional finishing so the estimator only sees the options that apply to this category.
4. Apply the changes
Open the Pending Changes panel in the sidebar and review the staged category, part, and quote inputs. Select Apply Changes to publish to live setup.
The Pending Changes count returns to zero, and the folded leaflets category appears in the create-estimate product picker with the fold step routed to your folder.
Things to know
Page Folds must list every fold scheme your folder can produce — if a scheme is missing here, the estimator cannot select it on the quote even though the folder physically supports it. Adding folds to the binder or folder editor alone is not enough.
A folded leaflet routes one part through one fold pass. If your shop sells a more complex collateral piece — for example a tri-fold cover wrapping a stitched booklet — that is two parts and a stitched book category, not a folded category. Create it as a stitched book and add a folded cover part.
If the fold step is missing on the price breakdown after a folded-leaflet quote, the most common cause is that the folder's accepted Page Folds list does not include the one the estimator selected. Open the folder editor and confirm the fold scheme is on its accepted list.