Use this article when your shop runs sheet-fed digital production (HP Indigo, Xerox iGen or Iridesse, Konica Minolta AccurioPress, Canon imagePRESS, or similar) and you need Estimator to price click charges, labour, and run time on every digital quote. After this you will have a sheet-fed digital press that prices correctly on digital quotes, with the press appearing in route information and the click, make-ready, and run lines appearing on the price breakdown.
Steps
1. Configure the sheet-fed digital press
Open Estimate Setup → Print Machines, then add or open the press you want to configure and set Machine Type to Sheet-Fed Digital. Fill in the fields below.
Identification
Name — recommended format is brand and model, so the press is easy to recognise on quotes (e.g., "HP Indigo 7K" or just "HP Indigo").
Manufacturer — free-text label captured alongside the name. Display only.
Machine Type — select Sheet-Fed Digital. Changing the type later rewrites the editor and discards click-rate and coverage-tier fields.
Status — set to Active when the press should be a candidate for routing.
Tags — link the press to the substrates and finishing paths it can run. Without a matching tag, Estimator excludes the press with the reason "no machine matches tags".
Physical capabilities
Minimum sheet size (width × height) — smallest sheet the feeder can handle. For example, 210 × 297 mm or 8.3 × 11.7 in.
Maximum sheet size (width × height) — largest sheet the press can image. For example, 330 × 487 mm or 13 × 19 in for SRA3.
Maximum stock caliper — thickest substrate the press can run, in microns or points. For example, 450 microns or 0.018 in.
Non-printable margins (width / height) — edge area the imaging engine cannot reach. For example, 2 × 2 mm or 0.08 × 0.08 in for an HP Indigo.
Operational speeds and labour
Make-ready hours — fixed overhead before printing starts (load paper, RIP files, colour calibrate). For example, 0.05 h or 3 minutes for a fast RIP.
Output per hour — maximum sustained speed at standard quality, in sides per hour. For example, 5,000 sides/hour for an HP Indigo 7K.
Machine rate per hour — hourly running cost. Often zero on digital because the contract is per-click; if your shop amortises hardware separately, set this to the amortisation rate (e.g., €30/hour or $35/hour).
Labour rate per hour — operator cost per hour. On digital, this is often where most of the running cost lives. For example, €350/hour or $400/hour for a senior operator on a high-volume line.
Over copies — extra sheets produced beyond ordered quantity for downstream finishing loss. For example, 1–10 copies depending on downstream profile.
Running spoils % — sheets spoiled during the run, as a percentage of necessary quantity. For example, 0.5–1%.
Digital cost fields
CMY click rate — contract price per CMYK colour impression (one side of one sheet). For example, €0.008 or $0.010 per impression.
Black click rate — contract price per mono impression. For example, €0.008 or $0.009 per impression. Used on jobs flagged as black-only or on the mono side of a duplex job.
White-ink click rate — contract price per white-ink impression on presses that support white. Used on coloured or transparent substrates where white is the primer layer.
CMY cost per area / Black cost per area / White-ink cost per area — per-area ink cost components. Use these when your contract is area-based instead of per-click; leave them at zero if your contract is purely per-click.
Ink coverage tiers — multipliers on the click rate by ink load (e.g., Very Light 0.70, Standard 1.0, Heavy 1.10). Scale every click line: a €0.008 click at Very Light becomes €0.0056.
Ink Type — free-text label for the ink technology (e.g., ElectroInk, dry toner). Display only.
White-ink allowed — toggle controlling whether the white-ink line can appear on quotes from this press. Set when the white-ink station is fitted, removed, or restricted.
Black-ink only — toggle restricting the press to mono work. Routing excludes the record from full-colour quotes when set.
Impose files price — per-file imposition charge added to prepress.
Preflight check price per page — per-page preflight cost added to prepress.
Open the card view on the press row for additional details:
Run-speed override table — override Output per hour for specific paper weights or coatings.
Volume markup tiers — tier the markup by quantity (e.g., 50% on small runs).
Save the change. The Pending Changes count increments by one in the sidebar.
2. Connect the press to substrates and categories
Open the substrates that should route to this press under Substrates and confirm each one carries at least one tag matching the press's tags. Add the missing tag if it is not there.
Open the product categories that should use this press for short-run colour (typically anything quoting under a couple of thousand pieces) and confirm a digital 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 and the press is now part of the active configuration. Recalculate a short-run test quote; the press appears in the route information and the click and labour lines appear on the price breakdown.
Things to know
A click charge is per side imaged. A 100-page booklet printed duplex on 50 sheets consumes 100 clicks, not 50. Verify the click line on a test quote against your contract's invoice formula.
The Black-ink only toggle overrides the CMY click rate entirely. Use it on dedicated mono presses where leaving the CMY rate non-zero would distort routing math.
Ink coverage tiers scale every click line. If your shop categorises most artwork as Standard, set the Very Light and Heavy tiers based on actual measurements rather than guessing — the tier classification is shown on the quote breakdown.
Labour rate per hour is usually where the bulk of digital running cost lives. Avoid double-counting by also folding labour into the click rate.