Use this article when your shop builds hardcover books — coffee-table photography, hardback novels, presentation editions, board-cover annual reports — and you need Estimator to price the inner block, the printed endpapers, and the case-making pass independently on every quote. After this you will have a casebound category that appears in the create-estimate product picker with separate inner and cover parts, gutter grind-off configured for the gathered block, and the case-making step routed to your case maker.
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., "Hardback - Casebound Books", "Hard Cover with Pocket"). Pick a name that signals the binding style to estimators.
Display Name — leave the same as Name unless an internal alias is needed.
Category Type — choose Case Binding (Hardcover). This unlocks the cover/wraps fields on parts, exposes the gutter grind-off input, and gates case-maker compatibility further down the route.
Calculation and imposition
Price Model — set to paper_calc. Estimator prices by parent sheet, signature count, and run length.
Price Adjustment Model — pick VA per Press Hour or Gross Profit%. Hardback work usually has long press hours and short bind hours, so VA per Press Hour matches the cost structure that account managers read.
Bleed — default bleed in millimetres (e.g., 3 mm).
Flags
Allow Same Size Sheet — leave No. Hardback inner signatures need bleed plus gripper margin, and the case wraps a board core that needs board overhang.
Mixed Production Enabled — leave No.
Markups
Labor / Machine / Delivery / Outwork — default markup percentages (e.g., 20% each).
Spine grind-off — particular to case binding
Gutter Grind Off — millimetres ground off the spine edge after gathering, before the case is applied (e.g., 3 mm). The case maker uses this to compute the working signature width when calculating spine width, hangover, and turn-in.
Save the row. The Pending Changes count increments by one in the sidebar.
2. Define the parts
Open Category Parts for the new category. A casebound book carries two parts that price independently: the inner signatures (the printed block, including any tipped-in endpapers) and the cover (the printed case material or the printed jacket).
Add an inner part row first:
Name —
inner.Is Cover — No.
Is Wraps Preceding — No.
Production Steps — typically print → cut → fold → bind. Hardback inners usually gather into signatures, so folding remains in the route even though the final case is rigid.
Tags — pair with the inner-grade substrate and press (e.g.,
uncoated-text-90,offset).
Add a cover part row second:
Name —
cover.Is Cover — Yes.
Is Wraps Preceding — Yes. The printed case or jacket wraps the trimmed and bound block.
Production Steps — typically print → cut → laminate → bind. Hardback covers often pick up a matt laminate plus spot finishing; surface the spot finishing through Field Rules so the estimator can add it conditionally.
Tags — pair with the cover substrate (e.g.,
coated-cover,offset).
If your shop also offers a printed dust jacket as a separate priced item, add a third jacket part row with its own production steps and tags.
Save each part row. Pending Changes increments again.
3. Configure the quote inputs
Open Finish Sizes, Page Limits, Page Colors, and Field Rules under Products.
Finish Sizes — add the standard hardback sizes your shop accepts (e.g., 165 × 240 mm or 6.5 × 9.5 in, 240 × 297 mm or 9.5 × 11.5 in) and Custom Size for bespoke editions.
Page Limits — set a minimum of around 64 pages (below this, case binding is uneconomical) and a maximum your case maker can produce.
Page Colors — list inner and cover colour options separately. Most hardbacks run full colour on the cover and a mix of black-only and full-colour on the inner.
Field Rules — surface laminate, head/tail band, ribbon marker, dust jacket, and endpaper colour as conditional options so the estimator only sees the choices that apply to this category.
4. Apply the changes
Open the Pending Changes panel in the sidebar and review the staged category, parts, and quote inputs. Select Apply Changes to publish to live setup.
The Pending Changes count returns to zero, and the hardback category appears in the create-estimate product picker with the inner/cover parts routed through your case maker.
Things to know
The case maker carries its own concepts — hangover, turn-in, hinge gap, board thickness — that live on the binder editor, not on the category. Set them once on the case maker; the category just routes through.
Hardback quotes price endpaper printing through the Field Rules conditional inputs rather than as a mandatory part. If your shop always prints endpapers, add a third part row instead so the cost lands on every quote without an estimator selecting it.
If a casebound quote does not price the case-making step, the most common cause is that this category is not assigned to the case maker under Case Making Categories on the binder editor. Open the case maker and add the category to its accepted list.