Use this article when you have just opened Estimate Setup and want to find the right area, run a search, switch between table and card layouts, and stage edits without losing track of them. After this you will be able to move between any two areas in two clicks, and you will know where staged edits go before you select Apply Changes.
Before you begin
Required role: MIS Admin. MIS User cannot open Estimate Setup. See Estimator permissions reference.
Steps
1. Open Estimate Setup and read the layout
Open Estimate Setup from the GelatoConnect sidebar under the Estimates area. Three regions load.
Left sidebar
Pending Changes — appears at the top when at least one staged edit exists. Open this to review or apply staged work.
Production capability areas — Substrates, Print Machines, Finishing Machines, Binding Machines. These come from your tenant's navigation configuration and may include additional subtype entries if your shop has apparel or large format enabled.
Products and Reference Data — Categories, Field Rules, Conditional Steps, and the reference-data lookups (Finish Sizes, Page Folds, Page Colors, and so on).
Pricing and Settings — Category Pricing, Pricing Rules, and the Settings group (Email Template, General Settings, Guidance, Connections).
Header
Area title — the current area name.
Search field — searches the current area's table rows.
Card / table toggle — switches the main panel layout for areas that support both views.
History — opens the configuration version history for the current area.
AI Configurator — opens the chat-based bulk setup assistant.
Main panel
The table or editor for the area you selected.
2. Move between areas
Click an area name in the sidebar. The main panel reloads with that area's table. Expand a parent entry (for example Print Machines) to reveal subtype entries (Sheet-Fed Digital, Sheet-Fed Offset, Web Digital, Web Offset, Large Format). The sidebar remembers expanded entries while you stay in Estimate Setup.
3. Search inside an area
With an area open, type into the Search field in the header. The table filters in place to rows matching the search. Clear the field to restore the full table.
4. Switch between table and card view
For areas that show both layouts (most production-capability areas), use the card / table toggle in the header. Table view is denser; card view shows additional fields per row and exposes the "advanced" or "card-only" fields some editors hide behind a card detail. The toggle does not change the data; it only changes how rows render.
5. Stage and apply edits
Every edit you make — add a substrate, change a machine rate, edit a category — saves into Pending Changes. The Pending Changes entry at the top of the sidebar increments by one with each staged edit.
Open Pending Changes when you want to review the staged list. Select Apply Changes to publish them to live setup. The count returns to zero, and the next Calculate on any quote uses the new configuration.
6. Return to Manage estimates
Use the GelatoConnect sidebar's Manage estimates entry to leave Estimate Setup. Staged work stays in Pending Changes even if you leave — it is only discarded if you explicitly delete the staged entries.
Things to know
Pending Changes is global within Estimator. An edit you make in Substrates stages in the same place as an edit you make in Pricing Rules. Reviewing the full list before Apply Changes is the way to spot accidental edits.
The AI Configurator in the header offers bulk setup via chat. It writes into the same Pending Changes queue, so AI-generated edits also need an explicit Apply Changes before they go live.
The sidebar's subtype tree under Print Machines, Finishing Machines, and Binding Machines reflects what your tenant has enabled. If your shop does not run hardback case-making, the Case Making entry under Binding Machines may be absent — that is expected.