Use this article when your shop runs continuous-feed digital inkjet or web Indigo (HP PageWide, Canon ProStream, Indigo 7250 web, or similar) and you need Estimator to price click charges, web threading, and run time per imposition. After this you will have one record per imposition mode on the same physical press, each pricing correctly on quotes that match its finished-size range.
Steps
1. Configure the web digital press
Open Estimate Setup → Print Machines, then add or open the press you want to configure and set Machine Type to Web Digital. A single physical press typically needs one record per imposition mode (e.g., one record for A4 work, another for A3, another for journal-sized signatures). Fill in the fields below for each record.
Identification
Name — recommended format is brand and model plus the imposition mode (e.g., "Indigo 7250 — A4", "Indigo 7250 — A3", "Indigo 7250 — Journal"). The mode suffix is how operators recognise which record matched on a given quote.
Manufacturer — free-text label captured alongside the name. Display only.
Machine Type — select Web Digital. Changing the type later rewrites the editor and discards cutoff, web-width, and pages-per-impression fields.
Status — set to Active when the record should be a candidate for routing.
Tags — link the record to substrates and finishing paths it can run.
Web geometry and finished-size constraints
Web Width — the roll width loaded on the press, in millimetres or inches. For example, 330 mm or 13 in on an Indigo 7250.
Cutoff Length — the signature length at which the cutter trims the web. On inkjet this is often a software setting; on an Indigo 7250 it is typically 965 mm or 38 in.
Maximum / minimum finished size (width / height) — the finished-piece dimensions this imposition record covers, in millimetres or inches. For example, 203–229 × 229–279 mm or 8–9 × 9–11 in for an A4 record. Each imposition record should cover a distinct, non-overlapping range so the planning engine picks one record per job.
Maximum stock caliper — thickest substrate the press can run through the feed system, in microns or points.
Operational speeds and labour
Make-ready hours — fixed overhead before the run starts (thread the web, RIP files, calibrate colour). For example, 8–10 hours for a fresh Indigo 7250 set-up — longer than sheet-fed because the web must be threaded through every tower.
Make-ready material cost — fixed paper or consumable cost added to the make-ready line. For example, €700 or $800 per make-ready on an Indigo 7250.
Output per hour — maximum sustained speed, in impressions per hour. For example, 6,800 impressions/hour on an Indigo 7250.
Machine rate per hour — hourly machine running cost. For example, €100/hour or $115/hour on an Indigo 7250.
Labour rate per hour — operator cost per hour.
Paper waste — web length added to the substrate quantity for threading and registration loss. For example, 720 mm or 28 in per make-ready.
Running spoils % — additional spoils as a percentage of necessary quantity. For example, 2–3%.
Digital cost fields
CMY click rate — contract price per CMYK impression. For example, €0.40 or $0.46 per impression on an Indigo 7250 web.
Black click rate — contract price per mono impression. For example, €0.0126 or $0.014.
White-ink click rate — contract price per white-ink impression, on presses that support white.
CMY cost per area / Black cost per area / White-ink cost per area — per-area ink cost components. Use when the contract is area-based; leave at zero if click-based.
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 on every quote.
Ink Type — free-text label. Display only.
White-ink allowed — toggle controlling whether the white-ink line can appear on quotes from this record.
Black-ink only — toggle restricting the record to mono work. Routing excludes the record from full-colour quotes.
Impose files price — per-file imposition charge added to prepress.
Preflight check price per page — per-page preflight cost added to prepress.
Pages and imposition
Pages per impression — number of finished pages produced per impression. For example, 8 for an A4 imposition record (4 per side), 4 for A3, 10 for Journal. Each imposition record on the same physical press carries a different value here.
Included steps — steps the press performs in-line (typically print). Included steps do not produce a separate finishing line.
Save the change. The Pending Changes count increments by one in the sidebar. Repeat for each imposition record on the same physical press.
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.
Open the product categories that should use this press (books, journals, leaflets, or any longer-run digital work) and confirm a web-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. Recalculate a test quote whose finished size falls in one imposition record's range; the planning engine picks that record, the click line shows the per-impression cost, and the make-ready line covers the threading time.
Things to know
A single physical web digital press needs one record per imposition mode. Sharing one record across imposition modes produces routing collisions — the planning engine cannot tell which mode a quote belongs to.
Cutoff Length on web digital is often a software setting, unlike on web offset where the cylinder fixes it mechanically. Document the practical cutoff used for each imposition record so the planning engine can match jobs correctly.
Ink coverage tiers scale every click line. A Very Light tier with multiplier 0.70 brings a €0.40 click down to €0.28. The tier label appears on the quote breakdown so operators can verify which tier matched.
Setting plate-cost fields on a web digital record has no effect; plates are an offset mechanism. Setting sheet-size fields likewise has no effect because the press uses web width and finished-size ranges.