Use this article when you need to understand how the quoteable products on a quote (Stitched Book, Folded Leaflets, Banner) are built from the Categories table. After this you will know which Categories decisions drive which parts of the price breakdown and where to make each change.
What product categories are
A product category is a quoteable family Estimator offers in the create-estimate flow — Stitched Book, Folded Leaflets, Notepads, Banner, and so on. Each category bundles a Category Type (the imposition shape — Flat, Folded, Bound, Repeat/Stack), a set of Category Parts (cover, inner, body), one or more Production Steps per part (print, cut, fold, bind), and default markup percentages. When an operator picks a category on a quote, Estimator uses these settings to choose machines, count sheets, and calculate cost.
Categories live under Estimate Setup → Products → Categories. The supporting tables that narrow what an operator sees on the quote — Finish Sizes, Page Limits, Page Folds, Page Colors, Field Rules — live in the same Products area and are linked to a category.
A worked example
Northgate Press quotes a Stitched Book on A4 portrait with a Silk 100gsm SRA1 cover. The category is Stitched Book with Category Type = Bound. The category has two Category Parts — cover and inner — and each part lists its Production Steps: cover runs print → cut → laminate; inner runs print → fold → bind. Page Folds controls how the inner imposition is folded into a signature. Finish Sizes confirms A4 is a valid finished dimension for the category. Default markups (substrate, machine, labor, delivery) ship with the category and feed the price breakdown.
When the operator opens the quote, Estimator reads the category, expands each part's Production Steps, picks the machine assigned to each step (XL105 for the offset path, HP Indigo for the digital path), and prices each step. The breakdown rows mirror the Production Steps order.
What this affects
Quote create flow — the category dropdown lists every active category. Categories that are not saved and applied do not appear.
Price breakdown — every Production Step on every Category Part becomes a row on the breakdown. Missing steps mean missing rows.
Route comparison — Category Type controls which imposition algorithm runs (Flat, Folded, Bound, Repeat/Stack), which in turn controls how Estimator sheets the job and chooses presses.
Default markup — the category's markup percentages become the starting markup on every quote that selects this category, before pricing rules apply.
What this does not affect
Pricing rules — the rules-engine layer that adjusts price by customer, volume, or condition. Category-level markup is the starting point; rules apply on top. See How pricing setup works.
Substrate eligibility — substrates appear or are excluded based on Tags and physical limits, not on category settings. See How machine tags and compatibility work.
Optional add-ons — extras such as shrink-wrapping or drilling come from Conditional Steps on a price model, not from the category's Production Steps list.
Related articles
Create a product category