Use this article when your shop saddle-stitches signatures into booklets and you need Estimator to price the stitch step on every stitched-book quote. After this you will have a saddle stitcher that prices correctly on quotes for stitched products, with the bind step appearing on the price breakdown.
Steps
1. Configure the saddle stitcher
Open Estimate Setup → Binding Machines → Saddle Stitch, then add or open the stitcher you want to configure. Fill in the fields below.
Identification
Name — recommended format is brand and model, so the machine is easy to recognise on quotes (e.g., "Stitcher 1").
Tags — link this stitcher to upstream presses and substrate groups it can run after. Estimator uses tags to pair the stitcher with compatible work.
Books this stitcher accepts
Sheet sizes — the press sheet sizes the signatures can arrive on. Select from the drop-down (e.g., SRA1, B1, RA1). The options come from your configured substrates.
Book width (min/max) and book height (min/max) — finished book dimensions in millimetres or inches (e.g., 105–300 mm, or 4–12 in).
Book thickness (min/max) — bound thickness range in millimetres or inches (e.g., 1–8 mm, or 0.04–0.3 in).
Binding edge (min/max) — the stitched edge length in millimetres or inches (e.g., 148–420 mm, or 6–16 in).
Speed
Output per hour — books stitched per hour (e.g., 3000 books/hour for a fast Stitcher 1). The output type is fixed at books for stitchers.
Books per hour adjustment — slow the line down on jobs that need extra inserts or signatures. Add range rules — for example, 1 signature → 3000 books/hour, 2 signatures → 2000 books/hour, 3 or more signatures → 1000 books/hour. Estimator picks the row whose
from–torange contains the job's signature count.Stations — the number of feeder stations on the line (e.g., 13). When a job needs more signatures than there are stations, Estimator priced it as a multi-pass run (see below).
Multi-pass — particular to saddle stitching
Multi-pass setup minutes — extra make-ready time added when the job exceeds the stations count and must be folded into two passes (e.g., 15 minutes).
Multi-pass speed reduction — fraction the Output per hour drops by on the additional pass (e.g., 0.5 means the second pass runs at half speed). Only set this if your line genuinely re-feeds — leave at 0 if your operators decline multi-pass work on this stitcher.
Labor assistant — particular to saddle stitching
Labor assistant required — the number of helpers needed alongside the operator at different job sizes. Add range rules — for example, 1–5 signatures → 1 assistant, 6–10 signatures → 2 assistants, 11+ signatures → 4 assistants. Estimator multiplies the labor rate by the assistant count plus one (operator) for each range.
Cost
Machine rate per hour — hourly running cost in tenant currency, covering amortisation, electricity, and consumables (e.g., €100/hour for Stitcher 1).
Labor rate per hour — operator cost per hour (e.g., €20/hour). If the operator can do other work while the line runs, enter a fraction of their full rate (e.g., 50%).
Make-ready labor cost — fixed labor cost added once per stitched section to set up the line (e.g., €0.07).
Minimum charge — floor amount. If the calculated stitch cost is below this, Estimator applies the minimum instead.
Make-ready and spoilage
Running spoils % — extra books spoiled as a percentage of the necessary run quantity (e.g., 0–2%).
Over copies — extra books produced per run on top of the ordered quantity (e.g., 100 for a high-volume line, 2 for a low-volume one).
Open the card view on the machine row to set additional details:
Volume markup tiers — tier the markup by quantity (e.g., 50% on small runs, lower on large runs).
Run speeds — override Output per hour for specific paper weights, coatings, or job conditions.
Save the change. The Pending Changes count increments by one in the sidebar.
2. Connect the stitcher to the product category
Open Saddle Stitch Categories under Binding Machines and add the product categories that may use this stitcher (e.g., Stitched Book). On the part row of the bound part, open Production Steps and add the bind operation so Estimator includes it on every quote that selects this category.
Save the change. Pending Changes increments again.
3. Apply the changes
Open the Pending Changes panel in the sidebar and review the staged edits to the stitcher and the product category. Select Apply Changes to publish them to live setup.
The Pending Changes count returns to zero and the saddle stitcher is now part of the active configuration.
Things to know
The Labor assistant required and Multi-pass speed reduction fields are specific to saddle stitching. Other binders (perfect bind, wire-o, case making, pad glue) ignore these — set them only on stitchers.
If a stitched book quote prices the bind step at zero, the most common cause is that the product category is not assigned to this stitcher under Saddle Stitch Categories. Open that sub-menu and confirm the category is in the list.
The Stations count is the trigger for multi-pass costing. If your line genuinely has 13 stations but the operator routinely splits jobs into two passes anyway, set Stations to the practical limit (not the physical one) so multi-pass setup fires when it should.