Use this article when your shop runs a continuous-web litho line (heatset or coldset) and you need to understand how Estimator prices a web offset run. After this you will know which fields drive the cost line, why web width and cutoff length matter, and where the controls live.
What a web offset press is in Estimator
A web offset press is a record under Estimate Setup → Print Machines → Web Offset. Unlike a sheet press, a web press runs a continuous paper roll through the towers, prints both sides in one pass, and cuts the printed web into signatures at a fixed cutoff length. Two fields are particular to web offset: Web Width (the roll width the press feeds, in millimetres) and Cutoff Length (the fixed signature length the folder produces at every cylinder revolution).
The press also carries the offset-specific cost fields (plate cost, make-ready waste, plate-making labour, paper-coat extra price) shared with sheet-fed offset, and the general fields shared with every print machine (machine rate, labour rate, run speed in impressions per hour).
A worked example
A web offset configuration with web width 580 mm and cutoff length 630 mm, machine rate €240/hour, output 25,000 impressions/hour, plate cost €18, and make-ready material cost €700 prints a 16-page A4 magazine signature.
A quote for 50,000 magazine signatures comes back with:
Plates — 8 plates per side × 2 sides × €18 = €288 (the signature carries 16 pages, imposed 8-up per side).
Make-ready paper — fixed material cost €700 added to the paper bucket.
Run time — 50,000 impressions ÷ 25,000 impressions/hour = 2 hours × €240 = €480.
Paper waste — the configured paper-waste figure (sheets or linear metres) is added to the substrate quantity to cover web break and registration loss.
The price breakdown shows separate lines for plates, make-ready material, run time, and paper waste. Switching the signature to a coated stock applies the press's coating adder to the paper bucket (just as on sheet-fed offset).
The numeric values above illustrate the shape; the exact figures on your quote come from your press's record. Web offset is not present in the Northgate Press fixture, so back-test the math against your own commissioning data when you first stand up the configuration.
What this affects
Plates line — scales with colours × parts × surfaces. A 4/4 16-page signature with 8-up imposition needs 8 plates per side.
Make-ready paper / waste — added to the substrate quantity. Web presses typically carry a higher waste number than sheet because the operator threads the web through the towers before registration locks.
Cutoff length — drives the imposition the planning engine produces; jobs whose finished signature does not divide cleanly into the cutoff length will be excluded from this press.
Web width — drives the imposition across the web; if the imposed signature exceeds the web width, the press is excluded from routing.
What this does not affect
Click rates — web offset uses plates, not clicks. The click-rate fields are for digital presses and have no effect on a web offset quote.
Ink coverage tiers — these are a digital mechanism. Web offset uses plate cost and paper-coat adders.
Sheet-size range — sheet-fed presses use a min/max sheet size; web presses use web width and cutoff length instead.
Finishing operations — cut-to-signature, folding, stitching, and trimming are configured under Finishing Machines and Binding Machines, not on the press.
Related task articles
Configure a sheet-fed offset press — the offset-specific cost fields (plate cost, make-ready, wash-up) are documented there and apply to web offset too.