Use this article when your shop has more than one possible production path for a job and you need Estimator to pick a specific one — for example, keeping a cover lamination on a dedicated digital line, or stopping a wide-format press from being chosen for short-run leaflets. After this you will know what Tags decide, what they do not, and where to apply them.
What tags are
Tags are routing labels you attach to substrates, machines, and product parts. Estimator uses them as one of several compatibility checks when it decides which path a quote can use. The rule is overlap: if a substrate and a machine share at least one tag, the tag check passes; if both carry tags but none of the names overlap, the tag check excludes the pairing; if one side has no tags at all, Estimator treats that side as unrestricted by tags. Tags are a filter, not a machine type — a guillotine is identified by its machine record and step type, not by a guillotine tag.
Tags live on three surfaces in Estimate Setup: on the substrate row in the Substrates table, on the machine row in Print Machines or Finishing Machines, and (optionally) on the Category Parts row of a product category. Apply the same tag string to every row in the route you want to keep together.
A worked example
Northgate Press runs four presses: XL105 (offset, large-format sheet), AA Offset 2U (two-colour offset for spot work), HP Indigo (digital sheet), and Canon Wide (wide-format digital). The shop wants short-run leaflets to stay on HP Indigo or XL105 and never route to Canon Wide.
The operator opens Print Machines and adds the tag commercial-sheet to XL105 and HP Indigo. They add wide-format to Canon Wide. They open the Folded Leaflets category in Categories, edit the leaflet Category Parts row, and add commercial-sheet under Tags. They open Substrates and add commercial-sheet to the SRA1 and RA1 rows. Apply Changes.
The next time a Folded Leaflets quote runs, Estimator reads the part's Tags and looks for presses that share the tag. XL105 and HP Indigo pass; Canon Wide is excluded — the Issue analysis panel on the quote shows Canon Wide under Excluded machines with a tag-mismatch reason. The price breakdown stays on the offset or digital sheet path.
What this affects
Route selection — every time Estimator builds the candidate route for a quote, the tag check runs against substrates, machines, and parts. Mismatched tags exclude the pairing.
The Excluded machines section in Issue analysis on the quote — tag-mismatch reasons appear here when a machine the operator expects is filtered out.
Narrowing of multi-path setups — when a shop has more than one realistic route for a step, tags decide which route a particular product or substrate belongs on.
What this does not affect
Physical eligibility — tags do not replace sheet-size limits, weight ranges, thickness ranges, step types, or run-speed compatibility. Even when tags match, Estimator still applies those checks.
Pricing and rules — tags do not change cost; they decide whether a machine is on the route. The price comes from the machine record and the pricing rules layer.
Simple, single-route setups — when a shop has only one realistic path for a step, leaving Tags empty on both sides is clearer than tagging everything. Empty tags act as unrestricted, not as a hidden filter.
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