Estimating turns a parts list or a customer's drawing into a price. Type the parts and their sizes, or upload the artwork, tell the app the scale and trace them, and give each one a material or stock. The quote updates as you draw: material used, printing time and cutting time, each with your cost and your price. It's built for sales staff and estimators, and customers can draw their own parts through a designer link.
How an estimate comes together#
New estimate (or N) on the Estimating page offers two starts:
- Quick quote: no artwork. The estimate opens as a parts list: type each part's name, size, quantity and stock, or start from a product such as Postcard, Poster, Tuck box or Shipping box. The name is optional ("Quote (customer) · (date)" by default).
- Measure a drawing: upload a PDF or image, then press Start estimate. The steps below.
- Upload the artwork. Choose Measure a drawing and pick a file, or drop a file on the page. Or press Choose from Files to take one from your team's Files library: its Customer property fills in the customer. PDF, PNG, JPG and WebP files up to 50 MB work. Give the estimate a name (the file name by default), a customer and a reference such as a PO number, and choose imperial or metric units, then press Start estimate. You can add more files later. An upload is also saved in Files, in a folder for the estimate under Estimates (see Takeoff: tracing parts).
- Set the scale by drawing along a dimension you know. See Setting the scale.
- Trace the parts with the rectangle and polygon tools, and set quantities. See Takeoff: tracing parts.
- Give parts a material. The material carries the price per ft² or m², the roll width and how it's cut. See Materials.
- Review production. Each material is nested on its roll, and nested groups are priced on the roll they use, with printing and cutting added. See Nesting and yield.
- Read the quote. See Reading the quote.
Everything saves as you go.
What's in this section#
| Page | Read it to |
|---|---|
| Quick quotes without a drawing | Quote sized parts without a drawing. |
| Cartons and boxes | Quote folding cartons and corrugated boxes. |
| Box and carton dielines | Make a dieline for a standard box style. |
| Takeoff: tracing parts | Learn the drawing tools, the parts list and saving. |
| Setting the scale | Measure accurately from a PDF or an image. |
| Materials | Set up the films and substrates you sell. |
| Nesting and yield | Understand roll nesting, panels and yield. |
| Cut time | See where the cutting time and price come from. |
| Cut files from an estimate | Download a cut file for your cutter. |
| Reading the quote | Read each line of the quote. |
| Designer links for customers and staff | Let customers or colleagues draw without signing in. |
Managing estimates#
The Estimating page lists your team's estimates, most recently updated first, with their parts, area and total. Search them or filter by status. In an estimate, the header shows its status: Draft, Sent, Won or Lost. You can duplicate an estimate to quote a variation, or delete it.
Before your first estimate, add the materials you sell under Price book, and at least one printer and one cutter on the Equipment page. Without them the quote has no printing or cutting lines. Material is still priced: nested on the roll when the material has a width, otherwise by area. Settings on this page chooses which columns Copy CSV includes. See Reading the quote.
Automating it#
Everything here can also be driven through the REST API under the estimating tag of the API reference: create an estimate with its artwork in one call, send the customer a designer link, then read the parts, nests and quote back when they finish.