** Version 5.0 has been released! We have added many, customer-requested features. Some of the more significant features are described below:

Customer Tabs (General, Billing, Delivery)
Attach a Markup Scheme to a Customer
Automatic Additional Charges Linked to a Customer
Salesman Linked to a Customer

The Customer List contains separate tabs to store General, Billing and Shipping information for each customer. When a Customer is selected within a Quote, the values entered in each of these customer tabs are automatically imported into the Quote. The General tab information is imported into the Quote's Customer tab; the values entered on the Shipping screen are imported into the Delivery screens within a Quote and are included in a number of reports, such as the shipping manifest, delivery receipt and skid tags. The information entered on the Billing tab is imported into various parts of a Quote, including the Invoice report. You can link a specific Markup Scheme to a Customer by selecting the desired Markup Scheme on the Billing screen and you can also assign a Salesman to be associated with this customer. If you want any additional charges to be included in each Quote prepared for this customer, enter a value in the Add'l Charges field. Once this Billing information is entered, the corresponding Additional Charges, Markup Scheme and Salesman will automatically be loaded into the Quote when a Customer is selected. You can find the selected Additional Charges and Salesman on the Other Info tab within the Quote.

Sales Staff Commissions

On the General tab in Shop Settings, you can enter information for your sales staff. For each salesperson, enter a Name and determine a commission amount. You can indicate whether the commission is a flat amount or a percentage of the job. This percentage can be based on the cost or selling price (i.e., before or after markup) of the job, or some portion thereof.

You can assign a person entered in the Sales Staff summary to a particular Customer, by selecting that salesman on the Billing tab on the Customer Information screen (accessed via the Customer List). Selecting a customer within a Quote will automatically assign the corresponding salesman and associated commission costs; these costs can be found on the Other Info tab within a Quote. If needed, you can modify the commission amount for a particular Quote by using the Quote Settings - Miscellaneous screen (located under the Setup - Quote Settings menu).

Multiple Black Inks

On the Ink tab in Shop Settings, you can enter two different types of Black Ink. You can label each type (e.g., UV Black), list its Manufacturer, and assign the corresponding cost and usage values to each ink. A Notes field is also available for each Black Ink. On the main Ink tab within a Quote, you can indicate which black ink type is to be used for the job by selecting the appropriate radio button. You can also indicate a percentage to split the total ink used, if you will be using both of the black ink types entered in Shop Settings.

Multiple Color Ink Usage Factors

On the Ink tab in Shop Settings, you can enter two different values for color ink usage. You can modify the label for each one of these usage values (e.g., Standard and UV). These two labels will be displayed on the Color Inks tab in Shop Settings and the appropriate value can be selected for each color ink by clicking on a radio button.

Ink Wizard - Duplicating Ink Entry Information in All Sections

If you have multiple sections within a Quote, an Ink Wizard icon will be displayed next to the Section No. field on the Ink Specs tab. Once an ink entry is added (spot or process color), clicking on the Ink Wizard icon will prompt you with an option to duplicate the highlighted entry into all sections within the job. If you are highlighting a spot color, the single spot color entry will be duplicated in each section. If you are highlighting a process color entry, the Ink Wizard will duplicate all three process color entries (magenta, cyan and yellow) in each section of the job. This time-saving Ink Wizard will simplify setting up multiple-section jobs with color in multiple sections.

Color on All Pages in Ink Specs

On the Ink Specs tab within a Quote, you can quickly and easily indicate that a color is to be included on all pages within a section. By marking the Color on All Pages checkbox, the No. Pages, Page #'s, Page # Description and No. Plates fields will all be updated with the appropriate values. This checkbox is also available on the Add New Process Color entry screen.

Proofing

On the Proofing tab in Shop Settings, you can enter an unlimited number of customized proofing options. Enter the Type of proofing and its Setup Charge, and then provide the cost for materials and the time required to produce the proof for each job format (Standard, Tab, Book, etc.). If you enter an Hourly Rate at the top of the screen, the Labor rate will be automatically calculated based on the time required to produce the proof. The costs for Proofing materials and labor are provided separately on all of the Quote Summary Screens, including Markup and Analysis.

On the Proofing Specs tab within a Quote, you can select the type of proof(s) to be supplied to the customer. Simply select the Proof Type from the dropdown and indicate the total number of pages required. If all pages are to be created, click on the All Pages checkbox and the appropriate information will be sent to the No. Pages and Page #'s fields. This information, along with the Email/FTP information will be included on the Job Ticket report.

On the main Proofing tab within a Quote (located within the main PrePress tab), all of the costs associated with the proofing types selected will be automatically calculated on the screen. You can override the total calculated time and/or the Total Cost fields by clicking on the green 'O' icons within any Proofing entry.

Finishing

Use the Finishing tab in Shop Settings to enter an unlimited number of finishing operations handled by your shop (e.g., poly bagging, onserting, etc.). Note: Folding, Inserting, Bindery and Mailing are handled on their own tabs in Shop Settings and should not be included on the Finishing tab. Enter the Type and Setup Charge for each finishing type, as well as the cost for materials (per M) and the actual finishing cost (per M). You can also enter an additional cost (per M) for each section involved in the finishing process. If this finishing process is typically associated with additional waste, enter a Paper Waste % which will be applied every time this finishing type is applied in a Quote.

On the Finishing Specs tab within a Quote, you can select the type(s) of finishing required. Simply select the Finishing Type from the dropdown and indicate the number of sections to which the finishing process is applied. You can indicate a specific section of the job the waste is associated with in the Waste Section field, or the finishing waste can be applied across all sections. For example, if you will be onserting a Post-It Note label to Section 1 of a job, enter '1' for the No. of Sections and enter '1' as the Waste Section number. If the finishing process applies to all sections of a job, enter 'All' to apply the paper waste percentage to all sections in the job (i.e., complete copies of the job will be wasted due to the finishing process). Or, enter 'None' if there is no additional paper waste to be included in any section. The resulting finishing waste figures are applied to the appropriate section(s) and incorporated into the main Paper tab within a Quote.

On the main Finishing tab within a Quote, (an inner tab located within the main Finishing tab), all of the costs associated with the finishing type(s) selected will be automatically calculated. You can override the Setup cost in any Finishing entry, or the per M charge for Finishing, Per Section and/or Materials cost by clicking on one of the green 'O' icons.

You can enter a markup percentage for these finishing costs in the "All Add'l Finishing" field within any Markup Scheme This markup percentage will be used when calculating total costs on all of the Summary screens (Markup, Overview, Additional M's, etc.).

Finishing Waste included on Paper Tab

On the main Paper tab within a Quote, an additional Finishing Waste % is shown for each paper stock listed in the summary. If you have selected a finishing process on the Finishing Specs tab which has a paper waste percentage associated with it, the value will automatically be imported into this field on the main Paper tab. This value can be overridden if needed, by clicking on the green (O).

Actuals Tab in Summary

The Actuals tab under the main Summary tab displays all of your Estimated Costs, compares them to your Actual Costs, and reports your Actual Profit (or loss) for each cost component of a Quote (Paper, Ink, Press, etc.). The data displayed on this screen is used for the Profit Analysis and Estimate Analysis reports generated from the Quote/Job History screen. You can view the Actuals data by clicking on the View Actuals button (or press Ctrl-A).

On the Actuals tab, the analysis begins by assuming your Actuals match your Estimates so the Estimated values are used as the initial Actuals values. The true Actual Costs can be imported from the Quote Actuals screen by clicking on the Load Actuals button. You can also directly enter any of the Actual Cost fields by clicking on the green override (O) button. If you want to replace the actual cost data with estimated costs, click on the Copy Estimates to Actuals button to copy each of the estimated costs to the actuals costs.

Quote Actuals Includes Both Use and Costs for Paper/Press

The Quote Actuals screen allows you to input post-production data collection information for each section, including paper usage (press counters or total impressions, plus Core waste) and press time (total time, or for Make Ready and Running time if these have been logged separately). The Actuals data may be imported directly from your data collection system; contact Star*Key Software for more information on enabling the Import Actuals button. In addition to these two tabs (Paper Usage and Press Time), the Quote Actuals screen includes tabs which determine the resulting costs (Paper Costs and Press Costs). The detailed costs are broken down for each section and each paper stock so you can have complete confidence in the Actual Paper Cost and Actual Press Cost calculations. These Actual Costs are loaded into the Summary - Actuals tab and used in the Actuals analysis reports (Estimates vs. Actuals and Profit Analysis).

Profit Analysis in Excel

The Profit Analysis report will calculate the actual profit/loss of your filtered Quotes/Jobs by comparing the Actual Costs to your Selling Prices. This analysis will help you determine your actual profit/loss for each Job, and to track your profits by a selected set of criteria (e.g., over time, for a particular customer, by salesman, etc.). This analysis generates three Sheets in a customizable Excel template. The first "Totals" analysis compares each Job's Actual Cost to its Selling Price and calculates the total profit (or loss) amount. The "Details" sheet calculates the profit/loss for each cost component of a Job (Paper, Ink, Press, etc.) and reports it both as a dollar figure and a percentage. The last sheet of the Profit Analysis report presents data from the first two sheets in graphical form. Charts are created to display the comparison of Actual Costs to Selling Price for the selected set of Jobs/Quotes (% Profit for each Job, Cost vs. Selling Price bar graph for each Job, and Overall Profit: Total Cost vs. Total Selling Price for all Jobs combined).

All of the Actual Costs and Selling Prices are taken directly from the Actuals tab under the main Summary tab in each Quote/Job.

Estimate Analysis in Excel

After applying the desired filters to the Quote/Job History screen, you can click on the Reports button to generate a variety of reports for the Quotes/Jobs currently displayed on the screen. The Estimate Analysis report will perform a complete analysis of your filtered Quotes/Jobs comparing the Actual Costs to your Estimated Costs. This analysis can help you determine the accuracy of your estimating practices, and to track it by a selected set of criteria (e.g., over time, for a particular customer, by estimator, etc.). This analysis generates three Sheets in a customizable Excel template. The first "Totals" analysis compares each Job's Actual Cost to the Estimated Cost and compares the estimated profit with the actual profit (or loss). The "Details" sheet compares the estimated and actual cost for each cost component of a Job (Paper, Ink, Press, etc.) and calculates the difference for each; a difference of zero means the estimate was perfect. This enables you to identify and focus in on the strengths and weaknesses within each Quote. The last sheet of the Estimate Analysis report presents data from the first two sheets in graphical form. Charts are created to display the comparison of Actuals to Estimates for the selected set of Jobs/Quotes (% Difference, $ Profit Difference and % Profit Difference).

All of the Actual Costs and Estimated Costs are taken directly from the Actuals tab under the main Summary tab in each Quote/Job.

XML Export to PRIMA

If the PRIMA link is established between Presstimator and Harland Simon's PRIMA data collection system, job information from the Presstimator can be automatically imported into PRIMA via XML. Contact Star*Key Software for more information if you are interested in establishing a link directly from your data collection system into the Presstimator.

Prefix Characters Allowed with Auto-Numbering

On the General tab in Shop Settings, you can enter up to five characters as a prefix for each of the auto-numbering fields (Next Quote Number, Next Invoice Number, Next Job Number and Next Customer Number). If you have a naming convention which includes a prefix for these values, enter the desired characters in the first field and the auto-number value in the second field. These two fields will be combined when the value is imported into a Quote or new Customer.

Time Deadlines for Job Information

Once you indicate a Quote has become a Job by marking the Job Accepted checkbox (on the Customer tab within a Quote), you can enter a time along with the date for the following Job Information fields: Required, Copy In, Printed, Completed. Click on the Timer/Clock icon to enter a time associated with the date field. If entered, the time will be included on all reports that display these dates.

Paper Cost Including Plate Changes on Paper tab

The main Paper tab within a Quote displays a total Paper Cost as well as a Total Paper Cost including plate changes.

Glossy Paper Stock

On the Paper Stock tab in Shop Settings, you can select a Paper Type of 'Glossy' which corresponds to a Basic Size of 25 x 38.

Paper Specs - (Limit Paper Color Choices)

Once a Paper Type has been selected on the Paper Specs tab, the Paper Color dropdown will only display the available colors for that Paper Type. Filtering out unrelated Paper Colors assures that a match will be found on the main Paper tab when loading the Defaults from Shop Settings. If the desired Paper Color is not available as a choice in the dropdown list, then a new Stock must be entered in Shop Settings - Paper Stocks.

Email/FTP in Composition

On the Composition Specs tab within a Quote, you can indicate the manner in which the composition Material is being provided (Disk, FTP or Email) and indicate whether or not additional editing is required. If you mark the checkbox indicating Edit required, the appropriate costs in Composition Shop Settings [e.g., Email (edit)] will be used when calculating total cost and time values, since each method can be set up with a unique cost/time.

PrePress Main Tab (Composition, Proofing, Film)

The main PrePress tab within a Quote contains all of the components associated with prepress operations (Composition, Proofing and Film).

Choices for Default All to keep any Customized Selections

When selecting Load Defaults on the main Paper or Press tabs or selecting Default All from the toolbar, you may or may not want to replace certain values that have been manually adjusted. These fields include Paper Waste values on the main Paper tab and Make-Ready and IPH (impressions per hour) values on the Press tab. When creating a new Quote, the checkboxes will be already marked to update these fields based on your defaults in Shop Settings. When these fields have already been defaulted or have been manually adjusted, the checkboxes will not be automatically marked in order to preserve any customized values. If you would, in fact, like to revert to the Default values for any of these items, simply mark the appropriate checkbox(es) when applying Defaults..

Invoice Selling Price Adjustment (optional Comment)

The estimator can adjust the final invoice price for a Quote on the Invoice tab (under the main Summary tab). Using the Adjustment (+/-) field, the estimator can make a change to the final selling price and include an optional comment explaining the adjustment. When printing the invoice, the user has the option to include the comment in the printed report.

Job Ticket Modifications

The Job Ticket can be generated as either a Detailed version (Word template used) or a Summary version (Excel template used). The Summary report includes all significant components of the job in a compact format, with the goal of summarizing all the information onto a single page. This customizable report could serve as a 'cover sheet' for the more detailed job ticket report generated in Word.

Report Options (Include $0)

The Detailed format of the Quote for Customer report (accessed through Quote Reports on the Reports menu or by pressing Ctrl-R) allows you to exclude items from the Quote that do not have a cost. For example, if there are no film costs associated with a Quote, then unmarking the "Include $0 items" checkbox will remove all Film information from the report.

Delivery Receipt Report

From the main Delivery tab within a Quote, you can click on the Print button to view the various reports and printing options for the Quote's delivery items (or you can select Delivery under Quote Main Tabs in the Reports menu). The Delivery Receipt report will be generated in Excel using a customizable Excel template. You can choose to include the total cost and tax rate on the report. You can select among two formats for the report: a single page/single item report or one that will duplicate the delivery information as a '2-Part' report so your driver can collect a delivery signature and also leave a duplicate copy for the customer.

Skid Tag Fields (Contact, Carrier and Notes)

The customizable Skid Tag report (accessed through Quote Reports on the Reports menu or by pressing Ctrl-R) includes the Contact, Carrier and Notes information from the selected Delivery entry.

Inserts - Supplied Cost Scale

On the Inserting tab in Shop Settings, you can enter two separate cost scales for inserting preprints. One cost scale (In-House) is for the cost of inserting preprints which have been produced in-house, and the other cost scale (Supplied) is for when the customer supplies the inserts. When entering preprints on the Inserting Specs tab within a Quote, marking (or leaving blank) the PrePrint Supplied checkbox will apply the appropriate cost scale from Shop Settings.

Number of Sections for Bindery can Exceed Sections in Job

On the Bindery Specs tab within a Quote, you can enter a No. of Sections requiring bindery that exceeds the number of sections within the job to be printed. This functionality is necessary in the case where additional section(s) are being provided by the customer and need to be bound with the remainder of the printed product.

Unit Conversion (BHR to Per M Cost)

The Unit Converter utility (accessed through the Unit Converter from the View menu or by pressing Ctrl-U) enables the conversion from a BHR (Budgeted Hourly Rate) to a Per M value. If you have calculated an hourly rate using the Presstimator BHR application, you can convert that value to a Per M value by entering the number of units produced per hour and using this conversion tool.

Report Template "-Custom"

If you have modified any of the Microsoft Word or Excel Templates for customized reports, please rename your report to include "-Custom" so it will not be overwritten with a default version by the installation program (you should also include these customized templates when you back up your Presstimator data to a CD or flash/USB drive). For example, if you have made changes to the Job Ticket report (the Excel Template JobTicket.xlt), then rename the file to JobTicket-Custom.xlt before upgrading to the new version. When a report is generated in the Presstimator, the "-Custom" templates will be used in place of the defaults.

Delete All on Quote/Job History

You can delete an entire range of Quotes or Jobs from the Quote/Job History screens using the Delete All button. When clicking on the Delete All button, all Quotes/Jobs that are currently listed in the filtered view will be deleted. Be sure to make a backup of your data prior to deleting any Quotes/Jobs!

Clear Button in Quote/Job History

The Clear button in Quote and Job History screens will reset all filter criteria and refresh the display to view All Quotes/Jobs. When filters are selected and applied on the Quote/Job History screen, the total number of items found and displayed is also provided for your information.