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Blog Summary: Still using outdated price estimating systems for your online print shop. Want to leverage advanced cost-estimating software to deliver accurate results in less time? In this blog, we’ll delve into how this revolutionary software can simplify the process for you and your customers, making it an ideal estimating software for the printing industry.
A recent study says that the global print estimation software market is currently valued at USD 1.85 Billion in 2025 and will reach USD 3.89 Billion by 2033, rising at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2026 to 2033. This exponential CAGR is the result of how efficient estimation software is for printing businesses.
PSPs that ditch outdated methods and adopt advanced print cost estimating software deliver accurate and quick estimations to print buyers. This tool not only saves time but helps printers stay profitable in the long run.
Let’s delve deeper into how this software can drastically improve online print estimating by understanding a few basics, its benefits, and more.
Learning how the entire print costing process works and having good control over price estimation is a must for print business owners. Below given are 3 simple steps to help you understand this process better.
The cost-per-print (CPP) is the cost for you to print a single unit. The unit can be a page, a square inch of design on a t-shirt, or an image on a mug. When using ink/toner-based printing, you can calculate CPP by the given formula:
Cost-per-print = The total cost of the cartridge ÷ yield-per-cartridge
The yield-per-cartridge is mentioned on the cartridge manufacturer’s website, and probably on the packaging as well.
If you rent or lease a printing equipment just for one print job, the entire rent or lease amount will be considered for that job. On the other hand, if you use the same printer for multiple jobs then you can divide the cost of the printer across those jobs.
In case you own the printing equipment, you still need to add an approximate amount of how much it costs you to use it for each job.
Furthermore, you also need to factor in the service and maintenance costs for the equipment. This is included because with every print job, equipment gets wear and tear.
The cost of supplies includes all the materials you need for completing a print job. This can vary for each print job due to the differences in substrates and print products. For instance, if printing on paper, the supply costs would include different types of paper, printing ink, toner, and binding materials.
It also includes finishing materials like staples, paper clips, packaging materials, and any special coatings.
Don’t forget to include costs for labor, overhead, and markup, as they are also important when estimating print job pricing.
Labor costs will include the time spent by graphic designers, print press operators, and other staff members. To calculate this cost, you can consider a rate for every hour and multiply it by the estimated time per task.
Calculate overhead costs, i.e. indirect expenses like store rent, electricity, licenses for software, and internet, by allocating as a percentage or fixed cost per job.
Based on job complexity, urgency, and market competitiveness, add a markup price ranging from 20% to 60% to ensure profitability.
As discussed, manual print calculations involve consideration of hidden costs and aspects that are often time-consuming and tedious. In the further section, let’s find out how automated cost estimations can simplify this process.
Explore how an automated price calculator can generate accurate quotes in just 30 seconds.
Unlike traditional estimating tools, modern print cost estimating software offers print calculations with pinpoint accuracy. Here’s how this powerful software can benefit your business with precise online print estimating.
When it comes to estimating software for printing companies, it reduces human errors to a great extent. Once you have added the service rates and accounting values like shipping charges, tax, and discounts, the software will consider every variable and compute a precise cost estimate for your print project.
Print cost estimators help you create professional estimates without needing to attain accounting skills. Cost estimates and quotations are the first documents your customers will see. Thus, the presentation of the estimates and quotations plays a crucial role too. And that’s where the printing cost calculator comes into play.
Additionally, being the first one to bid your quote matters a lot in winning the job. Hence, your cost estimation process should not only be accurate but also quick.
Creating professional print cost estimations manually might be easy for one job. However, knowing what your customers want and maintaining the consistency of every estimate with a benchmark of customer experience is not that simple. An estimating software that supports high-tech reporting & analytics can help monitor your customer’s online ordering journey, keep track of most-in-demand products, and other important metrics to serve customers better.
The print estimating software offers real-time cost estimation, which means, as soon as print buyers select the mandatory details like quantity, size, material, finishing, etc, the software gives an accurate calculation. This way, customers don’t have to wait for hours to create an estimate, thus saving time and making quick print purchases.
This software offers accurate cost estimations that are essential for PSPs and customers alike.
Advanced estimating software for the printing industry allows you and your customer to create an accurate calculation for print jobs. This eliminates the time wasted in the to-and-fro between you and your customer.
If you choose to create the estimate, your customer will get a notification right away on their email and can approve with a single click.
Centralized data processing is one of the biggest plus points of using a printing cost calculator. It enables you to access all your estimates in one place without any hassle.
With modern print shop order management software, you can save all the estimates, client data, and product information in one place. All you need to do is select the client and line items from a drop-down menu instead of filling it manually every time.
It records the past projects so, you can pull out any estimates from previous jobs for your reference, and if needed, convert them into invoices just with a click.
Moreover, you can edit not only the upcoming estimates but also the previous ones.
Overall efficiency upliftment is one of the major benefits of using cost-estimating software for your printing business.
Gone are the days when you have to remember all the rates and prices of your services and products. No need to mail quotations to the customers or manually manage hundreds of folders and paperwork to maintain the records of client history. All of that and much more can be done effectively with an automated print cost estimator.
OnPrintShop offers advanced print estimating and quotation software that automates the management of dynamic and fixed quotes. This software offers capabilities like automated quote status tracking, quotation access control, creation of configurable product quotes, viewing a detailed breakdown of costs, managing offline quotes, and more.
This cost estimating software has revolutionized how print shop owners used to generate and send estimates to customers with just a few clicks. It allows both you and your customer to create a quote for a print job automatically.
One of OnPrintShop’s clients, a market leader in commercial printing, experienced a significant transformation in their business after migrating from a legacy system to OnPrintShop. BullPrint achieved a 25% increase in its average monthly sales, driven by efficient quoting and real-time price estimations. OnPrintShop provided the firm with a robust print cost calculator that enabled its end users to calculate prices and send quotes for internal review, thereby streamlining online print estimating effortlessly.
Wrapping It Up!In this digitally evolving world where speed and accuracy are a must, adopting a powerful print cost estimator for your online printing store can be game-changing. Furthermore, utilizing high-tech print estimating software for printers like the ones offered by OnPrintShop can revolutionize print job costing and maximize your business revenue.Whether you are a new print service provider or have a well-established print business, upgrading to a smart estimating software can streamline your print operations. So, don’t wait! Go ahead and request a demo to see how OnPrintShop can transform your print estimation process and allow you to win more jobs with professional quotations.
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