PUBLICATION CENTER

Here’s a brief recap of some of recent announcements regarding pricing, estimating, and job-costing, for large-format graphics producers.

ONYX Graphics Launches PrintMetryx JobView: To help keep users of ONYX Workflow Software up and running, Onyx Graphics has introduced four new service products that range from free web tools to full support: ONYX Links, ONYX Plus, ONYX Advantage, and ONYX Premium.

If you have the latest version of ONYX software and sign up for any of these service levels (including the free service, ONYX Links), you will receive ONYX PrintMetryx™ JobView services for tracking printing costs and production trends. For each print job, you will be able to view a thumbnail image of the job, along with detailed information about the print job, and costs for ink and media. Through JobView, you can also track what types of jobs are printed each day and which printers and media are used most often.

Estimate Software Unveils Flatbed Digital Print Pricing Plug-In: Estimate Software’s new pricing plug-in for flatbed digital printing addresses complicated issues surrounding flatbed print pricing, such as material-waste calculations and speed differentials between different printers. By using ‘best-fit’ nesting logic, the new plug-in can figure out the best strategy for nesting prints onto a substrate, then calculates the material waste involved. The new plug-in even allows you to adjust how you charge for scrap. You can charge differently for waste material than for materials actually printed and used on the job.

Like all of EstiMate’s plug-ins, the Flatbed Digital Print Pricing Plug-In factors in job specifics such as printer, print mode, ink, surface preparation, RIP time, cutting, and laminating.

The pricing plug-in for flatbed digital printing is one of 14 pricing plug-ins that can be used to adapt the basic EstiMate quoting software to the type of work your sign shop performs. For example, other plug-ins are available for wide-format printing, vehicle wraps, window graphics, and vinyl and painted signs.

EstiMate Sign Pricing Software was developed by Mark Davis, owner of Ampersand Signs and Design in Asheville, NC. He wrote the software to help get his company to profitability and sells it as a way of teaching other sign companies how to properly value their work.

Sign Verison of EFI PrintSmith Is Now Available: EFI PrintSmith™ Sign is a flexible print-management information system for on-demand, copy shop, quick print, and commercial shops who want to diversify by adding or enhancing their signmaking capabilities. It offers a combination of estimating, point-of-sale account management, product management, receivables, and sales analysis tools. The software supports square area print pricing, square area and linear finishing, and roll and rigid substrates.

"PrintSmith Sign is the only offering of its kind to address wide-format printing, digital page production, and screen-printing operations in a single system,” explains EFI’s Marc Olin. He expects it to appeal not only to sign shops but also to print providers seeking to capitalize on new customer niches and growth opportunities. PrintSmith Sign integrates directly with EFI Fiery® XF, the inkjet RIP and color-management solution for superwide and wide-format inkjet printers. PrintSmith Sign can also be integrated with Digital StoreFront,® the web-to-print e-commerce platform that enables clients and prospects to get prices and submit orders for different types of printing services.

Sign Tracker Software Available Online: SA International (SAi) has launched an online version of Sign Tracker software on SIGN.com. Sign Tracker can help shop owners track day-to-day operations, including estimates, inventory, project management, customer service, and sales reports. The online version of Sign Tracker offers a pay-as-you-go, no-commitment pricing structure scaled to the fit the budget of even the smallest shop. All customers have access to a fully functional package.