With the normal table in Price formula, the price is set for the Default ink and the other inks go up in the same proportion as their cost. If you want a fixed price for each number of colours (1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0…) or for each size, the advanced formula puts one column per ink (or per size) in the same table. You then have one single product instead of one product per colour.
When to use it
| You want… | Use |
|---|---|
| Each colour charged in the same proportion as its cost | The usual Normal table. |
| A fixed price for each number of colours, in one product | Formula → Advanced, By → Ink. |
| A fixed price for each size of the same artwork (A6, A5, A4…), with a custom size charged between the two closest ones | Formula → Advanced, By → Size. |
| A margin % per ink or per size, with the price following the cost | The same, with Fixed set to Margin. |
Step by step: one product with a price for each number of colours
Example: today you have "Envelopes 1/0", "Envelopes 2/0", "Envelopes 3/0" and "Envelopes 4/0", each with its artworks (one per size) and its Fixed Price table.
- Start from the 1/0 product. In Products, tick "Envelopes 1/0" and click Duplicate. Open the copy, which appears as "Envelopes 1/0 (Duplicate)", and rename it "Envelopes". You keep the artworks, their sizes, the substrate, the machine and the 1/0 prices. Leave Inks as Shared: all the artworks use the same list and you add the inks only once.
- Add the inks. In the Inks block, click Add, type Front ink 2 and Back ink 0 and click Save. Repeat with 3/0 and 4/0. Each ink you add becomes the Default one: when you finish, mark 1/0 again (the circle on its row), because the prices already in the table are the 1/0 ones.
- Switch each artwork to Advanced. With Price formula set to "Quantity (Digital, Offset, Screen printing, etc.)" and Fixed set to Price, click the Formula toggle → Advanced. By stays on Ink.
- Check the table. It shows one row per quantity and one column per ink. The Default ink column holds your usual prices; the others appear in amber, with a warning in the header, showing the price that would be charged today (the Default one in the same proportion as the cost of that ink).
- Type your prices. In each column, type what you want to charge with that ink for each quantity; the cell stops being amber. If today's price is fine, click the warning in the header to accept them.
- Save and check. Click Save. In Quote, open the product, choose the artwork, the Ink and the quantity: for the quantities in the table you are charged the exact amount in its column.
Example table for one artwork:
| Quantity ≤ | 1/0 | 2/0 | 3/0 | 4/0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 u | 400 | 520 | 660 | 780 |
| 2,000 u | 620 | 755 | 900 | 1,035 |
| 5,000 u | 1,330 | 1,525 | 1,770 | 2,005 |
With 2/0 and 2,000 u you are charged 755. Between two rows the artwork's Step applies, just as in the normal table: with Intelligent, 1,500 u in 2/0 falls between 520 and 755, with the unit price going down gradually. Above the last row, the unit price of the last row × the quantity.
Once you have checked it, deactivate the per-colour products instead of deleting them: the quotes you already made with them are kept.
Step by step: a price for each size
- In the artwork, with Formula set to Advanced, click the By toggle → Size.
- The table now has one column per size in Print Sizes (for example "10.5 x 14.85", "14.85 x 21", "21 x 29.7"). The Default size column takes the normal table; the others appear in amber with today's price.
- Type the price of each size for each quantity and click Save.
How each size is charged when quoting:
| Size chosen | What is charged |
|---|---|
| A size with its own column (or the same size rotated) | Exactly its column. |
| A custom size between two sizes in the table | Interpolated per m² between the two closest sizes, for each quantity in the table. For example, 12 x 18 (216 cm²) between 10.5 x 14.85 (156 cm²) and 14.85 x 21 (312 cm²) is charged 39% of the way between the two prices. |
| A size smaller than the smallest or larger than the largest | The column of the closest size, with the price adjusted in the same proportion as the cost. |
A table has ink columns or size columns, not both at once. If the price depends on the size and on the number of colours, use one artwork per size and By → Ink, as in the envelopes example.
What you see in the table
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Default icon in the header | Marks the Default ink or size. When switching to Advanced, its column takes the normal table. |
| Warning icon in the header and amber cells | Prices calculated as they would be charged today. Type your own or click the warning to accept them. |
| Column header | Opens the Ink detail (or Size detail) window: Quantity ≤, Passes, Cost, Margin, Unit price and Total. |
| Below each amount | The margin % and the Cost of that ink or size for that quantity. |
| View artwork | One curve per column. |
| Add list | Adds a quantity row to all the columns. |
When you add an ink in Inks (or a size in Print Sizes), its column appears in every artwork with the advanced formula, with today's price, and a message "… added to the table with today's price: review it.". When you delete one that has prices, you are asked first: Delete the ink and its content (or Delete the size and its content) or Cancel.
Frequently asked questions
Q: I cannot see the Formula toggle.
A: It appears with Price formula set to "Quantity (Digital, Offset, Screen printing, etc.)". The By toggle appears when Formula is set to Advanced.
Q: What is charged if the customer chooses another paper, another machine or a lead time with a surcharge?
A: The column price is adjusted in the same proportion as the cost, as with the normal table. The ink (or the size) is what picks the column.
Q: I added an ink and closed the record without saving. What does that ink charge?
A: The ink is saved when you add it, but its column is not. Until you save the table with its column, that ink is charged with the Default ink column (or, if that one has no prices either, with the first column that has them), adjusting the price by cost, and the quoting engine warns that its column is missing. Open the record, review the new column and save.
Q: Can I set a margin % per ink instead of a price?
A: Yes: with Fixed set to Margin, each cell stores a margin % and the price follows the real cost of the job. When you switch Fixed, the same table is kept.
Q: Can I apply it to many artworks at once?
A: Yes, from Products → bulk action Modificar gráficas → Modificar seleccionadas, Margin section: in Margin type choose "Cantidad por tinta - Precio Fijo" (or the margin one, or the size ones). The table has one column per ink or size of the ticked artworks, showing how many have it; each artwork only receives its own columns and empty cells are not saved. Turn on Apply margin and click Apply changes.
Q: How do I go back to the usual table?
A: Formula toggle → Normal: the artwork is quoted again with the normal table and the advanced table stays saved in case you come back.