Print ERP for large format: from square metre to installation
Different substrates every day, laminating, cutting, on-site fitting. The print ERP for large format calculates by the square metre and carries through to the invoice.
What PrinTrace does for large-format printers
PrinTrace is the print ERP for large format, signs and fit-outs. It calculates printing by the square metre with substrate, laminating, cutting and application. Then it opens the job, plans the installation, deducts materials and invoices.
Your work, three problems
Every job has a different substrate
Vinyl, PVC, foamboard, canvas, honeycomb board. Each has its own price per square metre and its own waste. Done by hand, the sum changes depending on who does it and how much of a hurry they’re in.
The square-metre quote done with a calculator
A small company prepares around 360 quotes a year, ten minutes each. That’s 60 hours. With the ERP the time drops by 40%: 24 hours recovered, around €600 a year.
The installation nobody puts in the sum
Travel, fitting hours, ladders, permits. These are real costs that often stay out of the quote and eat into the job’s margin. In PrinTrace, installation is a job activity, with its own hours.
Estimates from the PrinTrace Mini Analysis on 30 companies, 2025, conventional hourly cost €25/h. Download the Mini Analysis (PDF, in Italian) →
How the print ERP for large format follows your workflow
The square-metre quote, substrate by substrate
Choose the substrate, enter width and height, add laminating, cutting and application. PrinTrace calculates the square metres and the price from the price lists you’ve set. Each substrate has its own cost and its own operations.
Does the customer ask for ten, twenty and fifty pieces? The comparative quote puts the three quantities on a single document. The PDF comes out with your logo and goes out by email from the ERP.
From quote to job, with files attached
The customer accepts. The quote becomes a job, that is, the customer’s order. Inside the job sit the tasks, the individual operations. The job ticket is born filled in with substrate, measurements, finishing and fitting date. Print files stay attached to the job.
Printing, laminating and cutting, each task to its department
The workflow sends each task to the right department. Printing, laminating, flatbed cutting plotter, packing. You check the statuses and know which sign is ready and which is waiting on the cut. Staff time sheets record the hours for each stage.
Substrates and waste come off inventory
Every task deducts from inventory the metres of substrate and the laminating film it consumes. You log cutting waste on the same task. The low stock alert warns you when a substrate is running out. With consumption statistics you buy the rolls you really use.
Installation, delivery and invoice
On-site fitting is a job activity. You plan it, assign it to the team, and the operator fills in the time sheet with the hours worked. Then you issue the delivery note and invoice with the same data. Once the job is closed, you compare quoted to actual and see what the installation really cost.
The jobs it calculates
- Large-format printing by the square metre, with a price for each substrate.
- Laminating, for prints that go outdoors or underfoot.
- Cutting and application to substrate, with the time and materials of each stage.
- Flatbed cutting plotter, for shapes, letters, stickers and display stands.
- Small-format digital printing, for the leaflets and cards the same customer asks you for.
- Screen printing and embroidery, for t-shirts, uniforms and event merchandise.
- Packing and shipping, requested item by item from the guided quote step.
Case type A, family-run company. Around €300,000 in turnover, 360 quotes, 720 tasks and 240 invoices a year. The estimated recovery is 66 hours, around €1,650 a year on the three measured activities. Including customer status update requests too, the total reaches €3,463. PrinTrace Mini Analysis 2025 on 30 companies, conventional hourly cost €25/h. Average figures, not a promise of results.
One set of data, from quote to invoice
The square-metre quote opens the job with the job ticket already filled in. Inventory drops the substrates used and logs the waste. The delivery note and e-invoice pick up the same data. The dashboard gathers turnover, material consumption and productivity. Regular customers order from the customer portal and attach files. Do you also work in offset or small format? Have a look at the other industries.
Frequently asked questions about large format
How do I prepare a square-metre quote with PrinTrace?
Choose the substrate, enter width and height and add the operations. Laminating, cutting, application, packing and shipping. PrinTrace calculates the square metres and the price from the price lists you set up once. At the end you have cost and selling price, with no spreadsheets.
Can I have a different price for each substrate?
Yes. Each material is an inventory record with its own cost and selling price. Vinyl, PVC, foamboard, canvas and honeycomb board stay separate in the quote and in consumption. When a substrate drops below its minimum stock, you get the alert.
How do I put on-site installation into the sum?
Installation is a job activity. You plan it, assign it to operators and they record the hours with staff time sheets. Once the job is closed, comparing quoted to actual tells you what the fitting really cost.
There are three of us doing signs and printing: how much does it cost?
The monthly fee starts from €59 per user per month, excluding VAT, with support included. Onboarding starts from €2,540 as a one-off and covers the initial setup and loading your records. Phone and email support is included in the monthly fee. The contract runs for a minimum of one month.
Want to see your large-format jobs inside PrinTrace?
Bring us three typical jobs, one including installation. In 45 minutes, online or in person, we’ll quote them together and follow a job through to the invoice.
Tel. +39 06 5290689 · info@printrace.eu
DPS Soluzioni Informatiche, Viale Giorgio Ribotta 11, 00144 Rome, Italy