Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for commercial printers.
A checklist built from how commercial printers work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Print estimating
- Job tickets
- Artwork and proof approval
- Paper stock and ordering
- Press and finishing schedule
- Outside work and trade suppliers
- Delivery, invoice and repeat orders
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For estimators
- For prepress
- For press and bindery teams
- For production managers
- For customer service and dispatch
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Enquiries priced, won and lost by customer
- Tickets by stage and due date
- Proofs awaiting customer approval
- Paper stock by size and substance against reservations
- Spoilage by press and by ticket
- Outside work sent and not yet returned
- Deliveries and invoices by customer
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Accounting export
- Online proof link
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it for a shop that prints many different products?
- Can the quotation pass straight to the shop floor?
- How are proofs stored?
- Can we see where a job is waiting?
- Does it track paper by sheet size?
- How do outside processes work?
- Can repeat orders reuse old tickets?
- Can printed jobs be invoiced under local tax rules?
- What happens to the jobs we have open now?
- What does a demo involve?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Quotations and tickets are separate files
- Proof approval is a loose email
- Paper is ordered per job and forgotten
- Finishing sits behind a queue nobody sees
- Outside work leaves without a note
Prefer to talk it through? See the commercial printers page.