Digital print estimating app

[LFP26]

I know you said you have enough testers, but I only see one review...I quote daily and I would try, if I like I would even buy. I have an android phone and an ipod for POS....
thank you,
Emily
[email protected]

 

[ErnieLail]

Hi Emily, yes I have enough testers. The testers have been giving me feedback via forum posts, Private Messages n email correspondence. This has helped me to fine tune the app to make it work for most digital print shops, improve performance & add some neat features. Unfortunately i havent gotten a lot of feedback via reviews on google play and apples app store.

I will email you about your request to test. Thanks for your interest!

 

[GotInk]

Ernie, I've got a couple questions about the app for you.

First, when estimating a booklet, do I include the cover in the number of pages?

Also, any plans of adding more space to include more paper types?

And when calculating, I'm getting NaN after Material Investment, then shows up as $0.00. It only does this when estimating a booklet.
Am I doing something wrong?

I'm using this on an iphone.

Jesse

 

[ErnieLail]

Hi Jesse,

Yes, the number of pages is the total number of pages.

I will most likely include a larger paper stock database in the update after the one I'm about to release.

Can you email me the specs your are plugging in? I can't reproduce the material investment issue on my end. Thanks!

 

[jpress]

Pandpinc,

So what is the ultimate goal of this app? Is it for shops to give to their customers for quotes? I'm confused! I have a lot of ideas and would like help evaluate this app of possible. I tried to leave a review but it has to be purchased.

 

[ErnieLail]

Hi jaypress,

Yes, this is a digital print estimating app. I sent you an email. Thanks!

 

[ErnieLail]

Hey Guys,

Version 2.0 is now waiting for review from apple! Expect to see it go live in about a week. The android version should be ready in a few days. Here are some of the updates to the app:

Huge Performance Increase!!!
Added High Res Icons for tablets
Added Customizable Bleed & Margins to the Settings
Added User-Definable Sheet Range to Calculation Formula
Added Advanced Pricing Formula Section to Allow for Price Breaks
Added Additional Operations Options of Per 100 & Per 1000
Job Details Now Available After Pressing Calculate
Email Button Now Includes Job Details

Hope you guys enjoy!

 

[Jack Flash]

Hey Guys,

Version 2.0 is now waiting for review from apple! Expect to see it go live in about a week. The android version should be ready in a few days. Here are some of the updates to the app:

Huge Performance Increase!!!
Added High Res Icons for tablets
Added Customizable Bleed & Margins to the Settings
Added User-Definable Sheet Range to Calculation Formula
Added Advanced Pricing Formula Section to Allow for Price Breaks
Added Additional Operations Options of Per 100 & Per 1000
Job Details Now Available After Pressing Calculate
Email Button Now Includes Job Details

Hope you guys enjoy!

I am in Australia, have bought the app tonight, but cant find how to switch it to our measuring system?
On the Apple website it says "Supports both metric and standard measurements!" but I cant seem to make the app work without it thinking it is working in inches. Does it support mm??
Must be honest it is slow, on my iPad2, 1-2 sec lag when pressing a button.
Also, once you have added your project specifications for colour, it wont let you change the colour spec if you make a mistake, could you not just click another colour selection button and it could accept it, instead of starting over?

Maybe your update will address some of these issues?
Seems like a great app..
Hope to start using it soon!

 

[ErnieLail]

I am in Australia, have bought the app tonight, but cant find how to switch it to our measuring system?
On the Apple website it says "Supports both metric and standard measurements!" but I cant seem to make the app work without it thinking it is working in inches. Does it support mm??
Must be honest it is slow, on my iPad2, 1-2 sec lag when pressing a button.
Also, once you have added your project specifications for colour, it wont let you change the colour spec if you make a mistake, could you not just click another colour selection button and it could accept it, instead of starting over?

Maybe your update will address some of these issues?
Seems like a great app..
Hope to start using it soon!

Hi Jack,

Thanks for purchasing and supporting the development of this app! There isnt a measurement switch, but once you set up all your sheets in MM, you can then use MM when quoting. The app basically does a mathematical calculation on how many trim size can come out of the master sheet size. So as long as both trim size and master sheet are set as MM, it should work fine. I may add a button in the future to quickly change this.

Yes, the speed issue has been addressed in the new update. I think you will be very pleased!

That's a good observation about the color specs. I will definitely look at updating that in 2.1.

Thanks for the great feedback!

 

[Jack Flash]

Thanks for the answers, I seem to have worked out the measurement problem,however here are some more questions!

Can you please explain your Flat up charge?
Is that a percentage number, or x (times) rate?
What does the minimum number indicate and likewise what does the Max number indicate?

 

[ErnieLail]

Hi Jack,

It multiplies the material investment by the number. The min being applied at 6000 sheets n the max applied at 1 sheet. The Up Charge decreases as the quantity of sheets goes up. The next update will allow for custom sheet ranges n even custom price breaks.

I also put a note on the Up Charge menu to explain the formula, to help alleviate confusion.

 

[Jack Flash]

Ok, thank you, that info helped me get my head around your math system.

With the speed thing, it starts fast then gradually slows down until a stop, you can force quit and restart and it's back into speedy mode, for a while.

Looking forward to the update!

 

[ErnieLail]

Yes, there are some resources building up in the memory that i wasnt aware of in the 1.X version, i totally recoded the way the program does garbage collection. It should speed everything up dramatically. I hope you enjoy!

 

[ErnieLail]

Version 2.0 is now live on Google Play! I'm giving away a free android license to the first 5 users to email me! Please don't forget to leave me a review guys!

ernie[at]maranathatechnologies.com

 

[ErnieLail]

Version 2.0 is now live on The Apple App Store! I'm giving away a free iOS license to the first 5 users to email me! Please don't forget to leave me a review guys!

ernie[at]maranathatechnologies.com

 

[Schwanson]

Awesome update.

Here is my feedback for 2.0:

1 - Job details are not on the final pricing screen. "Click Here for Job Details" button does not work.
2 - Email details works great. One big issue is it still does not state the number up it based the calculation on.
3 - Upcharge Menu - Excellent improvement as now I have control over pricing structure. The initial "up charge" setting are not editable for me. The 'Advanced Pricing' menu is totally editable but there is no way to back out of this screen without forcing the app to close through a force shutdown program. Needs a 'back' button that works here.

These are the issues I found in my initial tests of 2.0.

I am still not using the booklet pricing too much. I'll let you know what I find when I try it.

I really appreciate the fact that you are adjusting the app based on our feedback. A easy to implement feature may be pages per set for flat sheets. That would certainly be helpful to me, especially if we could specify the number of color vs. bw pages.

For anyone reading this and wondering if the app is "worth it:" I am not a shill, and will say if you are doing calculator estimates to get a rough idea of costs, for the $5.99 cost of this app it is well worth the price, especially if it continues to develop.

 

[ErnieLail]

Schwanson,

Thanks for the feedback and for supporting the development of this app!

1. - Try clicking the button a couple times. It's working fine for me. Occasionally it doesnt register a click because it bases the click on if the actual type is clicked. Since the type is thin, it makes it a little more difficult. I will look at making this a button or making it a bolder typeface in the next update.

2. I didnt include the number up on the email button because the job details now include that info and i didnt think the customer would need that info. Do you still think it needs to be included even though its now included in job details?

3. - Very weird, i did find this bug as well, i will release a 2.1 patch ASAP. You can click the text field, but it appears the max text box it causing it not to register. If you need to use the simple ranges, select the bottom of the text box and you should be able to edit that data. Also, there is a small "x" in the upper left corner to close the advanced pricing menu.

Thanks! I really appreciate your feedback, it is really helping me to round out this app. I will look at adding this feature in a future update. Shouldnt be hard at all. Thanks again!

 

[Jack Flash]

Awesome update.

Here is my feedback for 2.0:

1 - Job details are not on the final pricing screen. "Click Here for Job Details" button does not work.
2 - Email details works great. One big issue is it still does not state the number up it based the calculation on.
3 - Upcharge Menu - Excellent improvement as now I have control over pricing structure. The initial "up charge" setting are not editable for me. The 'Advanced Pricing' menu is totally editable but there is no way to back out of this screen without forcing the app to close through a force shutdown program. Needs a 'back' button that works here.

These are the issues I found in my initial tests of 2.0.

I am still not using the booklet pricing too much. I'll let you know what I find when I try it.

I really appreciate the fact that you are adjusting the app based on our feedback. A easy to implement feature may be pages per set for flat sheets. That would certainly be helpful to me, especially if we could specify the number of color vs. bw pages.

For anyone reading this and wondering if the app is "worth it:" I am not a shill, and will say if you are doing calculator estimates to get a rough idea of costs, for the $5.99 cost of this app it is well worth the price, especially if it continues to develop.

Basically exactly what Schwanson said overall!

That advanced Pricing screen definitely does not close, you have to force quit the app.
Another upgrade I mentioned before is that the colour selections could be changed if you make a mistake, before proceeding to the next page.

Will keep you informed of anything else.

 

[ErnieLail]

I haven't had time to code the color button reset. I hope to implement this soon.

Are you clicking the "x" in the upper left hand corner? Advanced pricing closes fine on all my testing devices.

 

[ErnieLail]

About to post a 2.05 update to fix the upcharge bugs, increase the size of the close button for advanced pricing and bold the job details type. Google Play will be live shortly and the Apple App Store will take about a week. Thanks again for your diligence gentlemen!