Digital print estimating app

[webhog]

I saw this thread a few weeks ago and when I when to Google Play it said it wasn't compatible with my phone. Then a few days ago my wife bought me an early Christmas present - a Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. Today I installed 2.05 on my new toy.

Sorry but I'm having a lot of trouble with it. I'm no programmer by it seems like there's a memory problem or hardware conflict. The program freezes sometimes and I am force to shut down the device - a simple reboot will not do.

After entering some paper stock, press "Save", then "Back". The button changes from blue to grey as I tap it, but the screen does not go back. When this happens & I try to go to page 2 by using the arrow on the top - nothing. The program is locked up.

One problem is that the "calculate" button does nothing. The button changes from blue to grey, but the price stays at zero dollars. Well, I take that back. I did notice that it WILL calculate sometimes if I choose one of the paper stocks that were pre-loaded with the download. I thought that it may be because my first stock that I entered was to change the first entry to 8.5x11 size - thinking that the decimal was throwing off the program. So I changed that to 8x11 and it still would not calculate.

The worst case is when I choose the job details screen when it doesn't calculate. It locks up tighter than a drum.

 

[webhog]

Oh - I just discovered something, but it doesn't make sense to me. The calculate button works if I choose a trim size smaller than the sheet size. So? This app won't help if I just want to run 2000 of 8.5x11 without cutting?

 

[ErnieLail]

Hi webhog!

If you are running the latest version of the app, be sure you are also running the latest version of Adobe AIR from Google Play.

Good catch, I will patch the formula so that if trim size is equal to sheet size to allow calculation. Sorry, i didnt think of that scenario.

You can however bypass that by adjusting the margin & bleed settings in the general settings to zero. Or simply price it as a 8 x 10.5, to get it to register as 1 up on the sheet.

 

[macmac17]

Hi

What units are used in your "Bleed" and "Sheet Margin" fields and what size image is used for your "click" cost? When you calculate booklets does the number of pages include the cover? Can you allow for a blank inside front cover and a blank inside back cover?

Can someone please explain what exactly an "Up" charge is?

Thanks

 

[ErnieLail]

Bleed & Sheet Margin are definable in the general settings menu. If you have your sheets set to metric, you should also set your bleed & margin to metric. The program is set up for inches by default.

The click cost is applied per sheet, regardless of size. Would you prefer to have the ability to define click cost in the paper stocks settings?

Yes, the number of pages does include cover.

As of right now, no you can't specify one side to be B&W and one side Color. I plan to incorporate this in 2.1 by removing the color spec buttons and allowing the user to specify how many color sigs and how many B&W sigs are used.

At the bottom of the Up Charge settings menu there is a note explaining the pricing formula. Basically this app figures the material cost based on your settings, then multiplies it by your desired "Up Charge". I think i will change this menu to read "Pricing Formula" in 2.1 . There has been a lot of confusion over this terminology. My apologies.

Please let me know if i can do anything else to help. Thanks!

 

[webhog]

Yes - I downloaded 2.05 from Google Play on Nov 15 and, when I installed it I was required to instal Adobe AIR, so that is current also.

The only way I could get it to calculate was that I had to change margin & bleed to zero - AND - trim size to 8 x 10.5.

While you are rethinking the formula, would it be possible to just leave trim size blank, and that would automatically leave it the same size?

Hi webhog!

If you are running the latest version of the app, be sure you are also running the latest version of Adobe AIR from Google Play.

Good catch, I will patch the formula so that if trim size is equal to sheet size to allow calculation. Sorry, i didnt think of that scenario.

You can however bypass that by adjusting the margin & bleed settings in the general settings to zero. Or simply price it as a 8 x 10.5, to get it to register as 1 up on the sheet.

 

[ErnieLail]

Please reboot the device n double check AIR is up to date. If its still running slow please let me know. Thanks!

 

[ErnieLail]

Webhog,

i posted a minor update on google play. Please update your app to 2.06 and let me know if your performance increases or gets worse. It's running good on my droid X, i would think your galaxy would smoke it running this app no prob. There's no processes loading up in the memory, so the only thing i can think of is change the render mode when generating the APK. So thats what i did on this update. If you are experiencing issues after this update, please let me know and i will try a different render mode.

Sorry for the issues, i am at my wits end with the android devices. Some run the app fine and others have issues.

 

[webhog]

Hmmm... I'm only seeing version 2.05 on Google Play. Maybe it takes a while for them to post it?

But it did run faster after doing a cold re-boot as suggested earlier.

Webhog,

i posted a minor update on google play. Please update your app to 2.06 and let me know if your performance increases or gets worse. It's running good on my droid X, i would think your galaxy would smoke it running this app no prob. There's no processes loading up in the memory, so the only thing i can think of is change the render mode when generating the APK. So thats what i did on this update. If you are experiencing issues after this update, please let me know and i will try a different render mode.

Sorry for the issues, i am at my wits end with the android devices. Some run the app fine and others have issues.

 

[ErnieLail]

oops, forgot to save the change. It should be live in a few.

 

[webhog]

OK - color me "stooooopid", but I'm an old fart & sometimes things aren't that obvious to me. Most of my other apps automatically update. I see that version 2.06 is there on the Google play site but my tablet is not updating. Do I have to un-install it first?

 

[ErnieLail]

You should just need to click on update.

 

[ErnieLail]

I bet it's because I refunded your purchase because you emailed me requesting a free license. Ill just email you the new APK

 

[webhog]

I don't think it knows or cares about the refund. I would assume (and you know what assume means) that Google Play just compares versions to what I have installed, and if I have auto-updates enabled, it would begin to update. It does auto-update other apps. I don't think it checks to see whether it's a paid for or free app or refunded.

Google Play only gave me the choice to uninstall or open. However I got your email & installed it. Seems smooth, and...

Now I don't have to enter a trim size smaller than original for it to calculate!!! Did you fix that on purpose or was this unexpected?

Here's a cool thought. When pricing a flat sheet job, why not swap the positions of "Trim Size" and "Paper Stock". Then near "Trim Size" have a radio button that says "Same as Original". That would save me time from having to type in something that is redundant anyway.

I bet it's because I refunded your purchase because you emailed me requesting a free license. Ill just email you the new APK

 

[ErnieLail]

AWESOME!!!!!! I will use the GPU rendering on future releases! Thank you for your feedback!

Yes, I added a conditional starment that checks to see if the trim size and sheet size is the same. If it is it will register it as 1 up and calculate properly. Thanks for finding this!

I will look into adding that on a future update. Thanks!

 

[webhog]

Ernie - I think you have another hiccup or else I have something set wrong.

When trying to run a parent size of 8.5x11 with a trim size of 3.66x8.5 (or even 3.5x11), it should calculate it as 3 up. But no matter how I try it always calculates it to be 2 up.

I was playing further and tried a trim size of 2.75x8.5 (4 up) it still shows as 2 up.

Being curious I tried 2.2x8.5 (5 up) and it says I have 3 up.

In my settings I have both Bleed Amount & Sheet Margin set to zero. Any ideas?

 

[ErnieLail]

Okay i figured out the problem. I am rounding down the number up formula, that way you dont get 2.76 up. When i'm doing that, it rounds the sheet size down as well. Very unexpected, but i cant easily fix it by rounding down at a little later in the code.

I didnt catch it during testing because all my sheet sizes are set to 12 x 18, which cant be rounded down. If you do the same test with 12 x 18 sheet and a 12 x 9 trim with zero bleed and margin, the app registers 2 up. I also double checked it by creating a 8 x 11 stock and priced a 8 x 5.5, and it works correctly as well. I will patch this with a 2.07 update. In the meantime, the only thing that would be effected would be a sheet that's not a whole number.

 

[ErnieLail]

It will be live sometime today. Thanks!

 

[webhog]

You will need a tweak with emailing a quote. There isn't enough information captured. I did a test & all I got was 1) Finished Size, 2) Quantity, and 3) Paper Stock

It truncated the paper stock description. All I got was "65" when the stock was "65# Brite Hues 8.5x11". I'm wondering if you have to escape/ignore the "#" symbol in your code somehow?

Also it did not pick up if it was black or color, 1 side or 2 sided, any "Additional Operations", and most importantly - the price.

***forgot to add*** The number up seems to work well. Thanks!

 

[ErnieLail]

That's weird, it works fine on my iPhone. I will check it on my droid x a little later. I had a similar problem on the job details when testing, is the job details working properly for u?