A spreadsheet or print shop software.
A spreadsheet is a fine way to start. Most shops outgrow it in the same few places. Here is how to tell if you have, and what moving over takes.
When a spreadsheet is enough
One person does the quoting, the printing and the billing. You have a handful of jobs a week and you remember all of them. Customers pay on pickup and nobody asks to see artwork before you print.
If that is your shop, keep the spreadsheet. It costs nothing and you already know it.
Where it starts to break
- Prices drift. The same banner is quoted at two prices because one copy of the price list is older.
- Two people, one file. Someone overwrites a row, or you work from yesterday's copy.
- No record of the yes. The customer approved the artwork in a chat message, and you scroll to find it when they dispute the print.
- No view of the day. Nothing tells you which jobs are late or which machine is backed up, until a customer calls.
- Numbers by hand. Quote, order and invoice numbers get reused or skipped, and the balance owed is a formula someone has to remember to extend.
- Retyping. The quote becomes an order becomes an invoice, and each one is typed again.
What software changes
In rastr a quote becomes a sales order without retyping, and an invoiced order becomes numbered jobs on a shared board. Customers approve quotes and artwork from a link, and each answer stays on the job. Payments are recorded against the invoice, so the balance is always current.
It does not do everything. rastr has no imposition, paper and ink costing, stock control or press scheduling. If a spreadsheet does those for you today, keep that part in the spreadsheet.
Moving over without a lost week
- Sign up on the Free plan. It has no end date.
- Add your products with their prices. Start with the ten you sell most.
- Add customers as they order. rastr has no spreadsheet import, so you type them in once.
- Send the next real quote from rastr, and keep the spreadsheet open beside it for a week or two.
- Move the jobs in progress onto the board when you invoice them.
The quick start walks through the setup. If you outgrow Free, the paid plans add people and remove the job limit.
Start free. Pay when you grow.
The Free plan has no time limit. Upgrade when you need more people or more jobs at once.