Overview
This topic describes how to update your Offset presses and change their status. With Offset, changing the status affects pricing. That's why an Offset press should never go on the inactive list because it's down for a few days, waiting for a part to come in. The only reason you would take your four-color press off line is because you don't have a four-color press, real or virtual. It's a way of telling Morning Flight to automatically assign all four-color runs to the two-color press, twice through. In other words, to calculate four-color prices not at the four-color rate, but at the two-color rate times two.
What it comes down to is this: Taking an Offset press off line won't change the number of colors you can quote. What it will do, without fail, is change your pricing.
Press Selection Window
Changing the Status
Click the My Shop button, then check or uncheck the press to change its status.
Or, click Presses, then click the Delete button in the Press Selection window to take the highlighted press off line. A press that's off-line will have a red bullet in front of it. Clicking the button when a check-mark is showing will reinstate the press.
The One-Color Offset press can't be taken off line. Morning Flight assumes that virtually every offset shop either has such a press, or at least offers one-color printing.
Press Update Window
Updating the Press
| 1. | Click the My Shop button, then click Presses. |
| 2. | Double-click the press you want to update to select it. |
| 3. | Enter the number of printheads (Units) and the Hourly Rate. |
The price in the upper black panel updates as you type. This speeds up finding the right hourly rate. If you swipe the cursor over the three icons, you'll instantly see the letterhead, envelope, and catalog sheet prices that will result from the entered rate. Clicking one of the icons will lock in the product you want to use as your main reference. To view different quantities, click the up arrow. To change those quantities (they're the same as your personal preference for quotes), go to My World > My Preferences.
| 4. | Click the Sheetsize buttons to set minimum and maximum sheet sizes. |
| 5. | Check or uncheck the plates available for this press, then enter Plate Prices (what you charge your customers, excluding film). |
| 6. | Click the Standard Plate button, then set your preferred plate. The Standard Plate is what Morning Flight selects when it finds AutoSet as a plate choice in a Product's Properties. |
| 7. | Enter Average Makeready and Maximum Speed. The defaults are: |
Offset Press |
Average Makeready |
Maximum Speed |
1-Color |
10 Minutes |
7,500 IPH |
2-Color |
15 Minutes |
10,000 IPH |
4-Color |
30 Minutes |
8,000 IPH |
Makeready is primarily a function of the Product, ranging from Very Low to Very High. So is Run Time. Average Makeready is a contributing factor in how Morning Flight calculates the actual makeready minutes, just as Maximum Speed is a factor in computing the total run time. But Maximum Speed is more than a speed limit. It's a yardstick for setting the day-to-day working speeds at which the press can print different stocks without straining. Other factors that come into play are the type of paper and the run length. The longer the run, the higher the impressions per hour.
See also