Importing papers — three ways to load your stock
The first obstacle with any new program is the same one: somebody has to enter 200 papers. PressCal doesn't make you type them. In Inventory there's an Import Centre with three routes — pick by what you actually have in your hands.
1. Standard import — you have a clean Excel
Download the template from the same window, drop your data in, upload it. The columns map 1:1 to the database fields, so no conversion happens and there's nothing to go wrong.
This is the route if you're starting from scratch or already have a tidy list.
2. Smart XLS import — you have your own Excel
The accountant's file, with the columns in a different order, headings in your own language, two blank rows at the top and a legend at the bottom. Upload it as it is.
The AI recognises the columns — it works out which is grammage, which is size, which is price — and shows you the mapping so you can confirm or correct it before the import runs. It doesn't guess behind your back.
3. Smart PDF import — you have the supplier's price list
The price list the paper merchant sends you as a PDF, with tables. PressCal reads the pages, recognises the table structure and pulls the papers out.
It's the route that saves the most time — and the only one where it's worth checking the result carefully before you run it. A PDF is a page layout, not a data table; when the alignment is odd, recognition gets harder.
What a paper needs to be useful
The minimum for it to work in costing:
- Name (e.g. "Velvet 150gsm")
- Weight in g/m²
- Sheet dimensions
- Purchase cost per sheet
Optional but useful: supplier (auto-completing from the ones you already have), grain — which matters for imposition and folding — and stock with current, target and alert level.
Cost and price are two different things
The paper's card keeps them separate, deliberately:
- Purchase cost — what you pay. This is what goes into costing.
- Pricing — what you charge. Set either as a markup % on the cost, or as a plain sell price per sheet.
Charging paper with a margin starts switched off. If you don't turn it on, the paper goes through at cost and your profit comes from the press's profile — which is the usual way. Turn it on only if you sell the paper with a margin of its own.
💡 There's also a "Finished product (no imposition)" switch for anything sold as-is — envelopes, pre-cut stock, roll labels.
After the import
The papers appear immediately in the calculator, with their cost. From then on the inventory isn't a list to look at — it's where your prices come from.
⚠️ CSV is for customers, not papers: CSV import lives in Contacts. Papers come in via XLS or PDF from the Import Centre.