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Estimate
options let you customize your printed
estimates
It contains different options that let
you change the “look”, but not the overall
design, of your forms. Since estimates were designed to
be printed on letterhead, and not specialized forms,
these settings let you tailor your estimates to fit on
your letterhead.
You can change the estimate top, left, and bottom margins
(the right-side margin is fixed, and isn’t
customizable). Changing margins doesn’t affect the
content or arrangement of the information on estimates;
instead, they simply nudge the text up or down, or to the
right side. In addition, you can customize some of the
terminology used on estimates -- especially the word
estimate. For example, you can change the word Estimate
to Authorization, Proposal, or some other descriptive
phrase that better accommodates your clients.
The settings in report options apply to every estimate
you print. So if you change the heading Estimate to
Proposal, every printed estimate will be entitled
Proposal. The estimate margins are customizable to work
with your letterhead. Any kind of letterhead will work,
as long as any art printed on the letterhead doesn’t
conflict with the text printed from Clients &
Profits. Since invoice options affect all users,
it’s best to make these changes when no one is using
Clients & Profits Pro; otherwise, you may get
record-locking while a busy user’s preferences are
updated.
Do not set your margins to less than 1/2”. Clients
& Profits requires a minimum .50” margin on the
printed invoice and estimate.
You can customize the font used by your invoices,
estimates, and other reports using the Report Fonts
command in Utilities.
To change your estimate options
1 Choose Setup > Preferences > Estimate
Options.
The Estimates Options window opens.
2 Enter your changes to the invoice options, then
click Save.
Since these settings are used by everyone, every
user’s preferences are updated when these changes
are saved. To prevent record-locking, it’s best that
no one uses Clients & Profits while you’re
changing the estimate options.
Adding a graphic logo to estimates
Estimates and invoices can each contain a different
graphic logo. This logo appears at the top left side of the printed
estimate and invoice. Any kind of .BMP file (Windows) or PICT file (Macintosh)
can be copied from a graphics program, then pasted into the report options
windows. The graphic file can be black-and-white or full-color.
When choosing a graphic file, make sure it’s sized for the logo
field, which is 795 pixels wide by 300 pixels high. The graphic will
be pasted at this size. Graphics larger or smaller than this size will
be re-scaled to fit the field. The graphic appears in full size on the
printed estimate or invoice, in the best resolution possible from your
printer. Graphics printed on Postscript-based laser printers look best.
Dot-matrix printers probably won’t print an acceptable logo, since
their resolution isn’t as good. Most ink-jet printers will print
a reasonably clear image. A color logo will print in full color on any
kind of color printer.
Setting margins
The top, left, and bottom margins can
be changed separately for invoices and estimates (in case
you use different letterhead or forms). Any margin
setting can be used, within reason. But remember that
changing the margin doesn’t actually change the
content of the estimate or invoice.
The information printed from Clients & Profits (such
as the item descriptions, job numbers, amounts, and
notes) require a certain amount of space on the estimate
and invoice -- and that information can’t be
changed. So the margins you choose only affect where the
printing starts on the printed page. You can’t
control the right-side margin or page breaks (this is
based on what you’ve entered onto the invoice or
estimate).
Most laser printers can’t print on the outside 1/2"
of the page; if you make your margins smaller than 1/2",
they’re likely to be cut-off. If your printer
supports full-page printing, then it should be as
expected.
Margins can’t be less than 1/2” on all sides;
if so, the estimate won’t print.
To test your settings, practice printing several copies
of typical estimates. You may have to make several
adjustments before finding the best-looking settings.
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