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3. Decoration methods
Pricing, then Decoration methods. This is the most important setup step in the product. A decoration method holds what a decoration costs the customer, at each quantity break and colour count, plus its setup fee.
Every quote line that carries decoration prices itself from these numbers. Get the matrix right and quoting becomes typing a quantity.
What ships by default
A new workspace is seeded with six methods, so you have something sane to edit rather than a blank page:
| Method | Setup fee | Shape of the matrix |
|---|---|---|
| Plastisol screen print | 35.00 | Per colour count, breaks at 1, 50, 100 |
| Embroidery | 25.00 | Up to 8 colours, breaks at 1 and 50 |
| DTG (direct to garment) | 0.00 | Full colour, breaks at 1, 25, 50 |
| DTF (direct to film) | 15.00 | Full colour, breaks at 1, 25, 100 |
| Heat transfer | 20.00 | Up to 3 colours, breaks at 1 and 50 |
| Sublimation | 30.00 | Full colour, breaks at 1, 25, 100 |
These are placeholders with plausible numbers, not your prices. Replace them with yours before quoting.
The fields
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Name | What staff and customers see, for example "Plastisol screen print" |
| Code | A stable identifier used on quotes and in reports. Locked after creation, so choose it carefully: SCREEN, DTG, EMB |
| Base setup fee | Charged once per decorated line. Screens, digitising, film. A setup waiver rule can remove it |
| Is active | Off hides the method from new quotes without touching history |
| Rate matrix | The per-unit decoration price, by quantity break and colour count |
The code cannot be changed later
The code is written onto quote and order lines and used to group reports, so it is locked once the method exists. If you get it wrong, create a replacement method with the right code and deactivate the old one rather than trying to rename it.
The rate matrix
Each row has three values:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Min quantity | The lowest line quantity this row applies to |
| Max colours | The highest colour count this row covers. Use 99 for full colour |
| Unit price (cents) | Per-unit decoration price, in cents. 350 means 3.50 |
Prices are in cents, deliberately, so there is no rounding drift. 3.50 is 350.
How a row is chosen
For a line of quantity Q with C colours, the engine looks at every row where min_quantity <= Q and max_colours >= C, and picks the one with the highest min quantity. If nothing matches, decoration adds nothing to the line, which is the trap to watch for.
Worked example, using the seeded screen print matrix:
| Row | Min qty | Max colours | Unit cents |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 1 | 350 |
| B | 50 | 1 | 280 |
| C | 100 | 1 | 220 |
| D | 1 | 2 | 480 |
| E | 50 | 2 | 400 |
| F | 100 | 2 | 320 |
- 60 shirts, 1 colour: rows A and B qualify, B wins on the higher minimum. 2.80 each.
- 60 shirts, 2 colours: rows D and E qualify (A, B and C cap at 1 colour). E wins. 4.00 each.
- 250 shirts, 2 colours: F wins. 3.20 each.
- 60 shirts, 4 colours: nothing covers 4 colours, so decoration is priced at zero. This is the mistake to avoid.
Cover every colour count you actually sell
Because an uncovered colour count silently prices at zero, your matrix must reach as high as you will ever quote. Two safe patterns:
- One row set per colour count you offer, up to your press maximum. Most explicit, most rows.
- A catch-all top row at your highest colour count, so nothing falls through. For example, add rows at
max colours = 6for a six-colour press.
For full-colour processes (DTG, DTF, sublimation) use 99 and you never have to think about it again.
Building your matrix
- Write down your actual sell price per unit at the quantities you run: 12, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500. Only include breaks you really use, three or four is plenty.
- Do it per colour count for spot-colour processes.
- Enter the rows in any order. The engine sorts by minimum quantity itself, so you do not need to be tidy, though ordering them low to high makes them easier to read later.
- Set the setup fee to what you actually charge to make screens or digitise, per position.
Price the decoration, not the garment
The garment price comes from the SKU and its price list. The matrix is the decoration on top. If you have historically quoted one all-in number per shirt, split it: garment cost plus decoration. That split is what lets the software reprice automatically when a blank price changes, and it is what makes the margin reports meaningful.
Positions and multiple decorations
A job with a front print and a back print is two lines, each with its own decoration method and colour count, so each gets its own setup fee and its own rate from the matrix. That is intentional: it is how the cost actually behaves in the shop.
Deactivating a method
Turn Is active off rather than deleting. Deleting is blocked or destructive where history references the method; deactivating keeps every historical quote, order and report intact and just stops it appearing on new lines.