Tracking paper by the piece
Link a paper item, say how many pieces are in a ream, and get a per-piece cost and balance.
You buy paper by the ream and print on it by the sheet. Paper is the translation between the two: link a paper inventory item, say how many pieces are in one unit, and PrintERP maintains a piece-level balance and a per-piece cost alongside the unit count.
Adding a paper
- 1Create the inventory item first if it does not exist — see Adding inventory items.
- 2Open Paper and press add.
- 3Choose the inventory item.
- 4Enter Pieces per Unit — 500 for a standard ream, 250 for a half ream, whatever your pack holds.
- 5If you already buy it by the sheet, tick already per piece and the factor is set to 1.
On save, PrintERP seeds the piece balance from what you hold — units in stock × pieces per unit — and caches the cost per piece as unit cost ÷ pieces per unit.
Canvas, vinyl and board too
Despite the name, this screen handles anything counted in pieces: canvas, sticker vinyl, board, pre-cut card. If it comes in packs and gets used sheet by sheet, it belongs here.
Where the piece balance is used
- Product recipes ask for pieces per unit — see Building a product recipe.
- Finishing a job deducts pieces per the recipe, including the waste allowance.
- Recording an error deducts the pieces you spoiled.
- Manual consumption on the paper detail page covers anything outside a job.
In every case the piece balance falls first, and whole units roll off the inventory count only when the last piece of one is gone. That behaviour has its own guide: Partial reams and bottles.
Editing and removing
Edit lets you change the pieces-per-unit factor and toggle the paper active. Changing the factor affects future calculations only — it does not retrospectively adjust the balance you already hold, which would rewrite history.
Delete is permanent, and sometimes refused
Deleting asks for confirmation and cannot be undone. A paper still used by a product recipe is blocked — mark it inactive from Edit instead. Production waste records survive a delete and simply lose the paper link, keeping their history.
Re-adding a paper you previously deactivated reactivates the original record and re-seeds its balance, rather than failing or creating a duplicate.
Open Paper
Track paper and canvas stock per piece.
Related guides
Partial reams and bottles
Why a whole unit only comes off the books when its last piece is spent — and what the "is it safe to say" prompt means.
Building a product recipe
Tell PrintERP what one unit of a product consumes: materials, paper, ink, and waste allowance.
Adding inventory items and opening stock
Create the materials you buy, set their unit and cost, and record what you already have on the shelf.