Show details for MegaEdit Output Type | ID:ME_004

MegaEdit Output Type | ID:ME_004

In this tutorial, we will investigate the Output Type option within the MegaEdit configuration settings. When creating a MegaEdit product one of your 3 key/core components is an output type.  This dictates the bleed a product will have whether it is a single, multipage, or booklet with cover growth, spine size, pricing etc. 

Tutorial Video Transcript

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This tutorial, we're going to investigate
the output type option

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with the MegaEdit configuration settings.

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So when creating a MegaEdit product,
one of your three

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key components is an output type.

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So this dictates things like the bleed
a product will have,

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whether it's a single multi-page
or a booklet format,

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whether it has cover
growth, spine size specifications

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or additional pricing options
and various other

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associated settings.

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So first,
we've got to navigate to the output type

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area of the MegaEdit
configuration settings.

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So this is found in catalogs, product
types,

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MegaEdit and then MegaEdit output types.

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As with the canvas

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and the stock that we've done in previous
tutorials,

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these are specified separate
from your actual products

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because then you might want to specify
this one output type

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on multiple different products.

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So I'm just going to hit create
in the top right hand corner

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and then we'll talk through

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some of the settings
that appear on this page.

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So we'll start off
with the options at the top.

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So a fundamental options,
we've got the name.

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This can be whatever suits your workflow.

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It's displayed under the output type list

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under the Dynamic Product Properties tab.

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So this will be actually visible
in your user interface.

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So let's say

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it's a general output

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type, you've got a description.

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So this is used internally only for you
as the administrator

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under the list of types,
you've got the bleed.

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So this is used as the main bleed
added to the product or documents.

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So this can be either
a multiple, multiple page document

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or the inside page
bleed for a booklet setup.

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And then we have the unit.

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So you can set different measures
when configuring the output types.

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So you can see in that list here

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coming down to the covered section.

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So first of all,
we have the overriding option

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of whether or not to use covers
in a particular product.

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We then have cover differences.

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So this is used to add extra height
and width

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to the cover portion of your document.

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So for example,
if you were creating a hard cover out

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type, you'd have a cover wrap.

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So this is the extra wrap
you wish to allow on the cover,

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the wraps inside of the cover itself,

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you've got the option
for edit cover inside pages.

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So this allows you to make the inside
pages of a cover editable

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if not checked, you'll see a grayed out page
and anything left on

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these pages will not be printed out.

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And then you've got separate
cover pages for front and back.

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So this allows a booklet set up

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to display the covers as separate pages

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as opposed to spreads
as is the default option.

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So you would have a single cover
page first

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and then all of your spread pages and
then a single back of a page at the end.

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So if you are using this mode,
there's an additional tick box

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to use to make sure that the front
and back pages are swapped around

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when using the spread output cover.

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In our example here, we're going
to keep this nice and simple, so

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I'm just going to turn off
the use of covers completely.

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So next, let's discuss the gutter.

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So a couple of gotcha options available.

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Again, more
if you're making a booklet style product,

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it's an additional size
that is added to the inside pages only.

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So this only appears on the final outputs,
inside

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pages of the binding page edges.

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And there you can
see you put in a dimension

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of that gutter.

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You've also got the ability to load a
go to image.

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So if you want to use
your own image of the gutter to be

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used on the final output pdf
that can be uploaded here, that

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So a next option down is a few options
to do with the spine

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and the calculation
of the size of the spine.

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So again, as the very nature of this

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particular option suggests,
this is more to do with a book based

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products
like a photo book, for example, and

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if you don’t do the type of product,
you can just say configure for no spine.

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However, talking through these options
somewhat so additional width,

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the cover adds to the spine width
calculation.

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So this allows you to add an extra amount
of spine width on top of the spine

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calculation, which is using the micron
thickness of the stock.

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You have a minimal spine width

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that this setting allows you
to set the smallest spine width amount

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if pages are deleted by the end user,
you've got duplex printing,

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so it's used in the spine width
calculation only.

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So for example,
if you specified a booklet of 40 PP

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where you were printing duplex
and the spine width calculation

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would be halved to 20PP,
and then we have spine tiers.

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So these are an option to set predefined
page tiers

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where the spine width increases
based on the page count value.

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So by clicking insert,

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you get this pop up box appearing here.

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You can say, for example,
specify up to 20 pages

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where the width might be

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ten millimeters

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and click.

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Okay, you can then add an additional tier.

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So click inserts again

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with we say up to

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that's two pages,

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it may be 20 millimeters

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and so on and so forth.

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So what? This is useful.

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So rather than the spine increasing
dynamically on a per spread basis,

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it increases at preset values
and preset rates.

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If you're not making a product which has
a spine, I'll just delete those two.

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Or we can just hit configure for no spine
and that makes us

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a spine tier automatically, which is

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very large number of pages and zero width.

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So you can add margins to your products
in MegaEdit these do not print out

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but all that purely as guidance
for the end users.

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So these can be useful in terms

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of helping the end user position
their fields around the canvas.

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The margins are green by default,
but the color can be changed

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under the product options in the editor.

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But of course only admins can do this.

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And then we have the configuration
of price and weight factors.

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So under the price and weight factors
section, you can specify a different price

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and weight option
for each of your output types.

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So for example,
if you had a booklet product

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that had both a softcover
and a hardcover option,

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you may wish to offer the hardcover option
at a higher price.

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So let's say 50% more expensive.

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This is done using the factors
which are percentage based.

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So a factor of 1.5 would make that
option 50% more expensive

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for the weight option.

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This adds
a weight to the final output products.

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So for example, a hardcover
would weigh more than a softcover.

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And if you were using the shipping
by weight options within Infigo,

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then you would need to ensure that
your products are an accurate final weight

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so you're not under or overcharging
your end users

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once you specified all those details.

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I'm just going to click on Save
and that will save our output type.

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Now we need to actually apply this
to our MegaEdit product.

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The easiest way to do
this is just to get to the list

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of MegaEdit products through the resources
links on the top right hand side.

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When you're on
one of the MegaEdit resources pages.

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So if I go to that dropdown
and click on products,

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there's a list of all my MegaEdit products

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I'm just going to click on edit over

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on the right hand side.

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So this is the same place where we defined
which canvases

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and stocks we're going to use a little bit
further down the tabs.

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You'll find
that you have the output types section

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and here you can choose one

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or multiple output types to utilize

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and hit

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save.

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You can also have multiple output types
specified and available on your product.

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So if I just go and refresh
the landing page for my product,

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you can see when I have multiple output
types available,

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I have the ability to select between these
before I even launch the editor

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and I can change that specification

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once more within the editor as well.

 

Incomplete
Step by Step Guide

Output Type

In this tutorial, we will investigate the Output Type option within the MegaEdit configuration settings.

When creating a MegaEdit product one of your 3 key/core components is an output type.  This dictates the bleed a product will have whether it is a single, multipage, or booklet with cover growth, spine size, pricing etc. 

Creation Date: Nov 21, 2022
Created By: Sam Webster

1. Click on Catalogue

First, we must navigate to the Output Type area of the MegaEdit configuration settings

Click on Catalogue

2. Click on Product Types

Click on Product Types

3. Click on MegaEdit

Click on MegaEdit

4. Click on MegaEdit Output Types

Click on MegaEdit Output Types

5. To add a new Output Type option, click on Create

To add a new Output Type option, click on Create

6. Complete bleed options

  • Name: this name can be whatever suits your workflow and is displayed under the output type list under the dynamic product properties tabs.

  • Description: used internally only for you as the administrator under the list of Output types. 

  • Bleed: used as the main bleed added to the product/document. This can be either a multiple page document or inside page bleed for a booklet setup.

  • Unit: you can set different measures when configuring output type, Inches, Pts, Cm and Mm's can be used.

Complete bleed options

7. Complete cover settings

  • Use Covers: enables the use of covers. 

  • Cover differences: used to add extra Height x Width to the cover. For example, if you were creating a hardcover output type. 

  • Cover Wrap: this is the extra wrap you wish to allow on the cover that wraps inside the cover.

  • Edit cover inside pages: allows you to make the inside pages of a cover editable - if NOT ticked you will see a grayed out page, anything left on these pages will not print out. 

  • Separate cover pages front and back: allows your booklet setup to display the covers as separate pages as opposed to spreads as is default. You would have a single cover page first, then all your spread pages and then the single back cover page at the end.  If you are using this mode, there is an additional tick box to use to make sure that the front and back pages are swapped around when using a spread output cover. 

In our example, we will remove the use of covers.

Complete cover settings

8. Complete gutter settings

  • Gutter: this is an additional size that is added to the inside pages ONLY.  This ONLY appears on the final output's inside pages of the binding page edges. 

  • Upload a gutter image: upload your own gutter to be used on the final output PDF.  Here you click browse and upload your jpg/png.

Complete gutter settings

9. Configure spine settings

  • Additional width the cover adds to the spine: this allows you to add an extra amount of spine width on top of the spine calculation using the micron thickness of the stock.  Example, if your have a 20 pp booklet and that page block adds up to 0.4 mm thickness you can then add additional amount for binding purposes.  So if you added 10mm your total spine width would be 10.4 mm wide etc. 

  • Minimal spine width: this setting allows you to set the smallest spine width amount if pages are deleted by the the end user.

  • Duplex Printing: used in spine width calculation only. For example, if you specified a booklet of 40 pp but you were printing duplex, then the spine width calculation would be halved to 20 pp.  

  • Spine Tiers: are an option to set predefined page tiers where the spine width increases based on a page count value.  For example by clicking "Insert" you could specify that up to 20 pp the spine width is 10 mm and then above 20 but up-to 32 pp the spine width increases to 20 mm and then when the pagination reaches 40 pp the spine width jumps to 30mm.  So rather than the spine increasing dynamically on a per spread basis it increases at preset values.

In our example, configure for no spine.

Configure spine settings

10. Configure margin options

You can add margins to your products in MegaEdit.  These do not print out but are there purely as guidance for the end users.  These can be useful in terms of helping the end user position their fields around the canvas.  The margins are green by default but can be changed in color under the product options in the editor (admins ONLY).

Configure margin options

11. Configure price and weight factors

Under the Price and weight factors section you can specify a different price and weight option for each of your output types.  For example if you had a booklet product that had both a Softcover AND Hardcover you may wish to offer the Hardcover option at a higher price, perhaps 50% more expensive.  This is done using the factors, which are percentage based, so a factor of 1.5 would make that option 50% more expensive, 1.25 = 25% more expensive or 0.5 = -50% less expensive etc.  For the Weight option this adds a weight to the final output product.  For example a hardcover would weigh more than a softcover and if you were using the shipping by weight options in catfish then you need to ensure that your products are an accurate final weight so you are not under/over charging your end users etc.

Configure price and weight factors

12. Click on Save

Click on Save

13. Click on Catalogue

Next, we will apply this output type to our MegaEdit product.

Click on  Catalogue

14. Click on Product Types

Click on Product Types

15. Click on MegaEdit

Click on MegaEdit

16. Click on MegaEdit Products

Click on MegaEdit Products

17. Locate the MegaEdit product and click on Edit

Locate the MegaEdit product and click on Edit

18. Click on Output Types

Click on Output Types

19. Select the appropriate Output Type specifications

Select the appropriate Output Type specifications

20. Click on Save changes

Click on Save changes

21. Click on (Back to product list)

Click on (Back to product list)

22. Check for issues

With a canvas, stock and output type specified, we should have no remaining issues on our MegaEdit product.

Check for issues
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