Getting Started with Print Price Engine

The app's dashboard walks you through a five-step setup checklist. Here's each step in detail — budget fifteen minutes to your first live calculator.

Step 1: Grant permissions#

Install the app from the Shopify App Store and approve the requested access. If you ever see the "Re-authorize app" action on the dashboard, Shopify needs you to approve newly required scopes — one click.

Step 2: Create your first ingredient#

Ingredients are your raw costs. Open Ingredients → New:

1. Name it (e.g. "3M Vinyl Roll") and pick a type — Media, Ink, Labor, or Laminate/Finish.
2. Enter what it costs you and choose the cost unit — per roll, per metre, per m²/ft²/cm², per litre, per hour, or fixed per item / per order.
3. For roll media, add the roll's width and length — the engine derives the per-m² cost automatically.

Full detail on all nine cost units in Ingredients & Cost Units.

Step 3: Build your first recipe#

A recipe is the price formula for a product type. Open Recipes → New:

1. Add ingredients with quantities (vinyl + laminate + finishing labour, for example).
2. Set your markup (e.g. 1.6 = 60% on materials) and an optional wastage buffer.
3. Add preset sizes for one-click choices, set min/max dimensions, and decide whether customers may enter custom sizes.
4. Optionally attach a discount rule set for volume pricing and add custom options.
5. Assign the recipe to products — individually, by variant, or link a whole collection.

See Recipes for every setting.

Step 4: Activate the engine#

Click Activate on the dashboard. This registers the cart transform function with Shopify — the piece that applies your calculated price at checkout. Without it the calculator can quote but checkout would charge the product's base price, so the app won't let you skip this.

Step 5: Add the calculator block#

In the theme editor (Online Store → Themes → Customize), open a product page template and add the Custom Print Price Engine block. It only renders on products that have a recipe assigned — safe to add globally.

Test it#

The dashboard offers a Test on storefront link once a recipe is assigned. Enter dimensions, watch the price update, add to cart, and check that the cart shows your calculated price with the dimensions listed. Place a test order and confirm the order's line item carries the width, height, and artwork.