New Request for Quote (RFQ) Guide

This guide covers the manual RFQ wizard. The standard entry is the smart quote page at /en/quote; its explicit manual entry choice opens the manual form. The existing /en/new-quote short path and /en/marketplace/new-quote manual surface remain available.

The Request for Quote (RFQ) wizard structures the production details that suppliers need to prepare comparable print quotes.

Wizard Flow and Components

The steps below illustrate a bound multi-page product; the selected category determines the actual fields. The wizard has three main elements:

1. Navigation and progress: Review completed steps and return to an earlier step without validating the current step as a submission.
2. Live estimate: After enough details and a valid positive reference price are available, a non-binding range may appear. An unavailable estimate is not rendered as a zero-price result.
3. Draft state: The browser can retain an unfinished draft so you can continue later.

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Step-by-Step Project Configuration

Step 1: Select a Category

Choose the primary product category. The wizard uses this choice to determine which later fields and constraints apply.

Category	Typical use
Book	Novels, textbooks, and bound publications
Catalog	Multi-page commercial product presentations
Magazine	Periodicals commonly using saddle stitch or other binds
Brochure	Folded marketing material
Flyer	Single-sheet promotional material

Step 2: Select a Product Type

This manual form needs a meaningful product/type and explicit positive quantity before creation. Some categories expose a more specific type, such as paperback, hardcover, or spiral-bound. This selection can change the available cover and binding fields.

Step 3: Select the Finished Size

Size	Dimensions	Typical use
A4	210 x 297 mm	Catalogs and magazines
A5	148 x 210 mm	Books and brochures
Custom	User-defined	Die-cut or project-specific work

Important: A custom size can change the estimate range and may require manual review.

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Step 4: Configure Inner Paper

Choose the stock used for inner pages.

• Uncoated: Common for reading-heavy books and documents.
• Coated matte or gloss: Common for image-rich magazines and catalogs.
• Bristol or board: A heavier stock for rigid inserts or selected products.

Common weights include 70, 80, and 90 gsm for uncoated stocks and 115, 135, and 170 gsm for coated stocks. Availability remains supplier- and region-specific.

Step 5: Configure the Cover

Bound, multi-page products may expose:

• Paper weight: Common examples include 250 or 300 gsm cover stock.
• Lamination: Matte, gloss, or soft-touch options.
• Finishing: Spot varnish, embossing, foil, and other production effects.

Coating, hole, and cut options use localized customer-facing labels. Internal identifiers such as varnish_*, hole_*, and cut_* are not UI copy. Expanding a section or selecting an option does not submit the form.

The wizard shows only options supported by the selected product structure.

Step 6: Select Binding

Binding	Typical fit
Perfect binding	Books and thicker catalogs
Section sewing	Durable, premium books
Saddle stitch	Magazines and thinner brochures
Wire-O or spiral	Notebooks, manuals, and presentation material

Binding feasibility depends on page count, paper caliper, grain direction, and the supplier's equipment. A wizard selection is a request constraint, not a manufacturability guarantee.

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Step 7: Select a Print Method

Available methods may include offset and digital printing. Quantity, substrate, delivery target, variable-data requirements, color configuration, and supplier capability determine the appropriate production route.

Do not treat a quantity threshold as an automatic manufacturing decision. Suppliers validate the final method against the complete RFQ.

Step 8: Enter Quantity and Delivery Needs

Enter the required quantity, destination region, and target delivery date when known. Higher volume can affect unit price, but it can also change production, paper procurement, finishing, and logistics constraints.

Step 9: Upload Files and Create the RFQ

You can upload a production PDF when it is ready. A file is not required for every public or embedded request flow, so you may create an RFQ first and add a file later from the owner workspace when that capability is enabled.

Existing-RFQ upload is disabled by default under the risk-mutation switch. When enabled, adding a PDF requires an authenticated user who owns the RFQ or has the required authority in the same buyer organization. Public and embedded request flows can create a fileless RFQ; they cannot attach a file to an existing private RFQ.

File preparation: Agree the PDF profile with the printer; a PDF/X label alone does not establish readiness. Uploaded files can be evaluated by the NowToPrint preflight pipeline for color, trim, bleed, fonts, and other print-readiness signals.

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Publishing the Request

If you are signed in, the form may prefill known contact details. Review them before submission.

When you select Get Quotes:

1. Validated submission: The platform validates the RFQ and records the accepted request.
2. Supplier discovery: Eligible suppliers can discover or receive the request according to Marketplace access policy.
3. Comparable quotes: You can review received quotes and accept one to create an order.

For a personal RFQ, quote access follows the owner recorded on that RFQ. Selecting or carrying an active organization in your session does not turn a personal request into an organization inbox or hide it from its exact owner. Organization inbox access remains a separate, organization-scoped authority. When the RFQ itself records a buyer organization, only that organization's current membership and capability authority can open the shared inbox; the original creator id is not a personal-access fallback. Personal-inbox reads page past organization-owned rows before applying the result limit; if the bounded scan cannot prove a complete page, the UI reports an error rather than a false empty inbox. That deterministic budget result is not retried automatically: the personal dashboard and My Quotes inbox keep their counters unavailable and retry only after the buyer explicitly selects Try again.