## Calculation Assumptions and Fault Lines Assumptions On Work Being Valued Any estimating process has to make assumptions about the type of work being valued. Values in this guide are based on line copy on a press sheet with normal ink coverage. Normal coverage is defined as a sheet with 25% coverage. This does not mean only 25% of the sheet is printed upon, rather it means that the square inch ink coverage approximates 25% of the total surface of the press sheet with no bleeds. Jobs which have heavy solids must be run slower and make ready time is many times longer than the estimating standards used. Therefore, the estimator must add additional to these jobs as the situation warrants. (See Estimate Work Sheet and Explanation for assistance in estimating special jobs). Fault Lines or Calculation Inconsistencies As in any project of this nature, judgment of the author has been used to smooth calculated inconsistencies. When markups decrease, as they do when quantities become larger and/or total run lengths increase, certain calculated inconsistencies can occur. Example: You run a dress shop and it is your price policy to markup all dresses costing less than $100 by 2x (multiply cost by 200%) and all dresses costing more than $100 by 1.5x (multiply cost by 150%). Now assume your cost on a dress which previously was $99 and carried a retail price of $198 (2 x $99) has gone up to $101 and, because of your policy, now should be sold for $151.50 ($101 cost x 1.5 markup). Realize that this inconsistency is not a flaw in logic; rather is the mathematical result of having decreasing markups. In printing, we could have a value for a 900 run at $10.00 and a value for the 1000 run at $9.00 even though the total production cost for the 1000 run is larger than the 900. The difference would be in the markup applied. It is our belief these inconsistencies have been largely removed from these tables. However, some pricing points between tables may contain a similar "fault line." which is produced by decreasing the markup on an increasing cost of paper stock. When this occurs, it is not because the upper value table is too high. Rather, it occurs because the lower value table is marked up too much. These have been eliminated to the greatest extent possible, however the occasional "faults" are the result of a mathematical necessity. Overall values for the higher table are, in fact, higher even though one or two pricing points may be lower.