Software for signage and large-format print businesses: what to look for

In short

Sign makers need software that carries supplier cost, proofs, purchase orders and install sign-off on one job record, which neither print MIS nor generic CRM does well. Shortlist quote-to-job systems and test each on a recent real job.

A signage or large-format print business should expect its software to carry one job from survey and quote through proofing, materials purchasing, fabrication and install sign-off to the invoice. Three types of system claim to do that. Print MIS software is built around press-based estimating and volume production. Generic CRM and quoting tools handle contacts and proposals but stop at "won". A quote-to-job system sits between the two: it quotes bespoke work with supplier cost on each line, raises purchase orders from the job, tracks production and installation, and invoices from the completed work. Zigaflow is in that third group, and this guide explains where each type fits and where it does not.

Why sign work does not fit a volume print system

A fascia, a set of fabricated letters or a wayfinding package is quoted once. The price is built from panel, vinyl, fabrication hours, an electrical connection and a day on a lift. Most of those costs are bought in for that single job. A print MIS is designed around the opposite pattern: repeatable products, press time, sheet yield and imposition, where the estimate comes from a model of the machine.

That is a real strength for a commercial printer, and a sign maker should not dismiss it. If your quoting depends on sheet yield or press-hour costing, a print MIS will do that part better than a quote-to-job system. But if most of your cost is materials, fabrication and subcontract install, the machine model is not where your margin is decided. The question is whether the quote carries real supplier cost for each line.

Why a generic CRM leaves a gap

A CRM does a reasonable job of holding the enquiry, the contact and the proposal PDF. The gap opens after the customer says yes. Nobody raises the purchase orders from the quote, so someone retypes the material list into email. The proof sits in an inbox thread, and when the wrong colour reaches the router there is no record of which version the customer signed. The fitter finishes on site, and the invoice waits for a photo and a signature to come back in the van.

Each of those handoffs is a place where the quoted margin leaks away. The system you buy should close them in one record rather than ask you to join three tools together.

What to check on a shortlist

Use the same five questions with every vendor you demo:

• Does each quote line carry supplier cost? Margin should show while you are still quoting, not when the invoice goes out.
• Can you raise purchase orders to every supplier from the job? Ask whether the supplier acknowledgement and later supplier invoice match back to the same record.
• Is proof approval tied to the line it belongs to? You need a dated, named approval, not an attachment.
• Can production and install be tracked separately from the customer order? The workshop and the sales desk need different views of the same job.
• Can the fitter close the job on site? Photos, snags and a customer signature should be captured on a phone, with the invoice following.

Also ask what the vendor publishes. Some print MIS and sign-shop vendors list prices openly and others sell on request. We have not priced any other vendor here, and you should get written quotes from each one you shortlist.

Where Zigaflow fits, and where it does not

Zigaflow is a quote-to-job system. On its signage industry page it describes the flow as survey, quote, proof, purchase orders, install and invoice on one record. Quotes carry supplier cost on each line, apply customer-specific pricing and margins, support e-signature and open tracking, and convert to a job, purchase order or invoice in one click. Artwork approval runs as an eForm against the quote line. Install sign-off runs as an eForm on the fitter's phone, with photos and two signatures, and the invoice is raised from the completed job.

For fabrication and installation, Works Orders give production its own space, separate from the customer-facing job. You can split one works order into stages that match your process, assign each to a person or department, attach specifications and drawings, and set priorities and deadlines. Completing it updates the linked job. Works Orders also check inventory against the materials the work needs.

It does not model a press. Zigaflow prices from your own material, labor and subcontract rates, so imposition and sheet-yield estimating are not part of it. It is also not an accounting package: invoices post to Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent. And it is not an ERP.

What it costs

On the pricing page, Zigaflow lists Essentials at £79 a month with one user included, Go at £199 with two, and Momentum at £399 with three. Additional users cost £69, £79 and £89 a month respectively, so three users on Essentials come to £217 a month before tax. A separate Quotes plan starts at £19 a month if you only need quoting. All plans include a free one-hour onboarding session.

Do the arithmetic for your own headcount. A five-person sign shop with an office user, an estimator and three fitters will land on a different plan from a solo owner-operator. A demo or trial is the cheapest way to test whether your real quote, with real supplier costs, runs end to end.

How to choose

If you run presses and sell volume, shortlist print MIS software first. If you quote bespoke signs, buy materials per job and install on site, shortlist quote-to-job systems and test them on a recent job that went wrong. Take the survey notes, the supplier prices and the invoice, and see whether the system would have shown you the margin before you sent the quote. A generic CRM can sit in front of either, but it should not be the system that decides what a job costs.

Sources

• Pricing - ZigaflowZigaflow · accessed 2026-11-07
• Sign company software: quote, proof, install, invoiceZigaflow · accessed 2026-11-07
• Quoting software for small businessZigaflow · accessed 2026-11-07
• Works order software for productionZigaflow · accessed 2026-11-07