Frequently Asked Questions

Impress™ is integrated with QuickBooks, and ties into MAS 90, Accountmate and Peachtree accounting systems. Impress™ does not lock you into a particular accounting system. You are free to use whatever accounting system you like. There is no need to change if you are happy with your current system. We can also support interface to any accounting package that is able to import from a comma delimited text file.

Other programs force the part number or SKU number to include the design, style, color, label and size in one field. This makes SKU number very large and difficult to use. Impress™ treats these as separate fields in entry, reporting and inventory control. Other programs require each size to be on it's own line. Impress™ allows up to six sizes to be entered on the same order line. Other programs require each design, style, color, label and size combination sold to be entered as a separate inventory item, making the inventory very large. Impress™ allows up to six sizes to be setup as one inventory item and custom prints do not need to be set up as an inventory item. We will also pre-load the catalogs for many vendors, such as Broder Bros., Sanmar, making the initial setup of inventory much easier. Impress™ supports up to two name drops and locations per order line. Impress™ produces reports by design, style, color and label while other programs don't have a clue. Quantity pricing is another big feature of Impress™ that other programs can't touch.

There are several methods that can be used to calculate selling prices. The most common is to assign a selling price to a design and to assign a selling price or markup to a garment. When an order is entered, Impress™ will calculate the price for the design and the price for the garment then add them together. Prices are assigned to name drops, and they are automatically added as well. Prices are assigned through a price table that has 12 quantity discount levels, 10 tiers of prices (retail, wholesale, special), and separate commission rates for each price. Prices can be a percentage markup over cost. Price Tables for screen-printing and embroidery are also built in. Designs, garments and name drops are assigned a price table so when prices change for a garment style, only one or two price tables need to be changed, not one for each garment or SKU. Prices can always be manually changed at order entry.

Impress™ was designed for companies that do custom/contract screen-printing or embroidery, have pre-print lines, or do a combination of both. In Order Entry you can enter the number of colors/screens or stitches and Impress™ will calculate the correct selling price.

Yes. Impress™ allows up to six sizes to be entered on one sales order line. The price for each size is automatically calculated and displayed. All sizes will print on the invoice on the same line as long as the price for each size is the same.

Yes. Commissions on an invoice can be split between two sales agents. Sales agents and commission rates are set up by customer, but can be modified by order in order entry. Commission rates can vary for each order line to support lower commission rates for higher discounts, or to make a line such as art, or shipping non-commissionable. In addition, sales agents can be paid when the invoice is printed, partially paid, or fully paid.

You are able to specify the stock source for each order line. The options are: Inventory, Special Order, Separate P.O., and Customer Drop Shipment. There is a special Customer Stock Receiving function that receives and tracks customer supplied stock and emails them the status after each receiving.

The image is stored as a BMP, JPEG or PNG file. Most graphic programs can save an image as a BMP or JPEG file. Your art department can save a design as a JPEG image with a low resolution to minimize disk usage, yet still suitable for viewing and printing. When a design is set up in Impress™, you tell it where the saved image file is found. Design images can be optionally printed on Order Quotations, Order Acknowledgements, Pick Tickets, and Invoices.

The security features that are built into Impress™ multi-user are sophisticated, yet easy to use. You have complete flexibility to control who will have access Impress™, right down to the field level! A user must login to Impress™ with a name and password that can be different than the windows login. Users can belong to "groups". Each menu option, entry field and button can be assigned to a set of groups. Once assigned, only users that belong to that set of groups will be able to select the menu option, change a data field or to press a button (to save or delete for example).

Yes. We have integrated Goldmine™ with Impress™. Goldmine consistently gets PC Magazine's Editor's Choice award. Impress™ updates Goldmine whenever a customer's address or related information is changed, and Impress™ can import or export customers directly to or from Goldmine.

Using Microsoft's ODBC interface, Impress™ data can be accessed directly by Microsoft Access, Word, Excel and Crystal Reports.

We believe high quality technical support is critical to a successful installation and the continued operation of Impress™. We provide unlimited telephone support because we believe in our product, and never want you to be afraid to call us for fear of extra charges. Some of our competitors restrict support to a few hours, after which the meter is running.

The first three months of technical support (and upgrades) is included with the purchase of Impress™. After the first three months, technical support and upgrades are 15% of the purchase price.

Whenever we make a planned enhancement or a change for a customer, the change is provided to all our customers in the next update, at no additional charge. Updates are released about twice a year. Enhancements are added as a new menu option, report option or a configuration option to maintain compatibility with previous versions of Impress™.

Impress™ is written in C++, which is widely recognized as the superior object oriented language for application development. C++ is unparalleled for performance and flexibility. No other language is as widely supported or as flexible as C++. Precise is dedicated to continual improvement of Impress™, and object technology is key to its long-term growth.

When it comes to software needs that are not industry specific, we prefer to not "reinvent the wheel", and choose "best of the breed" packages to integrate with. Some of our competitors have written their own general ledgers, accounts payable, payroll and contact management software. The simple fact is that there are many commonly available packages that do a much better job for a lot less money. Intuit has spent millions to develop QuickBooks and continue to spend millions each year improving them (easy to do when you have millions of customers). We have chosen to integrate with QuickBooks, and tie into Peachtree, Visual AccountMate and MAS90 for general ledger, accounts payable and payroll; plus Goldmine for contact management. a

Before you install Impress™, check whether your computers meet the minimum system requirements. An Impress™ installation typically has a shared server computer and multiple user computers, one for each user, all connected together via Windows networking software. Server and user computers have slightly different minimum requirements.

SERVER REQUIREMENTS

Check that your server computer meets the system requirements. Check CPU/RAM as well as hard disk space.

	Minimum Requirements	Recommended
CPU/Processor	Multi-Core processor, the faster the better.  Impress imposes no special requirements on the server.
Oprerating System	Windows Server 2003/2008 Note: Impress can run in either 32 or 64 Bit version of OS.  However, if you are running any of Impress WEB Services (XML, WEB Order Status, Shopping Carts, or Wireless Inventory) you will need to run IIS in 32 Bit mode.  Make sure that you do not need to run any other applications through IIS in 64 Bit mode.  IIS cannot run both 32 Bit and 64 Bit modes at the same time.  Small Business Server by default is deployed with 64 Bit applications for IIS.
Memory	2 GB	4 GB (the more the better)
Hard Disk space for Database	Impress requires a minimum of 20 GB of available space, depending on the volume of transactions, software modules used and length of time detail is kept on line.
Backup	It is recommended that you maintain some type of back up for Impress, as well as other software on your server.

NETWORK REQUIREMENTS

	Minimum Requirements	Recommended
General	We recommend that your network be set up with a server installed and configured for all users before we come on-site.
Ethernet	100 Mb	We strongly recommend 1 Gb.
Network switch	Network switch	Hubs are NOT recommended
Network wiring	Please note that if you are installing new wires, Category 6 cable is required for Gigabit networks.  Even if you do not currently have a Gigabit switch, you may want to plan for the future.	Have all network wiring tested and certified.
Wireless Networks	Wireless networks are slower than wired networks.  Impress will run on a wireless network but at a slower speed than a wired network.	Fastest Wireless Protocol Available (Currently Wireless – N)

WORKSTATION REQUIREMENTS

	Minimum Requirements	Recommended
CPU/Processor	Intel Pentium 4, 2 GHz processor minimum or equivalent.  The faster the processor the better your performance will be.	Multi-Code Processor
Operating System	Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 32-Bit and 64-Bit versions of these Operating Systems are both supported.
Memory	1 GB	2 GB
Hard Disk space for Database	Impress program files and all data should be stored on the server (see server requirements)
Monitor	The physical size of the monitor does not matter.  However, you will want to run your display with at least a 1024 x 768 resolution.	Some areas of Impress will greatly benefit by running a higher resolution.  You may want to consider larger monitors for workstations performing Production Scheduling and the Order Status Board.

INTERNET CONNECTION

A high speed (DSL, Cable, T1) internet connection with static IP is preferred.