Proximity, which is selling the software through a new sister company WireFrame IO, worked with both litho and digital printers during the software development in order to establish a baseline price for a wide range of products.

These include business stationery, leaflets, flyers and posters, as well as more complex products such as books, magazines and brochures, where users can add options for covers, finishing, binding, page sizes, etc.

Printers can either use these prices or adapt them by inputting their own paper charges and running costs in the cloud-based back-end; an embed code is then used to slot the quote/order module into the printer's website.

WireFrame IO director Steve Pettitt said that the software was currently aimed at the B2B market and requires anyone placing an order to have their own artwork to attach to the order.

"Initially it's probably more of a B2B system aimed at graphic designers who would already have artwork in place," said Pettitt. He added that in a similar vein, the system did not include any pre-flighting tools to ensure the uploaded artwork would be printable.

"At this point there is no validation - that's at the printer's discretion, all we're doing is being a conduit between a printer and their customer," said Pettitt.

Unusually for a B2B system, payment is taken (via PayPal) prior to the order being completed.

Pettitt said that the option to place orders on account was on the roadmap of additional features. The company is also planning on developing a more B2C system that could include editable artwork for items like business cards.

The software, which is being marketed and sold throught the subsidiary company WireFrameIO, is available for an annual licence of £199 on top of which printers will be debited between 1-5 credits per order placed through the system.

Credits can be topped up for between £0.77 - £1.23 per credit, depending on the number of credits bought.

Pettitt added that printers could simply use the system internally as a low-cost quotation tool, for which they would only be charged the annual licence fee.

WireFrameIO also has plans to launch a print price comparison site gocomparetheprint.com later in the year, which Q-Quote users will be able to opt-in to be featured on. "The user will be able to sort the results by the cheapest or by the closest, if they needed a fast turnaround," said Pettitt.