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NINEMAGS

WHAT IS THE STACK FEATURE?

The Stack feature is perfect if you use a die cutting press instead of a graphic punch.

With stacks, images from your orders are spread across multiple sheets allowing you to cut multiple sheets at a time without messing up the orders.

You can have stacks enabled for one product while keeping a single sheet feature enabled for others.


Example:

You can fit 9 of 2x2” square magnets on a single sheet.
Every time an order is placed, you receive a sheet with 9 images on the sheet.

With the Stack feature enabled, once you receive 9 orders, your single sheets are transformed into a stack of 9 sheets with an extra sheet with barcodes on top. Images from one order will be placed in the same spot on 9 sheets so that when you cut them with a cutting press, all images from one order are stacked together.

Cutting press and the Stack feature will increase the speed of order processing, as you no longer have to cut out pictures one by one with a manual punch and then sort them.

HOW TO START USING

Main Steps:

  1. Choose a Product

  2. Set the SKU

  3. Test It Out

 

Choose a Product 

To use the Stack feature, you’ll need a Die Cutting Press and a Cutting Die that fits your product’s size and shape.

You will need to set up all the appropriate products in Shopify.

 

Set the SKU 

Open the product in Shopify admin and change the SKU so it follows this format: TEXT-SIZE-QTY-PAGE-stack

Here’s how to break it down:

  1. TEXT
    Write any text, either all caps or lowercase. You can leave it as NINEMAGS if you want.
     

  2. SIZE
    Add the size of your product:

    1. For circles, use a period: 1.5 or 2

    2. For squares, rectangles, or ovals, use “x” with a period: 2x2 or 2.5x2.5

  3. QTY
    Enter the number of images you collect from the customer, like 9, 21, etc. Usually, this matches how many magnets fit on one template sheet.

    Scroll down to the bottom of a product page and ensure the same quantity as in SKU is installed in the minimum and maximum upload images metafields.

    Those metafields are settings that configure how many images a customer can upload on the product page. So your QTY in the SKU should be the same as in those metafields.
     

  4. PAGE
    Enter the paper size: “Letter” or “A4”
     

  5. stack
    Add the word "stack" in lowercase.
     

Examples of correct SKUs:

2x2 square: NINEMAGS-2x2-9-Letter-stack

2.25 round: NINEMAGS-2.25-9-Letter-stack
 

Testing

  1. Open your website in the new browser window. Go to the product page, upload the images, and add the product to your cart once.

  2. The sum of purchased products has to match the QTY you put in the SKU.
    For example, for NINEMAGS-2x2-9-Letter-stack, you’ll need to buy 4 units the first time and make an order with 5 items the next time.
    So, for the first time, for NINEMAGS-2x2-9-Letter-stack, set the quantity at 4.

  3. Go to checkout and complete the order using the following discount codes to make the order free: “Ninemags” and “NinemagsShip.”
     

Keep an eye on your Dropbox for the next 10 minutes. 

Template files from the order will start generating in the "Print" folder of your Dropbox.
 

  1. Go to the product page, upload the images, and add the product to your cart again.

  2. In your cart, set the remaining part of the quantity to match the QTY you put in the SKU. For NINEMAGS-2x2-9-Letter-stack, you’ll need to buy 5 units this time.

  3. Go to checkout and complete it again.
     

Keep an eye on your Dropbox for the next 10 minutes again.
 

When the template files from the two orders are generated in the "Print" folder, as you have the required number of templates (QTY) for the product, all of them will transform into a Stack.

Stack templates will be generated in the "Print-stack" folder.

The old templates from the "Print" folder will be moved to the "Used-in-stack" folder.

IMPORTANT

  • It is important to keep the order of paratemers and dashes in the SKU. If the SKU does not match the format above, your product will not be picked up by NINEMAGS.

  • If you need to print one of the templates in the "Print" folder for an urgent order, go ahead and do it! Just move the printed template into the "Printed" folder.
    The Stack will only count the remaining files in the "Print" folder. Once the required number is reached, the Stack will be generated.

  • If you move a file to the "Printed" folder but later decide you want it to be part of the Stack, unfortunately, that won’t work. So be careful!

  • If you want to disable stack generation for a product, simply replace the word "stack" in the product SKU with “single”.

ADDITIONAL DROPBOX FOLDERS

#print-stack

The folder where the stacks are generated. Your Dropbox workspace.

source-stack

The folder containing source stack archives.
 

used-in-stack

Single templates are used for generating stacks.

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