If you run a print shop, you might be familiar with the cumbersome process of accepting orders online. First, the customer has to email you their print files. Then you have to review them and ask the customer their preferences for finishing, paper type, and more. Sometimes, it seems like more of a hassle than if they visited your shop in person.

An online ordering system should be hassle-free. Your customers should have an easy way to upload their documents, choose their preferences, and pay without help. And as the print shop owner, it should be easy for you to accept payments, review orders, and focus on the job instead of the ordering process.

With WordPress, WooCommerce, and a print shop plugin, you can create a truly great customer experience — and boost your print sales in the process.

Boost Your Print Sales with the Copy Shop Plugin

The Copy Shop plugin automates the printing of PDF files. Your customers simply upload their documents, choose their preferred printing options, and pay online. It couldn’t be simpler.

The plugin has a clean, modern, and easy-to-use interface for both you and your customers. You can dial in your pricing for various paper types, finishing options, front page, and more.

Copy Shop integrates with WooCommerce, creating a specific Custom Printing product for you. It also handles the creation of your online ordering page, where you can tweak the design and colors to match your branding.

Copy Shop allows your customers to upload their docs and choose the print features they want — all without your help. That means you can free up your time and earn online revenue while handling more complex print projects.

Using the Copy Shop Plugin

First, you’ll need to grab the Copy Shop plugin. You can purchase the plugin directly through their website. Once purchased, you’ll get a license and a .zip file for download.

Note: You must have WooCommerce installed and activated before activating Copy Shop.

You install and activate the plugin on your WordPress site as you would any other. You’ll be prompted to enter your license key after activation. The Copy Shop menu item will appear in your WordPress Admin bar as Print Options.

Getting Started with Copy Shop

The great thing about the Copy Shop is that it handles all the initial setup stuff for you when you activate the plugin. It’s a basic configuration that automatically generates:

• A pricing options list
• A template page that displays the online print application
• A WooCommerce product titled “Custom Print”

The customer-facing print application works by using a standard page in WordPress. Copy Shop creates this page for you and includes all the necessary functions for people to upload, configure, and order their prints. You can also use this template on any other page if you like.

This is also why you must install WooCommerce before activating Copy Shop. Because WooCommerce needs to have a product created for someone to make a purchase, Copy Shop adds a new product for you. It’s a sort of fictional product that’s only used to allow customers to add documents to their cart and order prints. You’ll see it in your WooCommerce product list view under Custom Printing.

You can check out your template page any time by navigating to Pages→Online Printing. Note that some print options won’t be available at this point — I’ll show you how those get configured.

Configuring Print Options

It’s easy to access the configuration to set up your print options. Navigate to Print Options, and the Simple Online Printing menu will appear.

General options

The first thing you may notice is that the WooCommerce Product ID is already filled in for you. There’s no reason to change it (in fact, don’t). Still, if, for some reason, the Custom Print product gets deleted, you can just create a new WooCommerce product and enter the new product ID.

You can also set a minimum price if you like, which can be helpful if you think you might get a lot of tiny orders.

Limiting the size of PDFs is a handy option if you have limited server space.

If your business has separate pricing for print and paper, you can select the option, and the user interface will split those prices for you.

There’s also an easy-to-add list of paper types/sizes and pricing options that you can set up. It’s also possible to fine-tune those prices further for each paper type depending on the quantity ordered.

Design & Colors

Copy Shop lets you customize the user interface for your online print shop. First, you can use the Custom CSS field to enter any CSS code you need.

If you’re not comfortable writing CSS code, there are multiple options to help you design the colors and layout of the page. For example, you can move the sidebar to the left or right and arrange the order of the fields in the UI. Additionally, you can customize the page header, including the ability to upload your logo.

While you can add links to your interface header, you probably won’t want to overdo it because you don’t want customers to click away before they complete an order.

Finishes

In your print shop, you likely offer multiple finishes and bindings like spiral, staple, comb, etc… In the Finishes menu, you can set up pricing for finishing options based on each paper type you provide, plus options for lamination and punch.

Front Page

Some customers might want to include a cover sheet with their order. Just toggle the Front Page menu button to give them the option.

Extra Options

If your print shop offers more than what’s provided in the Copy Shop configuration menu, you can use the Extra Options screen to set those up. You can do this for all paper types you have previously set up.

Tooltips

The ability to help provide even more assistance with their print order is possible with the Tooltips feature. Even better, you write your own content for each tooltip, which means you can give your own voice to the tooltips and keep in line with your branding.

Using Tooltips really adds to the customer experience and makes your online print UI more friendly and intuitive.

Testing the Online Ordering Experience

As I mentioned, Copy Shop has an extremely intuitive configuration interface. Testing your online ordering page is just as easy, and Copy Shop creates a modern, beautiful ordering page for you.

The first screen your customers will see is the UI to upload their documents. The only option is a PDF; if you work in the print industry, you can understand that it’s the most consistent format for accurate printing.

When your customer uploads their document, they’re immediately taken to the order screen.

As you test your ordering page, you’ll instantly see any of the configuration choices reflected. The initial print cost is calculated. You can select different print options and see the cost change on the fly. There’s also a field for customers to add any comments they feel will help describe what they want in their order.

After you review your page, you can go back to Print Options and tweak things as necessary.

Pricing

Pricing for Copy Shop is super simple. There’s only one price: €30/$33.71 per month. That works out to €360/$400 per year. The license is for one website and is renewed automatically every year unless you cancel it.

If you want to try Copy Shop for free, they offer an online demo: https://demo.plugincopisteriaonline.com.

A WordPress Print Shop That Works Out of the Box

If you run a print shop, you may have been frustrated with how online ordering works. Thankfully, that’s over now. You no longer have to rely on multiple email threads to sort out and respond to customers just to get a simple copy order into your shop.

Using the Copy Shop plugin, you can quickly set up a robust online ordering system that works right out of the box. With some super simple configurations, it will give your customers an easy-to-use UI that will help you look professional. You don’t have to know how to code or even design layouts. The plugin handles it all for you.

The Copy Shop plugin makes it easy for you to create a full-featured online print ordering experience.