Applies to Cmsmart Print Shop Store 2.0.0 (parent theme Cmsmart Stores 2.0.0) · Updated October 2026. This online print shop WooCommerce setup guide uses the bundled Printstores 2.0.0 content tree, which installs Cmsmart Product Designer 2.18.0 (formerly NBDesigner) and Cmsmart Stores Blocks 2.0.1 — the exact versions shown in the captures below.

In short

  • A live, print-ready WooCommerce store for business cards, postcards, flyers and marketing print — built, branded and taking a test order inside one working session.
  • Cmsmart Store Setup installs the Cmsmart Print Shop Store preset with Cmsmart Product Designer and a sample catalogue already in place; you brand it, configure printing and payments, then go live.
  • What it takes: a Cmsmart Fullstore plan, about an hour, and the product range you actually want to sell.

An online print shop WooCommerce setup doesn't need to start from a blank theme: the Cmsmart Print Shop Store is a ready-made WooCommerce storefront for business cards, postcards, flyers and marketing print, built on Cmsmart Product Designer (formerly NBDesigner). It takes about an hour to brand, configure and test before going live.

What does manual quoting cost a print shop?

Every quote a print shop builds by email or phone means re-keying the job, re-pricing it by hand and waiting for the customer to reply before production can start. Cmsmart replaces that loop with live pricing and approved artwork on the order itself, so staff stop quoting the same business card twice.

Print is not a shrinking market — the U.S. commercial printing market alone was estimated at USD 129.21 billion in 2025, and most of that volume is still won or lost on how fast a shop can answer "how much, and when." The usual pain points behind a manual process:

  • Quotes by email or phone. Every job gets re-typed from a message or a call before anyone can price it.
  • Proofs that go back and forth. A PDF proof means another email thread before the customer approves the artwork.
  • Reprints. Files that reach press without a bleed, safe-zone or resolution check come back as a reprint, not a reorder.
  • Abandoned carts. A buyer who can't see a price until someone replies often buys from whoever shows one instantly.
  • Staff time. Someone still re-enters the same order into a spreadsheet or print MIS after it's been quoted once already.

A rough way to see the cost: (quotes handled by phone or email each week) × (minutes spent re-keying and pricing each one by hand) × (your staff's hourly cost) = hours spent quoting instead of printing. Add (reprints per month) × (cost per reprint) for jobs that reached press with the wrong file.

What would it look like if orders arrived print-ready?

With Cmsmart Print Shop Store, a buyer configures their own business cards or flyers, watches the price update live, and pays online — no email thread, no phone tag. Cmsmart Product Designer checks the file with AI preflight and queues a print-ready PDF the moment the order comes in.

Example scenario. A local business owner opens your store at 9pm, picks Standard Business Cards, uploads their logo or designs online, sees the price update as they choose paper and quantity, and pays. Cmsmart queues an AI preflight check and a print-ready PDF before your shop opens the next morning.

See it running in the live demo, or check the product page for everything it includes. Install first. The Cmsmart Print Shop Store is a parent/child theme pair plus Cmsmart Product Designer, set up from your Cmsmart dashboard or uploaded by hand. We cover that upload step by step in Install a Cmsmart Store: parent and child theme, step by step — come back once "Your store is live" shows the installer has finished. Everything below assumes that part is done.

Cmsmart Print Shop Store tile in the dashboard Store Catalogue, the starting point for an online print shop WooCommerce setup, marked v2.0.0 and Included in your plan
The Cmsmart Print Shop Store tile in the dashboard's Store Catalogue, described there as built for print shops selling business cards, postcards, flyers and marketing print.

How does the Cmsmart print shop store solution work?

Cmsmart Print Shop Store pairs a print-shop storefront theme with Cmsmart Product Designer, running on WooCommerce so the store, its data and its customers stay yours. The preset ships with pages, a sample catalogue and the designer already wired to one demo product, ready for you to rebrand and restock.

Four building blocks make up the preset, all visible in the live store, not just promised on a feature list:

  • Storefront theme. Cmsmart Print Shop Store (child theme) on the Cmsmart Stores parent theme, block-based and editable in the WordPress Site Editor.
  • Product Designer. Cmsmart Product Designer sits on every product as a "Setting Cmsmart" box: Enable Design, a Modern editor layout, DPI and a template type.
  • Pricing & quotes. An "NBD options" box turns on a Printing Option set per product and keeps a Request Quote tab open for jobs that don't fit a standard price.
  • Checkout & production. Standard WooCommerce cart, payments and shipping zones, plus an AI preflight check and a print-ready PDF queued when the buyer presses Process.
WordPress Appearance Themes screen showing Cmsmart Print Shop Store active and the Cmsmart Stores parent theme installed alongside it
Appearance > Themes: Cmsmart Print Shop Store is the active child theme on the Cmsmart Stores parent theme.

What's the business value of running on Cmsmart?

Running on Cmsmart turns quoting, proofing and print-ready output into store features instead of manual admin work, so the measurable gains are activation time, order accuracy and repeat business — each one tied to a KPI you can track against your own baseline, not a promised percentage.

BenefitHow it shows up in your businessKPI to track
One hour from catalogue to live storeSample pages, menus and a product catalogue are already imported, so you spend the hour branding and configuring instead of building from a blank themeTime from "Set Up" to your first test order
Printing Option + Request Quote on every productA buyer with a non-standard job (different stock, finish or size) can still send a lead instead of bouncing off a product page with no priceQuote requests captured per month
AI preflight before ProcessFiles are checked for issues before they're queued as print-ready, instead of being caught on pressReprints per 100 orders
Reorder for repeat clientsAn existing client re-orders the same stationery in a couple of clicks instead of emailing the original order againShare of orders from returning customers

ROI worksheet (use your own numbers). Hours reclaimed per month = (quotes you currently handle by phone/email) × (minutes saved per quote once pricing is live on the product page) ÷ 60. Reprints avoided = (your current reprint rate) × (jobs per month) × (cost per reprint). Plug in your own numbers before presenting this to a partner or a bank.

The shift this preset rides is already underway in the data: the global web-to-print market is forecast to grow from USD 26.59 billion in 2025 to USD 36.38 billion by 2031 (a 5.43% CAGR), as more print buyers expect to configure and price a job online rather than wait for a reply.

CapabilityGeneric WooCommerce themeCmsmart Print Shop Store
Demo content & pagesBlank theme — you build every page and menu24 pages and menus imported with the preset
Product customizationNeeds a separate plugin, configured from scratchCmsmart Product Designer's "Setting Cmsmart" box is already on each product (design on/off, editor layout, DPI, template type)
Pricing options & quotesNot included; needs its own pricing plugin"NBD options" box with Printing Option and Request Quote tabs on every product
BrandingManual child-theme or CSS workHeader and footer template parts editable in the WordPress Site Editor, on the Cmsmart Stores parent theme
OwnershipVaries by theme licenceA WooCommerce store — the store, its data and its customers stay yours
ActivationTheme price onlyIncluded with the Cmsmart Fullstore plan (see the pricing page for current rates)

How do you complete an online print shop WooCommerce setup in one hour?

Setting up the Cmsmart Print Shop Store means confirming the install, branding the theme, checking the imported pages and sample catalogue, configuring one product's Cmsmart Product Designer and pricing options, then connecting payments and shipping before you place a test order. Most of that fits inside an hour.

  1. Confirm the install. From your Cmsmart dashboard, Store Setup step 6 "Live" gives you View store and Open admin buttons once the installer has finished on your domain.
  2. Brand the header and footer. In wp-admin, open the Site Editor's Header and Footer template parts to swap the Site Logo block and review the main menu and footer menus; colours and fonts go further in Customise a Cmsmart Store: recommended plugins and the Site Editor.
  3. Check the imported pages. Pages > All Pages lists the pages the preset creates — Home, Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account, About, Contact, FAQ, plus the Cmsmart Product Designer pages (Create your own, Designer Studio, Gallery) — ready to edit or unpublish.
  4. Review the sample catalogue. Products > All Products ships with a sample catalogue across business-card and postcard categories; start replacing sample products with your own range before you accept real orders.
  5. Open the Cmsmart Product Designer tab on one product. The "Setting Cmsmart" box controls Enable Design, the editor layout (Modern, Visual, or the deprecated Classic layout), DPI and the template type for that product.
  6. Turn on printing options and quote requests. The "NBD options" box's Printing Option tab assigns the pricing option set buyers see; leave Request Quote on so jobs that don't fit a standard price still reach you as a lead.
  7. Set your store address and currency. WooCommerce > Settings > General holds the store address, selling and shipping locations and currency that tax and shipping rates are calculated from.
  8. Connect a payment method. WooCommerce > Settings > Payments lists WooCommerce Payments, PayPal Payments and Take offline payments — install or complete setup on at least one before you take a real order.
  9. Check your shipping zones. WooCommerce > Shipping zones ships with one zone, "Everywhere," set to Local pickup — add a zone and a calculated method if you also post orders out.
  10. Keep Cmsmart Product Designer up to date. When WordPress shows an update for it under Dashboard > Updates, install it — the plugin and the Cmsmart Stores Blocks that ship with the preset both get fixes and features this way.
  11. Run a test order. Open the demo product on the storefront, press Start Design, build a design, run AI Preflight Check, press Process, then check out with Take offline payments so the order and its print-ready file land in WooCommerce > Orders.
WordPress Site Editor open on the Header (logo left) template part, showing the Site Logo block and main menu of the Cmsmart Print Shop Store
Site Editor > Patterns > Template Parts > Header: swap the logo and review the menu here.
WordPress Pages list showing 24 pages imported by the Cmsmart Print Shop Store demo, including Cart, Checkout, Contact and Designer pages
Pages > All Pages: the 24 pages the demo import creates, 23 already published.

Cmsmart insight: the sample catalogue's product copy doesn't always match the product name — our capture of the demo "Standard Business Cards" product still carried a vinyl-sticker description ("White Vinyl Sticker – High Gloss"). Check every sample product's copy, images and price before you open for orders, not just the ones you plan to keep.

Cmsmart Product Designer Setting Cmsmart box on a product edit screen, with Enable Design on, Modern editor layout and DPI 150
The "Setting Cmsmart" box on a product: design on/off, editor layout, DPI and template type.
NBD options box on a product edit screen with Design Editor Setting, Printing Option, Product Builder and Request Quote tabs
The "NBD options" box: Printing Option controls the price, Request Quote stays open for non-standard jobs.

Cmsmart insight: turning on Request Quote isn't just a fallback for oversized jobs — it's also where a price-matrix product belongs once you know a flat price won't work and you need price breaks, bulk-variation pricing or a quote form instead.

WooCommerce Settings General screen with store address, selling locations and currency options
WooCommerce > Settings > General: the store address that tax and shipping rates use.
WooCommerce Settings Shipping screen showing a print shipping zone set to Local pickup
WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping: the demo ships with one zone set to Local pickup.
Cmsmart Product Designer open on a business card, with Templates, Text, Cliparts, Photos, Elements and Layers tools, and Preflight Check and Process buttons
Cmsmart Product Designer open on the demo business card, with Preflight Check and Process next to the design tools.
Mobile product page for Standard Business Cards with price and a Start Design button
The same product on mobile: price and the Start Design button a buyer taps to open the designer.

Test order checklist and go-live checklist:

Before you accept a real order

  • Design, preflight and Process a test order end to end, and confirm the print-ready file appears on the order in WooCommerce > Orders.
  • Pay with Take offline payments (or a payment method's test mode) so you see the full checkout a buyer will see.
  • Replace or remove any sample products you're not keeping, and fix any mismatched product copy you find.
  • Confirm your store address, currency, at least one working payment method and your shipping zones are all set.

What can Cmsmart build beyond the preset?

The preset covers one demo product end to end, but most print shops carry dozens of SKUs, a paper price list and sometimes a print MIS the storefront needs to match. Cmsmart builds that on top of the same Cmsmart Print Shop Store foundation as custom development, scoped to your own catalogue and workflow.

  • Bulk catalogue rollout. Turning a paper price list into dozens of Printing Option sets instead of configuring each product by hand, one at a time.
  • MIS/ERP sync. Pushing paid, preflighted orders into an existing print-shop management system instead of re-keying them a second time.
  • B2B ordering. Company accounts, approval flows and negotiated pricing for repeat corporate clients who order stationery on a schedule.
  • Custom finishing & pricing rules. Foil, uncommon stocks, gang-sheet layouts or multi-up pricing beyond what a standard Printing Option set covers.

Cmsmart's delivery approach runs discovery → design → sprints → QA → launch → support — see examples on Cmsmart's ecommerce project case studies.

Plan my print shop store

Prefer to hand off the first hour itself? Cmsmart's team can install the preset and import your own catalogue for you through the store preset installation & demo import service.

Why work with Cmsmart for your print shop store?

Cmsmart has built ecommerce and web-to-print stores as a Netbase division since 2012, with 6,300+ client projects and 1,800+ live stores behind the Cmsmart Print Shop Store preset. Reviews are public on Trustpilot, so you can check the track record before committing to a plan.

Cmsmart Product Designer is also sold and documented on its own as the Cmsmart Product Designer (NBDesigner) plugin page, with more setup guides in the Cmsmart Product Designer user guides and the wider web-to-print solutions hub. Rating: Trustpilot 4.2 (404 reviews).

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my own products instead of the demo catalogue?

Yes. The demo catalogue under Products > All Products is sample data meant to be replaced — add your own products and turn on the "Setting Cmsmart" and "NBD options" boxes on each one the same way the demo product uses them.

Which plan activates the Cmsmart Print Shop Store?

The store is free to set up and runs with sample data from the first minute, but the Cmsmart Fullstore plan is what activates it for a live domain, along with the other five Printstores and the plugins each one bundles. Check the pricing page for the current monthly and annual rate, since plans may change.

Can I change the colours and logo without touching code?

Yes. The header and footer are block-based template parts in the WordPress Site Editor — swap the Site Logo block, edit the menus, and adjust colours and fonts from there; see Customise a Cmsmart Store: recommended plugins and the Site Editor for the full styling workflow.

What happens to a print job the standard pricing options don't cover?

Leave the Request Quote tab on. A buyer with a non-standard size, stock or finish submits a quote request instead of leaving without a price, and your team prices it manually the same way — just without losing the lead.

Do I need to update Cmsmart Product Designer myself?

Yes — it's a normal WordPress plugin update. When Dashboard > Updates shows a new version for Cmsmart Product Designer or Cmsmart Stores Blocks, install it from there like any other plugin update.