Questions about WorksThing?
Something you want to know? We’ve put together the most frequently asked questions below.
Please get in touch if there’s something else you want to ask. We’d be delighted to help.
Plans & pricing
How much does it cost to use WorksThing?
App subscriptions start at £29 / €35 / $35 per month. See our Plans & Pricing page for what’s included.
How many users are included?
Each app includes one system user account. Your user account allows you to sign-in once and access all your apps. Add extra system users for your team or additional surveyor or installers.
How much does an extra user cost?
There are two types of user. A system user gets full access to every app in your subscription. Your subscription includes on system user. Each extra system user is £49 / €59 / $59 per month. You can also add extra installers or surveyors. These users only have access to complete surveys and installations. Each surveyor or installer is £5 / €6 / $6 per month.
Is there a set-up or initial fee?
Most apps have no initial setup fees. Some advanced apps like in-house products and customer templates do have a setup fee to cover individual onboarding.
Is there a long term contract?
No. You’re not locked into any long-term commitments. All plans renew monthly. You can cancel or close your account at any time with 28 days notice. You will continue to have access to the system until your current billing period ends.
Can I sign up for a single app?
Sure! Some of our clients only use a single app. You can start with one app, then add more as you need them. However, most of our clients save with an app bundle. We have different bundles, specially selected for different types of business.
What are app bundles?
An app bundle is a collection of multiple apps. Save up to 60%, compared to subscribing individually. Your user account lets you access all your apps with a single sign-in. All WorksThing apps work seamlessly together.
Do you offer multi-site discounts?
Do you run a franchise network or have multiple locations? Please contact us to discuss tailored pricing.
Can I upgrade my plan?
Sure! Sign in to WorksThing on a desktop browser and search “Contract vault” in the top search bar. See your personalised upgrade options in there.
Billing & payment
How can I pay?
You can pay your WorksThing subscription by direct debit, credit or debit card. Payment is monthly, in advance. When you checkout you can enter your card details. If you prefer to pay by direct debit, we’ll send you a link to complete a direct debit mandate after checkout.
Can I pay by cheque or bank transfer?
Sorry, no. We need a direct debit or credit card mandate in place.
When is my subscription payment taken?
We’ll collect your first month’s subscription on the day you sign-up. You pay each month in advance. Your next payment will be one month from your sign-up date. So if you sign-up on the 15th of the month, we’ll collect your subscription on the 15th each month. If you sign up on the 29th, 30th or 31st, we’ll collect your payment on the 28th day of each month.
Your monthly subscription gives you access to the WorksThing platform. You can choose in-app purchases, for additional products or services. In certain countries, printing, signs and workwear are all available with wholesale, factory-direct pricing. Deploy websites, pay for cloud hosting and buy SSL certificates or domain names. Everything is clearly priced before you commit. In-app purchases may require payment in advance. Credit terms subject to status and history.
What payment methods can my customers use?
You can connect your Stripe, PayPal, PayU, WorldPay or Klarna account to WorksThing to accept credit or debit cards. Accept Direct Debits with GoCardless. ACH payments can be collected via Stripe.
Where can I get an invoice for my subscription?
Subscription and purchase invoices are emailed automatically to you once a week. You can retrieve old copies of invoices from your trading customer account. Find your customer account by signing in and clicking your business name on the top left menu.
Can WorksThing send invoices to my customers?
Absolutely. You can add your logo, contact details, VAT/GST/IVA number and payment information to invoices. WorksThing can send an invoice per job, or for a whole order, or consolidated once a week. You can also set invoice stages, which are triggered on certain dates or by customer acceptance, despatch or installation being completed.
Can WorksThing integrate with my accounts package?
WorksThing syncs with Xero and Intuit Quickbooks. Invoices, customers and payments are automatically posted into your accounts package. With Quipu you can email or upload invoices PDFs to import them. If you have a different accounting package, you can download invoices as a CSV file and import.
Does WorksThing integrate with other services?
Sure. With Calendar Sync, sync your Google, iCloud or Microsoft calendar to show external appointments as busy.
Hosting & access
Where are websites hosted?
You can build and deploy websites using the Website Manager app. Sites are hosted on the AWS cloud platform. Depending on which country you are based, your site will be hosted in Europe, Australia or the US.
Can I install WorksThing on my own servers?
WorksThing is a cloud-based application. It’s securely hosted on our servers. It’s not possible to install it on your own servers.
How do I access WorksThing?
You just need a computer, tablet or mobile device with internet access. WorksThing runs in any modern browser. There are no downloads or programmes to install. If you subscribe to the Live Chat or The Arena team chat, you can also download dedicated iOS and Android apps to chat directly from your smartphone.
How do I download print files?
You can download print files from each individual job, directly to your computer, device or machine. Customer supplied files are stored in their Files & Images folder. If you subscribe to In-house Production app, files can be downloaded in a JobMaker pack from your production dashboard.
What access levels can users have?
There are four access levels available:
- Studio manager can create other users and change admin settings.
- Studio user can manage and place orders.
- Production operator can make and despatch work.
- Installer/Surveyor can accept bookings and create surveys/installs.
You can add as many extra system users or surveyor and installers as you need.
You can manage each user’s permissions on their account.
What's the difference between a 'system user' and 'installer'?
You’ll need a system user account for each member of your team who processes orders, creates proposals or sets up installs. Each app includes one system user. Sign-in once and access all your apps with the same user account. Create third party ‘installer/surveyor’ users (or for your own team) for people who only need to view surveys, share files and chat about installs.
Where can I download the app?
The WorksThing app is available to download from the App Store or Google Play. You’ll need either a subscription to Live Chat or The Arena team chat to use the app.
Can I upgrade hosting for bigger sites?
Sure. When you deploy a website, choose which hosting package you’d like. For larger sites, you might need more server space, bandwidth or storage. Each hosting package is clearly priced on the platform.
In-house production
Can WorksThing handle bespoke products?
Yes. WorksThing has different levels, depending on the level of control you need. Setup In-House Products if you’d like clients to be able to order online. Use Standard price list and flexible Products to set free text descriptions, turnaround and pricing. Or create a Plan, with multiple parts and a defined path through your factory.
Can I sell my own products online?
Absolutely. You’ll need a public storefront or private client microsite to accept orders. Take payments with Stripe. Publish your own in-house products and then manage production on your production dashboard.
Can I track job progress?
Absolutely. Set up different Production Methods, each with their own Production Steps. Every step has its own barcode, or your operators can use a tablet, mouse or touchscreen to start and stop each step. Watch everything on your Production Dashboard.
How do I download print files?
You can download print files from each individual job, directly to your computer, device or machine. Customer supplied files are stored in their Files & Images folder. If you subscribe to In-house Production app, files can be downloaded in a JobMaker pack from your production dashboard.
Are files checked before production?
Yes. Your studio team use our pre-flight app to check and fix client-supplied files as well as their own. Your production team only begin making an item when the files are correct and complete.
Can I see an overview of everything in production?
Indeed. With Production Dashboard, every job is shown as a little card. Drag ‘n’ drop cards to update progress, or assign to team members. See where everything is up to.
Features & functionality
What’s reviewed in the FileCheck process?
With the FileCheck & Preflight app, when you’ve uploaded files, we check the page size matches what we’re expecting. If it doesn’t you can stretch or crop it to fit. Then we’ll run a series of checks, looking for problems with fonts, colours or unexpected layers. Get on with something else, then a few minutes later, your file will pass, be fixed or fail. And you can read why.
What is WorksThing used for?
WorksThing makes a graphics business run more efficiently. There are apps for different types of business. A design studio can manage hundreds of jobs, all at different stages of the order cycle. Print shops use it to control every part of the production process. Sign businesses use it to streamline surveys and installs. To connect the team with end clients, third party installers and surveyors. Web studios use it to sell more subscription-based services to their clients. It’s a whole suite of tools designed for busy teams.
Who uses WorksThing?
The WorksThing platform is used by thousands of graphic professionals around the world. It’s used by entrepreneurs in England, studios in Scotland. Independent installers in Ireland. And workshops in Wales. The platform is always on. Our users chase the sun from Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Australia, New Zealand and America.
Is WorksThing suitable for small teams?
The more people in your team, the more WorksThing can help. If you’re a solopreneur you’ll find it useful. For every additional person you add, communication channels grow exponentially. The bigger the team, the harder it is to manage. And the more you need WorksThing.
How easy is WorksThing to use?
WorksThing is designed to be intuitive to use. Like all powerful software, it’s best to watch our online tutorials to master each app. If you’d like one-to-one or team training, ask us about on-site and remote sessions.
Do you provide any training?
Yes, visit the training room to find a library of short, easy to follow online tutorials.
Supply chain
Can I buy printing & signs through WorksThing?
With the Third Party Suppliers app, you can access trade pricing for print, display and sign products. Currently only users in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States can use this app.
Can I see trade prices for products before I sign up?
Take a look at the range on www.marqetspace.com – you can register for a free account to see prices. You’ll never pay more than these prices and many others have special pricing or promotions, only accessible to subscribers.
Who supplies these products?
With the Third Party Suppliers app, get access to trade pricing for lots or print, sign, display and promo items. These are made by specialist manufacturers, based in the UK, Ireland and USA. Each product has a set turnaround. Your app sign-in allows you to order thousands of items without needing to register with suppliers directly.
Can I see stock levels?
Some products, like furniture, displays or hardware are held in UK warehouses. You can see whether they’re in stock with a live count and how many are arriving soon. Stock levels change throughout the day, so the only way to guarantee that it’s yours is to send your order to production.
Licencing & legal
Can I share my logins with other people?
Each user who has access to WorksThing needs their own user account. Whilst you can sign in to WorksThing from multiple devices, like your phone or tablet, you can’t have more than one active session. Add extra system users here or add extra surveyors/installers.
Can I sell or sub-licence WorksThing?
Please contact us if you’d like to discuss reselling WorksThing.
Can I resell the stock photos from WorksThing?
With the Photos app, you can browse and buy over 100 million royalty free stock photos, illustrations and vectors. You can use these in derivative works you design for clients. For instance, you can incorporate them into a single website, brochure or leaflet. You can’t resell the images themselves. If you want to use the same image for another client, you need to buy another licence.
Who's behind WorksThing?
Grafenia plc, the same people who operate the Nettl and printing.com networks. We’ve been developing and licencing our software and systems for more than two decades. We eat our own dog food and use WorksThing to handle thousands of transactions every month.