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Graphic Design Estimate Template

Price a design project with fixed fees for each deliverable, hourly work, the revision rounds included, a usage and licensing note, a proposed deposit and a valid-until date, as an editable Word or Excel file or a blank PDF to print

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Quick answer:This graphic design estimate prices a design project before it starts. Deliverables such as a logo suite, brand guidelines and menu pages are listed at fixed fees, and work like discovery or social media templates is priced by the hour. It states the revision rounds included and the rate for extra rounds, has a usage and licensing field for the rights you agree to, and passes a font license through at cost outside the tax line, which covers design services only. It ends with the estimated total, a proposed deposit (25% in the sample), a valid-until date, exclusions and a client acceptance signature. It comes as a Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx) file with sample details and as a blank PDF to print. The page explains fixed vs hourly pricing, revision rounds, deposits and validity, and summarizes from US copyright law and the US Copyright Office how copyright ownership and work made for hire work by default, without giving legal advice.

DESIGN ESTIMATE

Designer

Business name:
Example Design Studio
Address:
52 Example Street, Sampletown
Phone / email:
[Phone or email]

Estimate details

Estimate no.:
DE-0731
Date:
Nov 4, 2026
Valid until:
Dec 4, 2026
Prepared by:
[Designer name]

Client and project

Client:
Example Corner Cafe
Contact:
Riley Example
Email:
[Email]
Project:
Brand identity for a new cafe
Timeline:
About 5 weeks from the deposit

Revisions and usage

Revision rounds:
2 rounds included for each deliverable; further rounds at 85.00 an hour
Usage and licensing:
[Usage rights as agreed, for example the client owns the final files once payment is complete]

Deliverables (fixed fees)

  • Description: Logo suite: primary logo, secondary mark and iconAmount: 1,800.00
    Qty:
    1
    Unit:
    set
    Unit price:
    1,800.00
  • Description: Brand guidelines, 12 pagesAmount: 950.00
    Qty:
    1
    Unit:
    document
    Unit price:
    950.00
  • Description: Business card designAmount: 250.00
    Qty:
    1
    Unit:
    design
    Unit price:
    250.00
  • Description: Menu designAmount: 360.00
    Qty:
    2
    Unit:
    page
    Unit price:
    180.00
Deliverables subtotal3,360.00

Hourly work

  • Description: Discovery workshop and mood boardsAmount: 255.00
    Qty:
    3
    Unit:
    hour
    Unit price:
    85.00
  • Description: Social media templatesAmount: 510.00
    Qty:
    6
    Unit:
    hour
    Unit price:
    85.00
Hourly work subtotal765.00
Subtotal
4,125.00
Font license, passed through
120.00
Sales tax on design services, if applicable (0%)
0.00
Estimated total
4,245.00
Proposed deposit (25%)
1,061.25

Project notes

  • Each deliverable includes 2 rounds of revisions; extra rounds are billed by the hour
  • The font license is bought in the client's name and passed through at cost
  • The proposed deposit is 25% of the estimated total, to book the project

Exclusions

  • Printing and print production
  • Photography and stock images
  • Website design and development

Accepted by (client signature)

Print name

Date

Prices are based on the deliverables shown above and are valid until the date shown.

Graphic design project estimate: sample preview. Download it below.

Key Features

Everything you need in a professional estimate template.

Designer block and estimate details: estimate no., date, valid until and prepared by
Client and project block with a contact, the project and the timeline
Revision rounds field: rounds included and the rate for extra rounds
Usage and licensing field for the usage rights you agree to
Deliverables (fixed fees): qty × unit price, with a subtotal
Hourly work: hours × rate, with a subtotal
"Font license, passed through" outside the tax base, and "Sales tax on design services, if applicable" with its rate in its own cell
Estimated total and a proposed deposit (25% in the sample), project notes and exclusions
Client acceptance signature, printed name and date
Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx) files with sample details, and a blank PDF to print

Download the estimate template

The PDF is a blank form to print and fill in by hand. The Word and Excel files contain the sample details shown in the preview, ready for you to replace with your own.

DESIGN ESTIMATE

Designer

Business name:
Example Design Studio
Address:
52 Example Street, Sampletown
Phone / email:
[Phone or email]

Estimate details

Estimate no.:
DE-0731
Date:
Nov 4, 2026
Valid until:
Dec 4, 2026
Prepared by:
[Designer name]

Client and project

Client:
Example Corner Cafe
Contact:
Riley Example
Email:
[Email]
Project:
Brand identity for a new cafe
Timeline:
About 5 weeks from the deposit

Revisions and usage

Revision rounds:
2 rounds included for each deliverable; further rounds at 85.00 an hour
Usage and licensing:
[Usage rights as agreed, for example the client owns the final files once payment is complete]

Deliverables (fixed fees)

  • Description: Logo suite: primary logo, secondary mark and iconAmount: 1,800.00
    Qty:
    1
    Unit:
    set
    Unit price:
    1,800.00
  • Description: Brand guidelines, 12 pagesAmount: 950.00
    Qty:
    1
    Unit:
    document
    Unit price:
    950.00
  • Description: Business card designAmount: 250.00
    Qty:
    1
    Unit:
    design
    Unit price:
    250.00
  • Description: Menu designAmount: 360.00
    Qty:
    2
    Unit:
    page
    Unit price:
    180.00
Deliverables subtotal3,360.00

Hourly work

  • Description: Discovery workshop and mood boardsAmount: 255.00
    Qty:
    3
    Unit:
    hour
    Unit price:
    85.00
  • Description: Social media templatesAmount: 510.00
    Qty:
    6
    Unit:
    hour
    Unit price:
    85.00
Hourly work subtotal765.00
Subtotal
4,125.00
Font license, passed through
120.00
Sales tax on design services, if applicable (0%)
0.00
Estimated total
4,245.00
Proposed deposit (25%)
1,061.25

Project notes

  • Each deliverable includes 2 rounds of revisions; extra rounds are billed by the hour
  • The font license is bought in the client's name and passed through at cost
  • The proposed deposit is 25% of the estimated total, to book the project

Exclusions

  • Printing and print production
  • Photography and stock images
  • Website design and development

Accepted by (client signature)

Print name

Date

Prices are based on the deliverables shown above and are valid until the date shown.

Graphic design project estimate

An estimate for a design project: each deliverable at a fixed fee, hourly work at an hourly rate, the revision rounds included, a usage and licensing note, a font license passed through, a tax rate cell, a proposed deposit and a valid-until date.

A priced proposal — not an invoice

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What goes on a graphic design estimate

A design estimate tells the client what they'll get, how many rounds of changes are included, what it will cost and how long the price holds. The template has these parts:

  • Designer. Your business name, address and phone or email.
  • Estimate details. The estimate number, the date, a "Valid until" date and who prepared it.
  • Client and project. The client, a contact, an email, the project and the timeline.
  • Revisions and usage. "Revision rounds", stating how many are included and what extra rounds cost, and "Usage and licensing", a placeholder for the usage rights you agree to.
  • Deliverables (fixed fees). Each deliverable with a quantity, unit, unit price and amount, and a subtotal.
  • Hourly work. Work you price by the hour, with the hours and your rate, and a subtotal.
  • Totals. The subtotal, "Font license, passed through", "Sales tax on design services, if applicable", the estimated total and the proposed deposit.
  • Notes. Project notes on revisions, the font license and the deposit, then the exclusions.
  • Acceptance. Client signature, printed name and date, so the client can accept the estimate.

The sample is a brand identity estimate for a new cafe. Four fixed-fee deliverables (a logo suite at 1,800.00, 12 pages of brand guidelines at 950.00, a business card at 250.00 and two menu pages at 180.00 each) come to 3,360.00. Three hours of discovery and mood boards and six hours of social media templates at 85.00 an hour add 765.00, for a subtotal of 4,125.00. A 120.00 font license passed through brings the estimated total to 4,245.00, with sales tax at 0% in the sample. The proposed deposit is 25% of that, 1,061.25, and the estimate is valid from Nov 4 to Dec 4, 2026. The rates are placeholders, not market rates.

Fixed fees or hourly rates

The template has a section for each, and you can use either or both:

  • Fixed fees for deliverables you can define. A logo suite, a set of brand guidelines with a page count, a business card, a menu page. The client sees the price of each item, and your risk is that the work takes longer than you priced it.
  • Hourly rates for work you can't pin down yet. Discovery sessions, open-ended production such as social media templates, or work the client may expand. Give your best estimate of the hours, so the client can budget, and say that the hours are an estimate.

Describe each deliverable precisely enough that the client can tell when it's done: what it includes, how many pages or versions, and in what file formats if that matters. "Logo suite: primary logo, secondary mark and icon" is easier to approve, and to deliver, than "Logo design".

Revision rounds

Revisions are where design budgets drift, so the template states the limit up front. The sample's "Revision rounds" field reads "2 rounds included for each deliverable; further rounds at 85.00 an hour", and a project note repeats it.

  • Say what counts as a round, for example one consolidated set of changes from the client, so a stream of single comments doesn't count as one round each.
  • Price extra rounds by the hour, as the sample does, or as a fixed fee per round.
  • Separate revisions from new work. A change of direction after approval, or a new deliverable, is a change to the scope. Send a revised estimate for it rather than treating it as a revision.

Usage and licensing

The "Usage and licensing" field is a placeholder: "[Usage rights as agreed, for example the client owns the final files once payment is complete]". Replace it with what you and the client actually agree on. The estimate is a summary; put the full terms in your design agreement. This page doesn't give legal advice, so talk to a lawyer where you work about the wording.

It helps to know what US copyright law says by default:

  • Who owns the design at first. In the US, "Copyright in a work protected under this title vests initially in the author or authors of the work" (17 U.S.C. § 201).
  • Work made for hire is narrow. The US Copyright Office's Circular 30 explains that a work is made for hire when an employee creates it as part of their job, or when it is specially ordered or commissioned in one of nine listed categories (such as a contribution to a collective work or part of an audiovisual work) and both parties sign a written agreement saying so. "If a work fails to satisfy any of these requirements, it is not a work made for hire." A logo isn't one of the nine categories.
  • Transfers need a signed writing. A transfer of copyright ownership "is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed" (17 U.S.C. § 204(a)).

So "the client owns the final files" is something to spell out in a signed agreement: whether you assign the copyright or license the work, which files and uses it covers, whether you can show the work in your portfolio, and from when, such as "once payment is complete". Outside the US, check the rules where you work.

Fonts, stock and other costs you pass through

The sample passes through a 120.00 font license "bought in the client's name and passed through at cost". It sits on its own line after the subtotal and outside the tax line, which applies to design services only. Check the font's own license terms for who can be the licensee and how many users or uses it covers.

Anything you don't include belongs under Exclusions. The sample excludes printing, photography and stock images, and website design and development, so the client knows to budget for them separately.

The deposit and the valid-until date

  • Proposed deposit. The sample proposes 25% of the estimated total to book the project, 1,061.25. It's a proposal on the estimate, not a payment taken; when the client accepts, send a deposit invoice for it. The 25% is a sample rate, not a recommendation.
  • Valid until. Prices "are valid until the date shown". The sample gives 30 days. Pick a period that suits your schedule, and send a new estimate if the client comes back after it.
  • Sales tax. Whether design services are taxable depends on where you work, so check with your state's tax agency. The sample's tax line is 0% and covers the design services, not the font license.

Filling in the figures

In the Excel file, each line amount is qty × unit price. The two section subtotals, the subtotal, the sales tax line, the estimated total and the proposed deposit are formulas. The tax rate and the deposit rate each sit in their own cell next to their line. The tax applies to the subtotal only. The font license is a typed amount added after the tax. Each section has one blank row at the end.

  • No tax, no deposit or no pass-through: set the tax or deposit rate to 0%, or the font license to 0.00. Don't delete the rows, because the totals refer to them.
  • More lines than fit: insert a row above the blank row in that section and copy the amount formula into it. The section subtotal and the subtotal should grow to include the new row; check that they did.
  • A second pass-through cost, such as a stock image: rename the font license line or insert a row below it, type the amount and add it to the estimated total formula.

In the Word file, the amounts are typed, not calculated, so retype the line amounts and totals whenever you change a figure. The PDF is a blank form to fill in by hand, with blanks for the tax and deposit rates.

Estimate, proposal or invoice?

  • The estimate prices the project before it starts and asks the client to accept it. This template has an acceptance signature for that.
  • A proposal adds your approach, the project background and timeline detail. You can attach one to the estimate, or expand the project notes.
  • An invoice bills the work once it's done, or a milestone or deposit. For design work, see the graphic design invoice template; for a design project that turns into a website build, the web development invoice template has milestones and pass-through costs.

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What's included in this estimate template

Cost On this template
Defined deliverables Deliverables: fixed fees
Open-ended work Hourly work: hours × rate
Extra revision rounds Revision rounds field
Font license Passed through, untaxed
Booking the project Proposed deposit, 25%

When this isn't for you

If the work is done and you're billing for it, send a graphic design invoice instead. If the client has accepted and you only need the deposit, send a deposit invoice. If the project is mainly a website build, a website estimate fits better.

How To Send Estimates With Billed

Billed lets you create and send estimates, then turn an approved estimate into an invoice.

1

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2

Create Your Estimate

Add your logo, your client's details and the line items, with quantities and units for each.

3

Send It, Then Invoice

Send the estimate to your client by link or email. Once they approve it, convert it into an invoice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this estimate template.

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