What goes in a tech pack, and what factories actually read
The nine sections of an apparel tech pack, in the order a factory reads them, the mistakes that cost a sample round, and a checklist you can use today.
Daniyal AfzalFounder, Techstyles4 min read
A tech pack is the document a factory builds your garment from. It is not a mood board and it is not a sales deck. It answers one question for every part of the garment: what exactly do you want, and how will we both know it is right?
Most sampling problems trace back to a missing or vague line in the tech pack. The factory did not guess wrong. It guessed, because the pack left room to guess. This post lists what belongs in a pack, which parts a factory reads first, and the mistakes that cost a sample round.
The nine sections, in the order a factory reads them
1. Cover and style summary
Style name and code, season, size range, the date and a version number. Add the contact for questions. Factories work on many styles at once. The cover is how they find yours again.
2. Flat sketches
A front view and a back view, drawn as clean line drawings with no shading. Flats show construction: seams, panels, pockets, closures, stitch lines. A photo cannot do this, because a photo hides seams in shadow. If a detail matters, draw it larger in a separate view.
3. Colorways
One view per colorway, with a color reference for each area. Give a Pantone TCX reference, not a name like "navy". Screen colors are not a specification. Say which parts change color and which stay the same, including thread and trims.
4. Bill of materials
The BOM lists every material in the garment. For each one: what it is, where it goes, and the detail the factory needs to source it. For fabric that means composition and weight. For trims it means size, finish and color. For labels it means type and position. If it is on the garment, it is on the BOM.
5. Construction and stitching
Which seams use which stitch, stitch widths, where to bartack, how the hem is finished. Callouts on the sketch work better than paragraphs. A seam key with stitch types removes most of the back and forth.
6. Measurements
The points of measure for the sample size and every graded size, with a tolerance for each one. Say how each point is measured. Two people can measure a chest three different ways. A small diagram next to the table prevents that.
7. Artwork and placement
For each print, embroidery or applique: the artwork file, the finished size, the position measured from a fixed point, and the technique. A tiny JPEG pasted on the sketch is not artwork. Send the real file with the pack.
8. Labels and packaging
Main label, size label, care label, hangtag and poly bag. Give the wording, the size and the position. Care wording and symbols differ by market, so check the rules where you sell before the labels are ordered.
9. Sample notes and version history
What you asked for in the last round, what came back and what changed. Number the versions. "The latest one" is not a version.
What factories read first
Ask a sample room what they open first and the answer is usually the same. The measurement table and the BOM, then the sketch for the callouts. Long paragraphs are skipped. Numbers, drawings and short labels are read. Write for that reader.
Mistakes that cost a sample round
- Measurements without a tolerance. The factory picks one, and it may not be yours.
- Colors by name or by screenshot. Give a reference code.
- Artwork at the wrong size, or at no size. State the finished size in inches or centimeters.
- A sketch that hides a detail. If the pocket construction matters, draw the pocket.
- No version number. Two versions in circulation means the wrong one gets made.
- Instructions buried in email. If it is not in the pack, it is not in the garment.
A checklist you can use today
| Section | Done when |
|---|---|
| Cover | Style code, season, size range, version number, contact |
| Flats | Front and back, clean lines, details drawn large where they matter |
| Colorways | One view per colorway, a reference code for every area |
| BOM | Every material, with composition or size, placement and color |
| Construction | Stitch per seam, widths, bartacks, hem finish, a seam key |
| Measurements | Every point of measure, every size, a tolerance, how to measure |
| Artwork | File, finished size, position from a fixed point, technique |
| Labels and packaging | Wording, size, position, market rules checked |
| Versions | Numbered, with a note on what changed |
Where Techstyles fits
Techstyles is built around these nine sections. It drafts the flat sketches from a photo or a garment type, keeps the measurement table graded with tolerances and how-to-measure diagrams, suggests fabrics and trims for the BOM, and sends the finished pack to the factory as a branded PDF or a read-only link that always shows the latest version.