What Is a Tech Pack? The Complete Guide for Fashion Brands
What a tech pack is, what goes in one section by section, how factories actually read it, and the mistakes that turn one sample round into four.
Joe Lauder·Founder, Kōbō·Updated Jul 29, 2026A tech pack is the specification document a fashion brand sends a factory to get a garment made. It contains the flat sketches, measurements, bill of materials, construction details, colorways and labelling for one style, so the factory can produce it without guessing.
Every other definition you'll read dresses that up. It doesn't need dressing up. A tech pack is the contract between what you drew and what arrives in a box six months later, and it's the single document that decides whether your first sample comes back close or comes back wrong. This guide covers what goes in one, what each section has to specify, how a factory actually reads it, and where brands lose money by leaving things out. If you'd rather see the structure than read about it, you can build a free tech pack template for your product type in a couple of minutes.
Pick your product type, choose your sections, preview the structure, and download a template you can start filling in today.
What Is a Tech Pack?
A tech pack, short for technical package, is a set of documents covering one garment style. It tells a manufacturer what the product is, what it's made from, how it's put together, how big it is in every size, what colours it comes in and how it should be labelled and packed. Nothing in it is decorative. Every page exists because somebody on the factory floor needs that information to do their job.
The word "pack" matters. It isn't one drawing or one spreadsheet. It's a bundle: sketches, a measurement chart, a materials list, construction callouts, colour references, artwork files and packing instructions, all versioned together and all describing the same style. If those pieces live in different files, different emails and different heads, you don't have a tech pack. You have fragments, and factories quote and sew from fragments badly.
Think of it as the communication bridge between your design intent and the production floor. Pattern makers, sample machinists, fabric buyers, trim sourcers, QC inspectors and production managers all work from the same document. If it's incomplete or ambiguous, the error doesn't stay contained. It multiplies at every one of those handovers, and you find out about it eight weeks later when the sample lands.
A tech pack also does a job before production even starts: it's how you get a real quote. A factory can't price a garment from a picture. It prices from a bill of materials, a construction spec and a size range. Two factories quoting from the same tech pack are quoting the same product, which is the only way to compare them honestly. Quotes from a mood board are guesses, and guesses get revised upwards after you've committed.
If it's not in the tech pack, don't expect it in production. Factories work from what's documented, not what's in your head.
What Goes In a Tech Pack?
A complete tech pack has nine sections. The first five are non-negotiable for any garment. The rest vary by product and by how much your factory already knows about your brand standards, but leaving them out is a decision you should make deliberately rather than by forgetting.
| Section | What to Include | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Cover Page | Style name and number, season, category, fit block, sample stage, version and date | Critical |
| Flat Sketches | Front, back and side technical drawings with callouts and detail views | Critical |
| Measurements | Points of measure (POM), size grading, tolerance ranges, how-to-measure diagram | Critical |
| Bill of Materials | Every fabric, trim, thread, button and zip with quantity, placement and supplier | Critical |
| Construction | Seam types, stitch types and SPI, seam allowances, assembly sequence, finishing | Critical |
| Colorways | Pantone or lab dip references per component, colour placement, artwork files | High |
| Labels & Packaging | Care, size, brand and content labels, hangtags, polybags, carton specs | High |
| Artwork & Graphics | Print placement and dimensions, embroidery files, logo specifications | High |
| Quality Standards | Testing requirements, defect tolerances, wash and shrinkage standards, QC checkpoints | Medium |
The order matters more than people expect. A factory reads a tech pack roughly top to bottom, and the person costing it is not the person sewing it. Put the identifying information first, the visual next, then the hard numbers, then the materials, then the assembly. When a supplier has to hunt for the style number or scroll past four pages of inspiration to find a measurement, you're adding friction to a relationship you want to be frictionless.
What Does Each Section Need to Specify?
This is the part most guides skip. Knowing that a tech pack contains a BOM is easy. Knowing what a usable BOM row actually looks like is the difference between a sample that fits and a month of back-and-forth.
1. Cover page and style summary
One page that identifies the style beyond doubt: style name, style number, season, category, gender, fit block, size range, sample stage, the date and the version number. Add your brand contact and the intended factory. It sounds like admin, and it is, but this is the page that stops a sample room sewing version 2 of a spec you replaced three weeks ago. If your factory works on several of your styles at once, the cover page is the only thing preventing a mix-up.
2. Flat sketches
Technical flats are the visual foundation of the pack: front, back and side views drawn to proportion, in vector, with callouts pointing at every design detail. Not a mood photo, not a fashion illustration. A flat shows seam lines, topstitching, pocket placement, closures and trim positions the way a pattern maker sees them. Complex areas get their own enlarged detail view, because a cuff placket at 12 percent scale communicates nothing.
Draw in vector - Illustrator files scale infinitely and print without softening the linework
Show every construction element - Pockets, seams, closures, trims, topstitching, vents, linings
Add detail views - Anything intricate needs its own zoomed drawing with its own callouts
Mark key dimensions on the drawing - Pocket position and placket width read faster on the sketch than in a table
3. Measurements and points of measure
Points of measure define the exact dimensions of the garment in every size. This is where fit lives or dies. Each POM needs a code, a plain-language description of how to take the measurement, the value for the base size, the graded values across the range and a tolerance. "Chest 1 inch below armhole, laid flat, edge to edge" is a specification. "Chest" is a hope.
Include a how-to-measure diagram - Show the start point and end point of every POM visually
Grade across the full size range - Give every size, not just the base size and an increment
Specify tolerances per point - Body measurements and detail measurements don't need the same allowance
Say whether it's laid flat or circumference - Half measures and full measures are the most common unit mix-up in fitting
4. Bill of materials
The BOM lists every material and component in the garment with quantity, placement and supplier. Main fabric, contrast fabric, lining, interlining, thread, buttons, zips, elastic, drawcords, labels, hangtags and packaging all get a row. Each row needs enough detail for someone to buy the right thing without calling you: composition, weight in GSM, width, colour, supplier name and the supplier's article number.
The BOM is also where your cost sits. Change a zip and the garment cost changes, which is why the BOM and the quote are the same conversation. If you run several colourways, each one needs its own BOM view, because thread, zip tape and label colour usually change with the shell. We go deeper on this in the fashion bill of materials guide, including how colourway BOMs and costing work together.
Fabric - Composition, weight, width, finish, supplier and article number
Trims - Buttons, zips, elastics, cords with size, colour, quantity and placement
Labels - Care, size, brand and content labels with position and attachment method
Packaging - Hangtags, polybags, tissue, cartons, and who supplies each
5. Construction details
Construction specs tell the sample room how to assemble the garment. Seam type and allowance, stitch type and stitches per inch, edge finish, bar tacks, interlining placement, hem depth, pressing and folding. A callout like "301 lockstitch, 12 SPI, 1cm allowance, overlocked" removes an entire class of question. Without it, the factory applies its house standard, which may be perfectly good and completely different from what you had in mind.
Seam types and allowances - For example, French seam with a 1cm allowance
Stitch type and density - For example, 301 lockstitch at 12 SPI
Assembly sequence - The order of operations where the order actually affects the result
Finishing - Pressing, folding, tagging and packing instructions
6. Colorways
A colorway page shows the style in each colour combination you're producing, with a colour reference for every component. "Navy" is not a colour reference. A Pantone TCX code, a physical swatch or an approved lab dip is. Specify the shell, the lining, the thread, the zip tape, the buttons and the labels separately, because they're dyed on different substrates and rarely match by default. Where a print or embroidery changes by colorway, show each version rather than describing it.
7. Labels and packaging
Care labels, size labels, brand labels, content composition, country of origin, hangtags, polybags, tissue and cartons. Give artwork, dimensions, material, attachment method and exact placement, ideally marked on the flat. Legal content requirements differ by market, so if you sell in the EU, the UK and the US, the label spec needs to satisfy all three rather than the strictest one you happen to remember. Our tech pack templates guide has a section breakdown you can copy for this page.
8. Artwork and graphics
Prints, embroideries, appliqués and heat transfers each need production-ready files, dimensions, placement measured from a fixed point such as HPS or centre front, technique, and colour breakdown. Placement written as "centre chest" ends up in a different spot on every size. Placement written as "12cm down from HPS, centred" ends up in the same spot every time.
9. Quality standards
What you'll accept and what you'll reject: wash and care testing, shrinkage limits, colourfastness, seam strength, defect tolerances and the inspection points you expect during production. This page is short and it earns its place the first time a shipment is borderline, because the standard was agreed in writing before anyone had money on the table.
What Does a Tech Pack Look Like? Format and Examples
There's no industry-standard file format, which surprises people looking for one. In practice, tech packs turn up in four forms and factories are comfortable with all of them.
A PDF export is the most common delivery format. It's fixed, it prints, and the sample room can pin it up. A spreadsheet is where most measurement charts and BOMs are actually built, because they're tables and tables belong in tables. An Illustrator file holds the flats and callouts. A PLM system holds all of it as connected data and generates the PDF on demand, which is the version that stops drifting out of date.
A typical apparel tech pack runs somewhere between six and fifteen pages for a simple style, and considerably more for outerwear or anything with multiple colourways and print placements. Page count isn't the measure of quality. A tight eight-page pack that answers every question beats a twenty-page one padded with inspiration imagery.
For an example of the structure rather than a description of it, the interactive tech pack template lets you pick a product type and see the sections laid out in order, then download the result. If you want to see how the same information behaves as connected data instead of pages, that's what Kōbō's tech pack software does with it.
Who Makes Tech Packs?
In an established brand, the technical designer owns the tech pack. They sit between design and production, translating a sketch into numbers, and they're usually the person who runs fittings and revises the spec afterwards. Larger teams split the work: a product developer handles materials and sourcing detail, the technical designer handles measurements and construction, and a production coordinator manages versions and factory communication.
In a small brand, the founder writes them. That's the honest answer, and it's how most people reading this will start. It's completely workable, and it's also the reason so many first samples come back wrong: not because founders are careless, but because nobody tells you which twenty details a factory will otherwise decide for itself. Hiring a freelance technical designer for the measurement and construction pages of your first few styles is one of the highest-return spends in early product development.
Some sourcing agencies and development studios write tech packs as a paid service. A few factories will draft one for you from a reference sample. That last option is convenient and it has a cost worth naming: the specification then lives with the manufacturer rather than with you, which makes moving production later much harder than it should be. Own your specs even when someone else writes them.
Tech Pack vs Spec Sheet: What's the Difference?
People use the two terms interchangeably and they aren't the same thing. A spec sheet is the measurement page: the points of measure, the graded values and the tolerances for one style. A tech pack is the whole package, and the spec sheet is one page inside it.
| Aspect | Tech Pack | Spec Sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | The whole style: design, materials, construction, colour, labelling, packing | Measurements only, or one narrow slice of the spec |
| Audience | Pattern maker, sample room, sourcing, QC, production and merchandising | Usually the pattern maker and the QC inspector |
| Contains flats | Yes, front, back, side and detail views with callouts | Sometimes a single reference sketch, often none |
| Contains a BOM | Yes, every material and trim with quantities | No |
| Used for costing | Yes, the BOM and construction drive the quote | No |
| Relationship | The complete package sent to the factory | One page inside the tech pack |
The practical consequence: if a factory asks for your spec sheet, they usually mean the measurement chart for a fitting or a QC check. If they ask for your tech pack, they want everything they need to quote and produce. Sending a spec sheet when a tech pack was wanted is the fastest way to a week of email, and sending it as a costing basis will get you a number that changes as soon as the materials are known.
You'll also hear "spec pack", "tech package" and "production package". Treat them as synonyms for tech pack unless someone tells you otherwise, and confirm what's expected rather than assuming your definition and theirs match.
How Do Factories Actually Use Your Tech Pack?
A tech pack doesn't get read once by one person. It gets read repeatedly by different people, each of whom needs a different part of it, and understanding that sequence changes how you write it.
Costing reads it first. Before anything is made, someone prices the garment from the BOM, the construction pages and the size range. Vague material rows produce padded quotes, because the factory prices its risk. Precise rows produce sharper numbers and a costing you can actually negotiate.
Pattern making reads it next. The pattern maker works from the flats and the measurement chart, and they'll spot contradictions between the two immediately. If your sketch shows a raglan and your POM list has a set-in shoulder point, that question is coming back to you.
The sample room works from the construction pages. They're sewing, not interpreting. Anything you haven't specified gets sewn to the factory's house standard, which is why identical tech packs can produce visibly different samples at two suppliers.
Sourcing works from the BOM. They order fabric and trims against your article numbers and quantities. Missing supplier detail here means substitutions, and substitutions rarely get flagged before they arrive.
QC works from the measurement chart and quality standards. At inspection, the tolerances you wrote are the pass or fail line. If you didn't set tolerances, there's no line, and the argument about whether a shipment is acceptable happens without any agreed reference.
The version problem falls out of that. Five roles reading one document at five different moments means five chances to be looking at an old copy. That's the single biggest argument for keeping tech packs as live data with one current version rather than as PDFs attached to emails, and it's why version control shows up again in the mistakes below.
What Are the Most Common Tech Pack Mistakes?
These are the ones that cost brands real money in extra samples, delayed deliveries and product that doesn't match what was approved. Every one of them is preventable at the desk, before anything is cut.
There's a seventh that's harder to put in a box: sending a tech pack you haven't checked against the last fit comments. Revisions get made in a fitting, written on a sample, and then never make it back into the document. The factory sews the document. Close the loop before you send.
Template or PLM Software: Which Do You Need?
Most brands start with a free tech pack template in Excel or Illustrator, and that's the right call. Templates work well for your first styles. What they don't survive is volume and revision: once you're running twenty-plus styles a season across several suppliers, the admin of keeping every file current stops being trivial and starts being someone's job.
The honest test isn't style count, it's whether version control is costing you more than software would. If you're rebuilding the same spec by hand for every colourway, chasing which PDF a supplier is holding, or answering questions that a current document would have answered, you're already paying. Kōbō is 140 to 300 US dollars per user per month depending on the modules you turn on, supplier seats are free so your factories aren't a line item, and most brands are running in one to two weeks. See what that covers, or read our comparison of the best fashion PLM software if you want the wider field before deciding.
What Makes a Tech Pack Good?
Good tech packs aren't longer or prettier than bad ones. They're less ambiguous. Everything below is a way of removing a decision from the factory that should have been yours.
Be specific - "Blue" is not a colour. "Pantone 19-4052 Classic Blue" is
Attach references - Swatches, lab dips and approved samples beat any written description
Version everything - Date and number every revision, and never overwrite without a trail
Think like the sample room - If you were sewing this from scratch, what would you need to be told?
Get supplier feedback early - Ask your factory to review the pack before production, they'll catch what you missed
Keep the structure identical across styles - Suppliers get fast at reading your packs when every one is laid out the same way
Tech Pack Checklist Before You Send
Run this before a tech pack leaves your desk. It takes five minutes and it catches most of what comes back as a question.
Rather than starting from a blank page, pick your product type and generate a tech pack template with the right sections already in place.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a tech pack?
A tech pack is the specification document a fashion brand sends a factory to get a garment made. It contains the flat sketches, measurements, bill of materials, construction details, colorways and labelling for one style, so the factory can produce it without guessing.
What is the difference between a tech pack and a spec sheet?
A spec sheet is one page inside a tech pack. The spec sheet lists the points of measure and tolerances for a style across its size range. The tech pack is the full package: flats, measurements, bill of materials, construction callouts, colorways, labels, packaging and quality standards. A factory can quote and produce from a tech pack. It cannot from a spec sheet alone.
What should a tech pack include?
At minimum: a cover page with style number, season and version, flat sketches from front, back and side, a graded measurement chart with tolerances, a bill of materials covering every fabric and trim, construction callouts with seam and stitch detail, colorway references, and label and packaging specs. Anything the factory would otherwise have to assume belongs in the document.
Who makes tech packs for fashion brands?
In a larger brand, a technical designer or product developer writes them. In a small brand, it is usually the founder or the designer, sometimes with a freelance technical designer for the measurement and construction pages. Some agencies and sourcing partners write tech packs as a service, and a few factories will draft one from a sample, though that leaves the specification in someone else's hands.
Do I need software to make a tech pack?
No. You can build a working tech pack in Illustrator and a spreadsheet, and plenty of brands ship their first seasons that way. The pain starts when styles multiply and revisions have to reach several suppliers at once. PLM software becomes worth paying for when version control and supplier access cost you more time than the subscription does. Kōbō is 140 to 300 US dollars per user per month, supplier seats are free, and most brands are live in one to two weeks.
Final Thoughts
Tech packs are communication tools. Their whole purpose is to remove ambiguity between your intent and the factory floor. The hours spent making one complete come back multiplied in samples you don't have to redo.
Start with structure. Use the same template or system every time so you can't forget a section. It's much easier to delete a page you don't need than to remember a page you've never written.
Improve it after every run. When something comes back wrong, find the line in the tech pack that allowed it and fix the line. Do that for a couple of seasons and your packs get genuinely good, which is not a thing you can shortcut.
The best tech packs aren't the most beautiful. They're the ones that get the right product made the first time, every time.
Joe's the founder of Kōbō Labs. Before this he founded Satta, a fashion brand he scaled to sell internationally at Mr Porter, SSENSE and Beams Japan. He wrote and revised the tech packs for a decade of collections himself, across factories in Portugal, Turkey and Asia, and learned most of what's in this guide from the samples that came back wrong. Kōbō is built on that.
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