What Is a Tech Pack? The Complete Guide for Clothing Brands

A tech pack is the document that turns your design into instructions a factory can actually follow. Without one, every sample round becomes a guessing game between what you imagined and what the factory built, and every revision costs you time and money.

This guide covers what a tech pack contains, why you need one before your first sample, and how to build your own.

What Is a Tech Pack?

A tech pack, short for technical package, is a set of documents that specify exactly how a garment should be made. It combines flat sketches, measurements, materials, construction details, and labeling instructions into one reference file that follows a style from first sample through to bulk production.

Factories use it to quote your order accurately, source the right materials, and build a sample that matches your design instead of their own interpretation of it. A vague product photo or a rough sketch leaves too much room for a factory to fill in the gaps its own way.

Core Sections of a Tech Pack

Cover Page

The cover page identifies the style: brand name, style name and number, season, designer, version number, and date. Every revision gets a new version number, so nobody on either side is working from an outdated file.

Flat Sketches

Flat sketches are simple, proportionate line drawings of the garment from the front and back, shown flat rather than on a body. They show construction details like seams, pockets, and topstitching that a photo of a mood board reference cannot communicate clearly.

Bill of Materials

The bill of materials, or BOM, lists every fabric, trim, and component in the garment: main fabric, ribbing, drawstrings, zippers, labels, and thread, each with a supplier, color, and consumption amount. This is also where estimating your production cost starts, since materials are usually the largest line item before labor.

Measurements (POM)

The point of measure chart lists every key measurement across your full size range, along with a tolerance for how much each one is allowed to vary. This is where your grading rules actually get documented, since a tech pack without a POM chart gives the factory no way to grade sizes correctly.

Construction Notes

Construction notes describe how each part of the garment is sewn: seam types, stitch density, and any reinforcement. A factory left without construction notes will default to its own standard techniques, which may not match the durability or finish you expect.

Colorways and Labeling

Colorways specify exact Pantone or color codes per component, so “off-white” means the same shade on every unit. Labeling and packaging notes cover where every tag, label, and polybag goes, since this detail is easy to overlook and expensive to fix after production.

Tech Pack vs. Spec Sheet

These two terms get used interchangeably, but they are not quite the same thing. A closer look at the difference between a tech pack and a spec sheet makes the distinction clear: a spec sheet is really just the measurement portion, while a full tech pack includes the BOM, construction notes, and labeling as well.

Tools for Building a Tech Pack

Most independent brands start with a spreadsheet or a design tool like Illustrator, both of which handle a tech pack’s tables and flats without extra cost. Once you are managing several styles and seasons at once, dedicated tech pack software becomes worth the switch, which is covered in more detail in this comparison of tech pack software options.

Most factories will request a tech pack before quoting a first sample, regardless of order size. Starting with a template speeds this up considerably, and you can grab a free tech pack template to fill in for your own style.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tech Packs