Maintenance
Part of Apparel artwork guide: dimensions, vector and raster files, color, type, separations, and proofs
Apparel artwork preflight checklist: files, fonts, color, separations and proofs
Apparel artwork preflight verifies file setup, fonts, color separations and proofs before screens or stitch data are cut, so the final proof matches what ships.
What to take away
- Preflight the exported production file, not just the editable master. Export settings change resolution, spot colors and overprints.
- Confirm finished width and height before you judge image resolution. Effective resolution is pixel count divided by final print size.
- Name one person who approves content and one who signs the technical release. Two approvals, two signatures.
- Inspect each separation alone, then the composite in print order. A plate can look right alone and wrong in sequence.
- A soft proof checks file logic. Only a physical strike-off shows ink deposit, garment texture and cure.
- Log exceptions with a disposition instead of quietly repairing the customer's art.
Run this apparel artwork preflight checklist after the artwork brief is approved and before screens, transfers or stitch data are released. Add your shop's method limits, screen mesh, minimum line width, halftone frequency, and mark each exception with what you did about it.
Intake and identity
- Job code, customer, garment style, print location and decoration method recorded.
- Received files preserved unchanged in a read-only folder.
- Sender, received date and written instructions logged.
- Working file carries a unique revision number and operator initials.
- Approved visual reference saved alongside the working file.
- Superseded revisions moved out of the live production folder.
- Final approval authority named in writing.
Dimensions and placement
- Finished width and height stated in inches, not pixels.
- Aspect ratio matches the approval.
- Artwork fits the printable area on every garment size in the run.
- Placement datum and tolerance named, for example collar seam to top of print.
- Orientation correct for output and for how the garment is worn.
- Bleed, cut line, distress texture and registration marks included or excluded on purpose.
- A full-size print or measured on-screen preview confirms scale.
Adobe's Illustrator documentation splits print setup into several parts. These include general controls, marks and bleed, output, and graphics. It also covers color management, advanced settings, and a summary. Its print-document setup reference is software-specific, but the categories are useful because they force you to review output as a set of linked choices rather than trusting the artboard view.
Dimensions and Placement Checks
- Finished width and height in inches
- Aspect ratio matches approval
- Artwork fits printable area every size
- Placement datum and tolerance named
- Bleed, cut line, marks included or excluded
- Full-size print or measured preview confirms scale
File structure and placed assets
- Editable master and production copy are separate files.
- Hidden, locked, nonprinting, clipping and template objects inspected.
- Unused artboards, layers, swatches and stray objects stripped from the output copy.
- Every linked image present and current.
- Embedded images traced to source and rights record.
- Transparency, masks, effects, blends and appearance stacks inspected.
- Flattening or rasterizing happens only under a documented output rule.
- Exported file reopened and compared against the master.
- Output format named for every deliverableAI or PDF/X for vector work, EPS when the shop asks for it, PSD or TIFF for raster-heavy art.
- PDF preset and output profile recorded in the manifest, not left to whoever exports next.
- Fonts packaged with the master or embedded in the PDF, so nothing depends on the receiver's font library.
- Placed assets collected or embedded, with file names, formats and versions listed.
Raster images
Raster Image Resolution Check
- Record original pixel dimensions
- Calculate effective resolutionpixels divided by print inches
- Confirm color mode and channel count
- Inspect compression, halos, pixelation, noise
- Check transparent edges against garment color
- Disclose resampling history and quality limits
- Original pixel dimensions recorded.
- Effective resolution calculated at final size: pixels divided by print inches.
- Color mode and channel count intentional.
- Compression artifacts, halos, pixelation, noise and over-sharpened edges inspected.
- Transparent edges checked against the garment color, not against white.
- Resampling history and quality limits disclosed to the customer.
- One-bit, grayscale or continuous-tone treatment matches the separation plan.
Vector objects and lines
Vector Objects and Lines
- Paths closed where process requires
- Duplicate and stray anchor points removed
- Strokes, brushes, patterns expand predictably
- Minimum positive line width meets process limit
- Minimum negative gaps and counters meet limit
- Small distress marks intentional and will hold
- Compound paths, winding, knockouts behave correctly
- Minimum line width stated for the decoration method; no hairline or sub-minimum strokes left in the output file.
- Stroke widths, caps, joins and dashes documented, and strokes expanded before the production export.
- Live effects, blends, transparency and mesh fills flattened only under a written output rule.
- Open paths, stray anchor points and duplicate or overlapping paths removed.
- Path direction and compound-path holes inspected so counters and cutouts fill as intended.
- Overlapping shapes united, or their interaction with the separations tested and recorded.
- Outlined type and shapes compared against the live master after conversion.
Type and content
Type and Content Review
- Spelling, capitalization, punctuation, dates approved
- Font family, style, version, source recorded
- Font licensing and vendor transfer resolved
- No missing or substituted fonts in production file
- Kerning, tracking, alignment, line breaks checked
- Small counters and fine joins survive at output size
- Live type retained in master
- Outlined production type compared character by character
- Font licensed for the run quantity, the decoration method and any resale of the garment; terms kept on file.
- Missing fonts listed and resolved, with no substitution left to the RIP or to the receiver's font library.
- Live text kept in the master; the production copy uses embedded fonts or outlines.
- Font names, styles and weights recorded before any conversion to outlines.
- Outlined production type compared character by character against the live master, punctuation and symbols included.
- Legal lines, care text, size marks and other small type checked at final print size.
- Spelling, hyphenation, line breaks and trademark symbols verified against the approved copy.
- Any substituted font approved in writing and marked on the proof.
Color and swatches
Color and Swatch Verification
- Every intended print color has one unique name
- Unintended process, RGB, registration, duplicate spots removed
- Physical color reference and viewing light recorded
- Garment color represented as substrate
- White, clear, varnish, adhesive, blocker inks unambiguous
- Overprint and knockout attributes inspected
- Color-management assumptions documented for process work
- Document color mode intentionalprocess builds for process work, spot swatches for spot inks.
- Every spot color built from a named library reference, such as a Pantone number, not a look-alike CMYK value.
- Spot color names match the shop's ink list and the quote; no two swatches carrying different names for the same ink.
- CMYK equivalent of each spot color recorded for the shop's reference.
- Rich black build and total ink coverage stated for the print method.
- RGB images converted to the named output profile, with the profile recorded in the manifest.
- Overprints and knockouts deliberate, with overprint preview checked on the composite.
- Ink-matching expectation written on the prooflibrary ink or a matched build.
- Color approved against a physical strike-off, not against a monitor.
Separations and interactions
- Plate count matches the quote and the production plan.
- Each plate contains only its intended image areas and marks.
- Print order recorded.
- Underbase coverage, choke and exclusions inspected.
- Traps have a stated direction and amount.
- Halftone dot shape, frequency, angle, tonal range and output resolution approved.
- Registration marks and plate labels on every output that needs them.
- Positive or negative output and emulsion orientation confirmed with the shop.
- Composite preview checked in print order.
Adobe's color-separation instructions define process and spot plates. They recommend coordinating with the print shop. The on-screen separation preview does not show every condition:
Separations and Interactions
- Plate count matches quote and production plan
- Each plate has only intended image areas and marks
- Print order recorded
- Underbase coverage, choke, exclusions inspected
- Traps have stated direction and amount
- Halftone dot shape, frequency, angle, range approved
- Registration marks and plate labels on every output
- Positive or negative output and emulsion orientation confirmed
Proofs and release
- Content and composition proof approved.
- Separation proof carries job number, revision, dimensions and plate names.
- Full-size output measured against the stated dimensions.
- Physical strike-off or sample requirement stated.
- Approved deviations recorded with a disposition.
- Final exported files match the manifest.
- Receiver confirms filenames, revision, dimensions and plate count.
- Release date, approver and archive location recorded.
- Proof type named and its limits explaineda contract proof for color-critical work, a digital proof for layout, content and plate checks.
- Proof judged under a standardized viewing condition (ISO 3664) against the approved reference, not on an uncalibrated desk monitor.
- Soft proof used only for file logic; ink deposit, garment texture and cure still require a physical strike-off.
- Where the shop runs a process-control target such as GRACoL or G7, proof and press sheet are measured against it.
Common questions
The questions below come up most often when a file moves between a designer, a print shop and a customer.
Should preflight run before or after separation?
Both. Run an early file audit before separation to catch structure and rights problems, then a full output preflight on the final exported plates and composite. The second pass is where trapping, halftone and plate-label faults surface.
Does converting text to outlines remove the need to check fonts?
No. Check content, appearance, source and rights first, because outlining freezes whatever was wrong. Keep live text in the master and compare the outlined production version against it character by character.
Can an on-screen proof approve color?
It can approve specified screen content under defined viewing limits. It cannot prove ink deposit, garment texture, cure or how the print looks under shop lighting. Approve color on a physical strike-off.
Who signs the preflight?
A production reviewer signs the technical release. The customer or a named authority approves content and agreed appearance. Keep both signatures on the same revision record so a later dispute points to one document.
