Colorways and artwork specifications are another important section of a tech pack. The colorways page shows a CAD drawing of each color combination being offered for that season. Along with the drawings, there are color chips showing the color of each material in the style – including fabrics, thread, and hardware.
If the style contains custom artwork, there will be a page showing all the artwork specifications. It will show the placement and Pantone TCX code for each color in the artwork. If it is a print that will be repeated over the whole roll of fabric, the repeat size will be called out. If it is an engineered or placement print, the scale of the art graphic as well as the placement on the garment will be indicated. This page will also show any artwork file information such as file type, native format, and recommended printing method.
For you as the designer, the CADs on the colorways page are a great tool to use to visualize and plan your line. You can print out the colorways of each of your styles and organize and sort them to get a complete picture of your collection before you even have samples back.
Looking at the information on the artwork spec sheet can help you make decisions about how your art should be printed and help you estimate the printing cost. The number of colors in a print is a key factor in the printing cost, so having each color called out is a handy reference.