Free tech pack template (and what most free ones leave out)
Search for a free tech pack template and you get a lot of blank forms. A Canva file with empty boxes. An Illustrator file with a grid and no numbers. A spreadsheet with column headings.
A blank form is not the hard part. The hard part is knowing what to write in it: what weight the fabric should be, how much each size grows, how far the factory is allowed to be out. This page explains what a free template should already contain, and gives you two that do.
In this guide
A blank form is not a tech pack
Five things a usable template already has
Two complete templates, free
What you still have to decide
What to do with it
A blank form is not a tech pack
Most free templates hand you the layout and leave every decision to you. That is fine if you have made garments before. If this is your first, it moves the problem rather than solving it.
You still have to answer the same questions a factory will ask, and you have to answer them in the units and terms a factory uses:
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What is the chest width at your sample size, measured flat?
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How much does that change for each size up and down?
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How far out can the factory be before you reject the sample?
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What is the fabric weight in GSM, and what range is acceptable?
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How is the neck finished, and how wide is the rib?
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How many stitches per inch?
Five things a usable template already has
Step 1
A flat sketch of the front and the back
Drawn as though the garment is lying on a table, not on a body. The back matters: hoods, yokes, pocket placement and back neck drops are all invisible from the front, and a factory will not guess them.
Step 2
A graded size chart, not one column of numbers
One size is a measurement list. A size chart has every size. If the template only gives you size M, you still have to work out the other five yourself, which is the part that needs experience.
Step 3
A grade rule for every point of measure
The grade is how much a measurement changes per size. Chest might grow 3 cm per size while sleeve length grows 0.75 cm. Getting this wrong is why an XXL comes back looking like a different garment from the S.
Step 4
A tolerance for every point of measure
The tolerance is how far the factory may be out and still be correct — for example ±1 cm on chest, ±0.5 cm on sleeve opening. Without a tolerance column you have no written basis to reject a sample, and a disagreement becomes an argument rather than a measurement.
Step 5
Fabric weight with a safe range
A single GSM number tells a factory what you want. A range tells them what you will accept when that exact fabric is not available in your colour, which happens constantly. "260 GSM, acceptable 240–280" prevents a week of emails.
Two complete templates, free
Both of these arrive filled in. The boxy heavyweight tee is 260 GSM ring-spun combed cotton jersey with a 5 cm drop shoulder, a 1x1 rib neck 2.5 cm high and 2.5 cm twin-needle hems. The cropped hoodie is 400 GSM brushed-back fleece with an 8 cm drop shoulder, a double-layer hood and a 7 cm 2x2 rib hem.
Every point of measure has a base number at size M, a grade rule and a tolerance. You change the colour, the fabric weight and the size range, then export a two-page PDF and send it to a factory.
A template is a starting spec, not a finished product. These are yours, and no template can make them for you:
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The fit. Measure a garment you already own and like, and move the numbers towards it.
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The fabric in your colour. Weight is a starting point; hand feel is decided by the swatch, not the spec.
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Your labels and packaging. Main label, care label, neck tape, polybag.
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The size range you will actually sell. Six sizes is six sets of inventory.
What to do with it
Export the PDF, send it to three or four factories, and ask each for a price per unit at your minimum order quantity, a sample cost and a lead time. You are comparing like for like, because they all received the same numbers.
Then make one sample before you order anything in bulk. Measure it against your own chart, point by point, and write the differences on the sample page.