Technical Development
Reading a Strike-Off: What You're Actually Approving
A strike-off approval isn't a rubber stamp. It's the final chance to catch a color, placement, or ink problem before it's baked into a full run.
"Whatever gets approved on a strike-off is what shows up on every single unit after it. There's no editing after this checkpoint — only reprinting."
A Physical Test, Not a Digital One
A strike-off is a printed sample run on the actual intended garment and equipment, used specifically to confirm color accuracy, print placement, and overall quality before full production begins — the physical counterpart to the digital mockup, and the point where any gap between the two becomes visible (Techpacker, 12 Types of Garment Samples You Should Know About for Apparel Production).
What a Careful Review Actually Checks
A thorough strike-off review compares the sample against the approved art file for exact color match (ideally against a physical Pantone reference, not a screen), confirms placement measurements against the tech pack's specs, and checks print quality — registration, ink coverage, edge crispness — under real lighting, not a phone camera.
Why Rushing This Step Is the Costliest Shortcut
Approving a strike-off quickly, without checking it against the actual spec and Pantone reference rather than just eyeballing it, is one of the most common ways a color or placement error survives all the way to a finished production run — a mistake caught here costs a reprint of one sample; the same mistake caught after full production costs the entire run (Cosmo Sourcing, How to Create a Clothing Tech Pack).
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