Export production files

A production file is the document a factory builds from. It is not a render: it is a numbered PDF that says, for each variant of one model, which logo goes where, how big it is, how it is applied, and which Pantone each fabric zone and ink should be. The goal is simple: right Pantones, right sizes, right placements.

Glossi builds the file from data the model already carries: its decal slots, each variant's logos and materials, the inks listed on each logo, and the Pantone recorded on each material. Views of the garment are captured by the studio engine, so markers and measurements come from the actual model rather than a drawing.

What is on a production file

Each variant gets its own top sheet, followed by optional detail pages. When you export several variants together, they share one PDF and one document number.

Top sheet

• Header. Your workspace name and logo, the document number and version (for example PF-12 v2), the date, the style (model name), the design (variant name), the model version, the variant ID, and the number of slots.

• Approval block. Blank Approved by, Date, and Signature lines for sign-off on the printed sheet.

• Note to the factory. Printed under the header when you add one while exporting.

• Views. Front and back views of the garment, with a numbered marker for each slot that has a logo. Numbers follow the order of the model's slot list. When the capture includes them, a second row shows Left side (wearer's left) and Right side (wearer's right), so sleeve logos are marked where they are actually visible. Each slot is marked on the view that faces it best.

• Decoration table. One row per slot, in marker order:

  Column	What it shows
  Location	The slot name, for example "Chest" or "Left sleeve". Empty slots are listed as "- empty -".
  Artwork	A thumbnail and the file name of the logo.
  Finished size	Width x height of the logo as applied, in inches and centimeters.
  Placement	Where the logo's center sits, measured on the captured view: the distance below the top edge of the garment, and the distance left or right of the center line. On a side view, the distance toward the front or back from the side seam line.
  Method	The decoration method set for that slot on this variant, or "Not set".
  Inks	The logo's color count, then each ink with its Pantone and a swatch when one is known.

• Colors table. One row per fabric zone: the zone, the material on it, and its Pantone code with a swatch. A zone whose material has no Pantone is flagged No Pantone on file. Glossi never guesses a Pantone from the rendered color.

• Footer. When the views were captured and in which mode, a note that sizes are finished logo sizes, and page numbers.

If the views are out of date or were never captured, the top sheet says so at the top. A variant with no captured views still exports: it shows the variant's preview image instead, without markers or measured placements.

Detail pages

With detail pages on, each slot that holds a logo gets its own page:

• A close-up looking straight down the slot, with dimension lines for the finished width and height.
• The spec: finished size, placement, method, inks, artwork file, the slot box size, and whether the size was measured by the studio at capture or computed from the slot and the artwork.
• The artwork at its actual finished size, marked Actual size (print at 100%, with no fit to page). Artwork too large for the page is scaled down and marked Scaled N%; the dimensions still state the finished size.

Prepare the data

A production file is only as complete as the data behind it. Before exporting, check each of these.

1. Decal slots and logos. Add slots to the model in the studio, then choose a logo for each slot on each variant. You can pick logos in the studio or on the variant's page in the library. See Decal slots.
2. Inks on each logo. In the Decals library, click a logo to open it and fill in its Inks: a name, an optional Pantone code, and an optional swatch color for each ink. Paste from spec fills the list from a spec line written the way your team already writes it, such as 4 inches across / 2 color / white / red pms 200c. Inks belong to the logo, so every variant using it prints the same list.
3. Decoration method per slot. On a variant's page, each slot that has a logo has a method picker: Screen print, DTF (direct-to-film), Embroidery, Sublimation, Heat transfer, Tackle twill, or Other with your own wording. The method is saved per variant and stays when you swap the logo.
4. Pantone on fabric materials. Record a Pantone on the material each zone wears. Create a flat-color material straight from a Pantone with Pantone color in the Add material chooser, or add a code to any existing material from the Pantone section of its page. Recording a Pantone on an existing material does not change how it looks. See Materials.

The preview lists what is missing, such as zones without a Pantone or slots whose logo has no known size, so you can fix it before exporting.

Export a production file

You can start an export from four places. All of them open the same Export production file dialog.

• A variant's page. In the library, open the model, go to its variants, and open one. Use Export production file in the title row, or Preview production file to see the sheet first.
• The variants list. Select several variants and choose Export production file in the selection bar for one combined PDF, or Preview to see it first.
• The preview page. Export production file in the top right.
• The studio. Open the model's extra-options menu and choose Export production file.... It appears for the model whose variants are loaded in the studio.

The preview is a draft: it shows DRAFT instead of a document number. Exporting numbers the file, stores it, and downloads the PDF.

Export options

The dialog remembers the views mode and page choices for each model. The preview page shows the default layout; your choices apply to the exported PDF.

How views stay current

Every view on the sheet (front, back, sides, and the slot close-ups) is captured by the studio engine on a plain white background, with slot placeholders hidden. Glossi records what each capture was taken from. When a variant's logos, slot placement, or materials change afterward, its views are marked out of date.

You do not need to recapture by hand. When you export, Glossi checks each chosen variant and captures it first if its views are missing, out of date, or were captured in the other mode (for example, lit views on a flat export).

• Exporting from the studio captures every chosen variant on your open studio session, then builds and downloads the file.
• Exporting from the library uses the current views when every variant is up to date, and the file downloads straight away. Otherwise the variants that need it are captured on a cloud render instance first. This takes a couple of minutes. The export shows as pending in the model's Production files history, and the file downloads when it is ready if you stay on the page. If you leave, it still finishes and appears in the history.

A cloud capture uses the same usage as image renders: one per variant captured. It loads the model from a project that contains it, so the model must be in at least one project. If a capture cannot start or fails, the history shows Views could not be captured with the reason, and Export with current views builds the file with whatever views exist.

A variant's page also has a Production views card that shows whether its views are captured, out of date, or not captured, with a Capture views button to capture ahead of time.

Numbers and versions

Each file gets a document number, PF-1, PF-2, and so on, counted across your workspace. Exporting the same set of variants of the same model again keeps the number and adds a version: PF-12 v1, then PF-12 v2. Any other set of variants gets the next number.

Every exported file is kept, unchanged, with the data it was built from. The model's page lists them under Production files, newest first, with who exported each one and a PDF download link.

Current limits

• Letter page size only.
• One size per slot. Size runs where decoration size changes by garment size are not supported yet.
• Placement is measured from the captured view, from the garment's top edge and center line (or side seam line), not from seams or landmarks such as the high point shoulder or collar.
• Lit views can look darker than the studio. They do not reproduce the studio's lighting exactly. Flat is the default and the better choice for color accuracy.
• Swatches are only as good as the recorded hex. Glossi does not look up Pantone colors; a swatch prints only when the material or ink has a hex recorded with its code.

Automate it

Production files are available through the REST API and to AI agents. See Production files API and Connect an AI agent.