Strike-Offs and Print Approvals

A strike-off is the print equivalent of a lab dip: a sample of your design printed on your chosen base, produced before bulk so you can confirm it's right. It's a small piece of fabric, but it carries the whole risk of your print order — once bulk runs, colour, scale and placement are locked in for thousands of metres.

What a strike-off confirms

• Colour — do the print colours match your artwork or colour standards? Screen colours and printed colours are different animals; the strike-off is where they meet.
• Scale & repeat — is the motif the right size on fabric (not just on screen), and does the repeat align cleanly across the width without visible seams or drift?
• Placement & registration — are the colours cleanly aligned with each other? Misregistration shows as halos or gaps where two colours meet.
• Hand-feel — how does the printed area feel on the base? Heavy coverage can stiffen a soft fabric, especially with pigment printing.

Method matters

The print method changes what your strike-off can promise:

Method	Strike-off behaviour	Watch for
Digital	Fast, no screens to engrave; closest to artwork	Colour may shift if bulk runs on a different machine or base
Rotary screen	Requires engraved screens, so strike-offs take longer	Colour count limits; fine gradients simplify
Flatbed screen	Good for placements and wide repeats	Registration across large repeats

The safest strike-off is one produced by the same method, on the same base, as your bulk. A digital strike-off approved for a rotary bulk run is a comparison, not a guarantee — if that's the plan, agree the tolerance in writing.

The approval flow

1. Share artwork and the base you want to print on.
2. We produce a strike-off (typically 1–2 weeks depending on method).
3. You review and approve — or request adjustments to colour, scale or placement.
4. Approved strike-off becomes the standard for bulk production.

That last step is the important one: the approved strike-off is the physical reference every bulk metre is judged against. Keep your half, dated and signed, and make sure the printing unit keeps theirs.

Tips for a clean approval

• Provide artwork at production resolution with clear colour references — Pantone TCX numbers or physical standards beat on-screen values every time.
• State your print method preference (digital, rotary, screen) if you have one, and your expected bulk quantity — it affects which method makes commercial sense.
• Review under consistent lighting, ideally a D65 lightbox, and always on the actual base. A print viewed on an office desk under warm LEDs will surprise you in daylight.
• Check the repeat by laying two pieces side by side, not just one in isolation.
• If a colour is critical, say which one. "Match the red exactly, the leaf green has tolerance" is a brief a printer can act on.

Common pitfalls

Most strike-off disputes trace back to one of three things: approving on screen instead of on fabric, approving on the wrong base, or approving verbally with nothing signed. All three are free to avoid. Budget one adjustment round into your timeline — first strike-offs land close, but "close" and "approved" are different words for a reason.

Get the strike-off right and bulk follows predictably. Skip it, and you're printing your entire order as an experiment.

Start print development or explore the Printed page — send your artwork and base, and we'll come back with a strike-off plan.