Tech pack designer vs AI: The New Black AI
Published 5 October 2026
A tech pack is the document a factory quotes and sews from: flat sketches, measurements, materials, construction. You can hire a tech pack designer to make it, or make it yourself with an AI tech pack tool. Both work; they cost and deliver very different things, and most small brands end up mixing the two.
What a tech pack designer does
A tech pack designer, often a freelancer, turns your idea, sketch or sample into a factory-ready file. The usual deliverables:
- Flat sketches, front and back, drawn to scale, with callouts on the details.
- A size chart with the points of measure and the grading across your sizes.
- A bill of materials: fabrics, trims, labels, with suppliers and references.
- Construction notes: seams, stitches, finishes, labels and packaging.
You brief them, they send a first version, and you go back and forth on revisions. The price is set per style and depends on how complex the garment is; a simple tee and a lined jacket are not the same job. Turnaround is counted in days, longer when the revisions pile up.
What an AI tech pack tool does
In The New Black AI tech pack, you build the same document yourself, and the AI does the slow parts:
- A first draft from photos of your garment or sample: sections filled in, materials named, for 1 credit (tech pack from photos).
- Flat sketches drawn from the photos, 1 credit each, with measure lines tied to the size chart (flat sketch and callouts).
- The size chart and grading across your sizes (size chart).
- The BOM filled from your supplier quotes, fabric sheets or photos of labels, for 2 credits (bill of materials).
- An AI review that flags what a factory would ask about, for 2 credits (AI review).
- A PDF export the factory can read, free (export to PDF).
Building and exporting by hand costs nothing; only the AI steps use credits.
Tech pack designer or AI: side by side
| Tech pack designer | AI tech pack tool | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | a fee per style | a few credits per style |
| Time to a first version | days | minutes |
| Revisions | a request, then a wait | you change it yourself, now |
| Garment expertise | theirs, built over years | yours, with an AI review |
| Best for | complex pieces, a first collection, technical outerwear | basics, repeats, colourways, quick updates |
When to hire, when to do it yourself
Hire a tech pack designer when the garment is technical (tailoring, outerwear, swim with linings, anything with complex grading), when it is your very first style and you want to learn from a professional file, or when your factory asks for a specific format you cannot produce yet.
Do it yourself with AI when the style is a variation of something you already make, when you need ten colourways of the same piece, when you want to answer a factory's questions the same day, or when the budget does not stretch to a fee per style.
Mix the two, which is what most small brands settle on. Have a designer make your first, most technical styles, then import their files into the tool (2 credits per import) and keep every update, colourway and size change in-house. Or draft with AI and pay a designer only to review the result before it goes to the factory.
Start a tech pack in a few minutes
1. Open the tech pack tool and create a new pack. 2. Add photos of your garment or sample and let the AI write the first draft. 3. Draw the flat sketches, check the size chart and the materials. 4. Run the AI review, fix what it flags, and export the PDF for your factory.
New to the format? Read what a tech pack is and how to make a tech pack step by step.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a tech pack designer?+
Not always. For basics, repeats and colourways, you can make a factory-ready tech pack yourself with an AI tool. For technical garments or a first collection, a professional designer's file is often worth the fee.
How much does an AI tech pack cost on The New Black AI?+
Building and exporting a tech pack by hand is free. The AI steps use credits: 1 for the first draft from photos, 1 per flat sketch, 2 for reading supplier documents into the BOM, 2 for importing an existing tech pack, 2 for an AI review. Without a plan you can keep 2 tech packs; any plan makes them unlimited.
Can AI make a factory-ready tech pack?+
It makes the draft, the sketches, the size chart and the BOM, and its review flags what is missing. You still check the measurements and the construction against your sample, as a designer would.
Can I import a tech pack my designer already made?+
Yes. Import the PDF or document and it is transcribed into the editor, for 2 credits, so you can update it, add colourways and export new versions yourself.
What is the difference between a tech pack designer and a pattern maker?+
A tech pack designer documents the garment: sketches, measurements, materials, construction. A pattern maker draws the pattern pieces the factory cuts from. Many factories make the pattern from your tech pack.
Related articles
- Clothing Design Software: The New Black AIClothing design software explained: the five kinds of fashion design software, what each one does, how to choose, and where AI design tools fit from concept to tech pack.
- AI Agent for a Shopify Fashion Store: The New Black AIAn AI agent for your Shopify fashion store: what it reads and does (products, images, SEO, content, ads), how you approve its actions, how to hire one and what it costs.
- AI reel generator for fashion brands: The New Black AIMake fashion reels with AI: describe the animation or pick one of eighteen Motion Design templates, add your photos or clips, export in 9:16. From 1 credit.
- AI Agents for Fashion Brands: What They Do, What They Cost, How to Hire OneWhat an AI agent does for a fashion brand, in practice: catalogue visuals, weekly posts, tech packs from photos. Prices, plans, ceilings, limits, and how to run the first week without wasting credits.
- Best AI Fashion Design Software 2026: The New Black AI24 AI fashion tools compared, updated 25 September 2026: free tiers and first plans side by side, prices read that day, what each is built for, which fits a brand, a designer or a Shopify store.
- Best Tech Pack Software 2026: The New Black AITech pack software compared for 2026: what each tool starts from, what the AI drafts, what is really free, export and price. The New Black AI, AI Tech Packs, Techpacker, The F* Word, Onbrand, Excel.
- Best AI Fashion Studio for Brands in 2026: The New Black AIWhy The New Black AI is the best AI fashion studio in 2026: design, models, try-on, tech packs, Visual DNA and publishing in one workspace.
- How to Make a Fashion Lookbook: The New Black AIHow to make a fashion lookbook in 7 steps: who it is for, editing the looks, one visual direction, shooting or generating, layout, words, and publishing a digital lookbook.
- Best AI Fashion Video Generators 2026: The New Black AIEight AI fashion video generators compared: what each starts from, the clips it makes, length and resolution, the price of a ten-second clip read on 25 September 2026, and where the video goes.
- AI Fashion Design Guide 2026: The New Black AIWhat AI fashion design is, how it works in five stages, AI versus traditional design phase by phase, the eight capabilities, what it costs, where it falls short, and six steps to start.