Name and number application on site: what belongs in the spec.

Most disputes about a personalization job trace back to something nobody wrote down. A specification does not need to be long, but it needs to be unambiguous, because on the day there will be a guest waiting and no time to interpret anything. This is the outline we work from, section by section.

1. The canvas

State the garment: brand, style number, fabric composition, and colorway. "Blue jersey" is not a spec. A polyester mesh and a smooth performance knit take heat differently, and a sublimated garment carries a ghosting risk a plain one does not. If multiple lots are in play, list each — they will not necessarily behave the same.

2. Character ceilings

Names cap at roughly nine characters. Numbers run one to three digits. Both belong in the spec as hard numbers, with a stated fallback: what happens to a ten-character surname. Options are abbreviation, a reduced letter height, or a two-line treatment. Pick one in advance. The worst version of this decision is an operator making it alone while a queue watches.

Also state whether the field accepts anything besides A–Z: hyphens, apostrophes, accented characters, spaces. Each one changes the layout math, and every one of them will show up in a real roster.

3. Geometry and registration

Specify the numeral height, the name height, the vertical gap between them, and the reference points alignment is measured from. We register from the collar seam and the side seams, because those are the features a human eye reads as "straight" when the garment is worn. A spec that says "centered" without naming a reference is a spec that will be interpreted four different ways by four operators.

4. Locations

Back, front, sleeve — and if more than one, the order they are applied in and whether any of them share a press cycle. Sleeve work in particular needs its own note, because a sleeve is a small, curved, seam-crossed surface and it is where alignment errors are most visible.

5. Color and method

Name the application method: full-color DTF transfer and heat press for a live line, twill or tackle twill for a heritage look, embroidery where a stitched finish is wanted. Then name the colors by an actual reference, not "team blue." With full-color transfers there is no per-color surcharge, so an outlined two-tone numeral costs no extra pass — which is worth knowing before someone value-engineers it away.

6. Acceptance criteria

This is the section most specs omit and the one that settles arguments. Ours reads roughly:

• Spelling and digits match the ticket exactly
• Placement within tolerance of the stated reference points
• Full adhesion at all edges, no lifting at corners
• No scorch, no press-mark shine on the surrounding fabric
• No dye migration visible in light-colored elements

Any unit that fails is reprinted before it crosses the counter. Which failures are chargeable, and to whom, belongs in the commercial terms — but the technical bar itself should be stated once, plainly, and applied to every unit.

7. Data handling

If you are supplying a roster, agree the file format, the field names, and the deadline. Then agree what happens to late changes, because at any real event there will be some. Our intake handles them natively — a late ticket and a roster ticket look identical to a press lane — but the authorization question is yours: who is allowed to add or change a name on the day.

8. Handover

State what the vendor returns: the personalization count, a reprint log with causes, remaining inventory by size, documented damage, and an export of every name, number, size, and location applied. For a uniform program answering to a budget, that export is the deliverable that outlives the event.

Our standing specification →   How the spec affects throughput →