Approving Your Design Proof
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Some orders require you to approve a proof — a preview of your final design — before the shop starts production. Here's how that works.
Why you might get a proof
Shops send proofs when they want your sign-off before committing to production, most often for:
- Custom or uploaded artwork you haven't seen rendered on the actual product yet
- Artwork that was flagged as possibly low-resolution when you uploaded it
- Larger orders, where a mistake would be costly to redo
- Any order where the shop's policy is simply to confirm before printing
Not every order requires a proof — if a shop doesn't use this step, your order proceeds straight to production after checkout.
Receiving your proof
You'll get an email with a secure link to view your proof — no account login is required to open it, so you can approve it even if you're not signed in.
Approving or requesting changes
When you open the proof link, you can:
- Approve it if everything looks correct — this tells the shop to proceed with production.
- Request changes if something's wrong — describe what needs to be fixed so the shop can update it and send a new proof.
What happens after you approve
Your order moves forward into production. If you requested changes instead, expect a follow-up (a revised proof, or a message from the shop) rather than immediate production — nothing gets printed until you've approved the corrected version.
If you don't respond
Orders waiting on a proof typically won't move to production until you respond — so a delayed order is often simply waiting on your approval. Check your email (including spam) for the proof link if you're not sure whether one was sent.
Troubleshooting
- Never received a proof link — check spam/junk first; if it's genuinely missing, contact the shop and ask them to resend it.
- Proof link doesn't match what you expect — if you made changes to your design after the proof was generated, the proof may reflect the older version; let the shop know rather than approving something that doesn't match your latest design.
Related: Tracking Your Order & Understanding Order Statuses, How to Use the Online Design Tool.
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