A stitched garment sample typically costs tens to hundreds of dollars and takes days to weeks per round. An AI garment preview costs 1–4 credits, roughly $1 to $4, and is usually ready in about a minute. Use AI previews to choose what to sample, and a physical sample to approve fit, colour and construction before production.
This is not an either-or. The useful question is which decisions each one should carry. Below are the costs and times we could verify, where each method is the right tool, and a simple way to combine them.
What does a physical sample cost?
Published figures vary widely by country, garment and workshop, and most come from industry blogs rather than audited data, so treat these as planning ranges. Maker's Row, a US manufacturing marketplace, says a domestic US sample typically costs $150 to $400 per garment, with pattern making often billed separately at $150 to $400 per design, and takes two to four weeks from an approved tech pack.
Wave PLM, a product lifecycle software company, puts the direct cost of an extra sample round at typically $90 to $300 per sample, made up of $40 to $120 in international courier, $30 to $100 in factory labour for the re-cut and $20 to $80 in fabric and trim. It says each extra round adds two to four weeks, and that core seasonal styles usually need two to three rounds.
In Pakistan and India, a local tailor or in-house sampling unit is usually far cheaper and faster than these export figures, especially for kurtas and shalwar kameez. We have not found a reliable published figure for that, so use your own: the cost of the fabric cut, the stitching charge, any embroidery, and the days the piece takes.
Side by side
| Physical sample | AI preview (Preloom) | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct cost per design | Typically $90 to $400 per piece in export markets, plus pattern making; lower with local tailoring | 1–4 credits, about $1 to $4 on credit packs |
| Time per design | Days locally; two to four weeks per round in export sampling | Usually within a minute |
| Needs fabric cut | Yes, plus trims | No, a fabric photo is enough |
| Shows fit and drape on a body | Yes, accurately | Approximately, as an image |
| Exact colour | Yes, the real cloth | Depends on the fabric photo |
| Fine embroidery and print scale | Exact | Approximated |
| Many fabrics in many styles | One piece per combination | Up to 60 combinations per batch |
| Usable for a production approval | Yes | No |
Physical figures from Maker's Row and Wave PLM (see sources). Preloom figures are its own published prices: one design costs 1–4 credits depending on model tier and quality, and credit packs cost $1 per credit.
When is a physical sample required?
A physical sample is the only reliable check on fit (how it sits on a real body in each size), drape (how a georgette falls versus a khaddar), construction (seams, linings, plackets, finishing) and exact colour under real light. It is also what most buyers and factories sign off before a bulk order, often as a pre-production sample.
If a design is going into production, approve a physical sample. No AI image replaces that step, and we would not advise anyone to skip it.
When is an AI preview enough?
An AI preview is enough when the question is "which of these is worth making?" That covers most of the early decisions: which fabric suits which garment, which neckline or sleeve to try, which colourway to push, which ten of forty ideas to show a buyer. These decisions used to need a stitched piece or a sketch and imagination.
It is also enough for some selling tasks. A fabric seller can show unstitched cloth as a finished suit, as long as the image is labelled as a preview. Our post on selling unstitched fabric online covers that.
In Preloom, each design starts from a fabric photo, and a batch grid can show up to 12 fabrics in up to 12 styles at once. A buyer can approve or comment on each design through a share link, so the rejection happens before anything is cut.
A workflow that uses both
- 1
Generate options with AI
Preview every fabric in the styles you are considering. At this stage cheap, fast drafts are fine: use a lower quality setting to explore.
- 2
Shortlist with the buyer or team
Share the strongest designs and collect approvals and change requests. Tweak the designs in plain English until the shortlist is settled.
- 3
Sample only the shortlist
Cut and stitch physical samples for the designs that survived. This is where the saving is: you pay for samples of designs people already want.
- 4
Approve the physical sample before bulk
Check fit, colour and construction on the real garment and sign off a pre-production sample before the bulk order.
How to work out your own saving
Take your real numbers. Count how many samples you made last season that were never ordered. Multiply by your cost per sample, including fabric, stitching, embroidery and courier. That is the spend an AI shortlist can reduce. Then compare it with the credits you would use to preview the same number of options.
The time saving is often larger than the money. A rejected sample costs its round of days or weeks, and a design that would have been rejected at sample stage can be rejected from a preview the same afternoon. For the wider picture of digital sampling, including 3D tools, see our virtual sampling guide, and check current credit prices on the pricing page.