How to Review Custom Orders With Proofs and Design Files on Shopify

October 1, 2026

Illustration of a die-cut sticker design marked Approved on a design canvas, flowing into an order card with Proof, Print-ready PNG, Cut line and Manifest files, headlined Approved Designs. Print-Ready Orders.

Every custom order has to pass two checks before it goes to print. Does the customer approve the design? And will the file actually print?

The fastest way through both is to move them onto the product page. The customer designs on a real-size canvas and approves it before checkout. The order then arrives with the proof and every print file already attached.

Here's how that works in Appify Custom Product Options, and what your team sees when the order comes in.

What does a custom order need before it goes to print?

A signed-off design. The customer confirms what they want before anyone prints it.
A proof on the order. An image of the finished product, so staff never guess.
Files that print as they are. Full-resolution artwork with bleed, and a cut path for die-cut work.
A spec sheet. Sizes, positions and the options chosen, in one place.
One screen to check it all. Proof, options and files for each order, without digging through line item properties.

Get the first one right at the point of sale, and the rest can be generated instead of made by hand.

How does the customer approve the design before checkout?

The Product Designer in Appify Custom Product Options is a full-screen editor where the customer builds their design on a canvas sized to what they ordered. Turn on the design review workflow and a review step sits between editing and saving.

The customer sees their finished design and must tick I have reviewed and approve my design before Save Design unlocks. Keep Editing takes them back to the canvas.

The approval happens on the product page, not in your inbox. There's no proof for your team to draw and no email thread to chase. The design the customer approved is the one that prints.

You can rewrite every label and the review instructions, and translate them for each language you sell in.

If the customer changes a size the design is tied to after saving, the design is marked for another look. They re-open the designer and check it again, so a proof at the old size never reaches production.

Try it on the picture frame designer demo: click Customize Photo, then Review Design.

How do you stop a bad file before it's ordered?

Blurry uploads are the classic reprint. Turn on Warn customers about low image resolution and the designer checks each image against its printed size.

A soft photo gets a gentle caution. Below 150 DPI, the warning gets stronger. Either way, the customer sees it while they can still swap the image.

The canvas also shows the trim, bleed and safe zone, so text doesn't end up cut off at the edge.

Which production files come with every order?

When the customer saves, the app builds the production output for that line:

Proof PNG: the preview image the customer saw, attached for order checks.
Print-ready PNG: full-resolution artwork with the bleed margin, exported at 300 DPI by default.
Cut-line SVG: a vector cut path for cutters and plotters, aligned to the artboard. For die-cut stickers it can trace the outline of the customer's own image.
Production manifest: an HTML sheet listing layer positions, sizes, the options chosen, the cut files and timestamps. It can feed a RIP or cutter workflow.

Two-sided products get a full set for the back as well.

All of it attaches to the Shopify order through a single Design Files link. Staff or automation open one page and download the proof, the print file, the cut line and the manifest. Any notes the customer left arrive as Production Notes on the same line, and on the manifest too.

How does your team review each order?

The app's Orders page lists your customized orders, with search by order number, email or customer name, and filters for payment and fulfillment. Open an order and each line shows a proof thumbnail, an options table, and Open file and Open proof links.

A print shop's morning check is short: click the proof thumbnail, confirm it matches the options, then open the print-ready file.

Why does the price belong in the same place?

The same calculator that holds the designer prices the product. Size, material and quantity feed formulas, pricing variables, pricing tables and quantity discounts, with fees and minimum prices around them.

So the proof, the files and the price all come from one set of choices. That matters for signs, stickers, wallpaper and prints, where the design and the size decide the price together.

What about repeat orders?

From the Orders page, staff can Reorder a line or use Add Order to Cart to rebuild the whole order, with the original options filled in. Customers get the same through Appify Reorder in their account, where Shopify's own Buy again drops the options.

Where to start

Want the full list of files a print vendor expects? Read what file formats print vendors need from custom orders. For the whole order path, from questions to packing slips, see why custom product orders take so long to fulfill.

FAQ

Can customers approve a proof before checkout on Shopify?

Yes. With the design review workflow in Appify Custom Product Options, the customer ticks an approval box on their finished design before they can save it and add it to the cart.

Where do the proof and design files show up on the order?

On the Shopify order, as one Design Files link, and on the app's Orders page, where each line shows a proof thumbnail and links to the files.

What is a production manifest?

A spec sheet for each order line. It lists layer positions, sizes, the options chosen, the cut files and timestamps, so production doesn't have to read the order.