Tearsheet: the one-page product sheet a client actually approves from
A tearsheet is a single-page summary of one specified product — image, dimensions, finish, price and lead time — used to present selections to a client. What belongs on it and how it differs from a spec sheet.
By Idan Mann, founder of NYA
The short answer
A tearsheet is a one-page sheet describing a single specified product: photograph, manufacturer, model, dimensions, finish, price and lead time. The name is literal — designers once tore the page out of a catalogue. Today it is generated from a product record and sent to the client as part of a selection or proposal.
A tearsheet is a sales document. Its job is to let a client say yes to one thing without reading a specification, which is why it carries a photograph, a price and almost nothing else — and why the identical product record has to also produce a spec sheet, which carries everything else and no photograph at all.
What belongs on a tearsheet
| Field | Why the client needs it |
|---|---|
| Photograph | The only part most clients read |
| Manufacturer and product name | So the approval is unambiguous months later |
| Dimensions | The question that comes back most often |
| Finish, fabric or colourway | The variant being approved, not the family |
| Client price | The number they are approving, at your price — not list |
| Quantity and room | What is being bought and where it goes |
| Lead time | Sets the expectation before the deposit, not after |
Tearsheet, spec sheet, proposal
- A tearsheet presents one item to a client for approval.
- A [spec sheet](/glossary/spec-sheet) records the same item completely enough to order it — model numbers, COM yardage, finish codes, freight class.
- A [proposal](/glossary/design-proposal) collects the approved items with prices and terms, and is the document that authorises purchasing.
Common questions
- Should a tearsheet show the price?
- Yes — the client price. A selection presented without a price is not a decision, it is a preference, and you will present it again. The only figures that should never appear are your net cost and the vendor's list price.
- What is the difference between a tearsheet and a mood board?
- A mood board sells a direction; a tearsheet sells a purchase. The board carries no model numbers and commits to nothing, whereas approving a tearsheet is what lets you raise a purchase order.