How rendering works
What happens after a customer checks out — how the print-ready 300 DPI file is produced and where to find it on the order.
When a customer finishes designing and places their order, you don’t have to do anything to get a print file — it’s produced for you automatically. This page explains what happens between checkout and the finished file landing on the order.
The short version
- Your customer designs their gang sheet and checks out as normal.
- The finished design is sent to the MakeGangSheet platform, which builds the print file for you.
- When it’s ready, the print file is a print-ready 300 DPI PNG.
- You download it from the order in your WooCommerce admin.
The heavy lifting happens on the MakeGangSheet platform, not on your store’s server. Your WordPress site stays fast, and no large image files are processed or stored on it.
Where the print file shows up
There are two places the finished render appears on the order:
- An order note. When the print file is ready, MakeGangSheet adds a note to the order that reads “Gang sheet print file ready.” You’ll see it in the order’s activity notes, the same place WooCommerce records its own updates.
- A download button. Open the order in WooCommerce → Orders. Under each gang sheet line item you’ll see the render status and, once it’s finished, a Download print file button.
If a render takes a little while
Most renders are quick, but a few things are worth knowing:
- It’s automatic and resilient. If the platform is briefly unreachable, the plugin retries on its own and checks back a few times before giving up. You don’t need to babysit it.
- Timing depends on site traffic. The plugin checks on render progress using WordPress’s built-in scheduled tasks. On a quiet store, those tasks only run when someone visits the site — so on a low-traffic shop the “ready” note can lag a little. Visiting the site or waiting a few minutes lets it catch up.
- You’ll be told if it needs attention. If a render can’t be confirmed after several checks, the plugin leaves a single order note so it never fails silently. You can re-save the order to try again.
What your customer sees
From the customer’s side it’s simple: they design, they pay, they’re done. The print file is for you, the shop — it’s produced and delivered to your admin, not to the customer. What (if anything) you send back to the customer is entirely up to your own workflow.
- Render note not showing up? See Troubleshooting
- New to the builder? Start with Builder basics