What to send a cap printer so the quote arrives in hours, not days
Nine things to put in the first email, why the printer needs each one, and a template you can paste and fill in.
Bruno P., 2026-10-22
Most cap quotes that take days don't take days because the printer is slow. They take days because the first email says "how much for caps with our logo?" and then the questions start. Which logo file? What colour cap? How many? When? Each answer costs a round of emails, and a round of emails costs a day if the club secretary only reads them in the evening.
I read a lot of these requests. AquaEvents passes every quote request to Swim Hat Company, the UK printer whose European brand is Euro Swim Caps, and our promise is a quote within 24 hours. When the first message has everything below in it, a price can go back the same day. When it doesn't, the first reply is a list of questions.
The checklist at a glance
| Send this | Best format | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Logo | .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg (vector) | Whether the artwork can go straight to print screens |
| Club colours | Pantone references, e.g. 293C | Ink colours and the cap colour code |
| Quantity | A number, plus spares | Which price step applies |
| Material | Silicone, latex, suede, lycra, competition... | The base price per cap |
| Print colours and sides | 1 to 6 colours, 1 or 2 sides | The print price per cap |
| Named caps | A list of names, if any | Extra cost and a separate print step |
| Hard deadline | The date caps must be in swimmers' hands | Standard or express production |
| Delivery address | Full address and country | Delivery and customs terms |
| One delivery or several | Consolidated or split, with each address | How the order is packed and shipped |
1. The logo, in vector format
Send the logo as .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg. These are vector files: the shapes are stored as lines and curves, not pixels, so they can be scaled to the print area without going soft. Caps are printed through screens, and the printer offers free screens subject to sight of the artwork. That "subject to sight of artwork" is the reason the logo file matters so much. Until someone has seen it, they can't confirm the screens or the number of print colours.
A .png or .jpg is accepted. It just means someone has to look at whether it can be separated cleanly into print colours before they can price it with confidence. If your club only has the logo on its website, ask whoever designed it for the original file. It is usually sitting in somebody's email from years ago.
2. Pantone references for the club colours
"Our blue" means different things on different screens. A Pantone reference doesn't. The printer's silicone colour chart has 29 cap colours, each matched to a Pantone: royal blue F206H is Pantone 293C, dark navy F208 is 276C, red F203H is 179C, Kelly green F217 is 355C. If you give the Pantone for both the cap and the logo, the printer can pick the nearest cap colour and mix the ink, without a back-and-forth about shades. If you don't know your Pantones, the guide to Pantone on screen and on the cap explains how to find them.
3. Quantity, including spares
Price per cap depends on the quantity band your order falls into, so "about 100" isn't something anyone can price. Two numbers that look close can sit either side of a band. Give a real number and the quote shows where it lands. Then add spares for new members and lost caps. Fifteen extra caps now just join the order. Fifteen caps in March are a new order, and a new silicone order has to meet the 50-cap minimum again. The quantity guide goes deeper.
4. Material
Material sets the base price, and it also sets the smallest order you can place. Silicone is the 50 g cap clubs train in all season. Latex is 20 g, thin, stretchy and cheaper than silicone; the printer's own page calls it the cap for one-off events and giveaways. Polyester is fabric, soft and light, meant for young children and learn-to-swim groups, and it won't keep hair dry. If you're not sure, say what the caps are for (weekly training, one race, a learn-to-swim group) and the printer can suggest one. The silicone vs latex vs suede guide is the longer version.
- Competition (FVC3): 25 caps
- Silicone: 50 caps
- Long-hair silicone: 50 caps
- Suede: 50 caps
- Polyester: 50 caps
- Lycra: 50 caps
- Latex: 100 caps
Source: Euro Swim Caps product pages, read 12 October 2026
If your squad is 40 swimmers and you had latex in mind, better to know that before you ask.
5. Print colours and sides
The number of print colours changes the price more than most clubs expect. Every extra ink is another screen to set up and line up with the others, and each one raises the price per cap. Your quote shows by how much. The one fixed point I can give you is the UK price: a standard silicone cap, one print colour on one side, is GBP 4.99 per cap at 300 to 499 caps, including 20% VAT. A second colour, a second side, another material or another quantity is priced in the quote, within 24 hours.
The printer can go up to 6 print colours, subject to artwork. Count the colours in your logo the way a printer does: every separate ink is a colour, and white printed on a dark cap counts as one. Then say whether you want one side or both. A name or a sponsor on the back is a second side. Lycra caps can be customised on both sides.
6. Named caps
Caps with each swimmer's name cost extra, and they are a separate job from the logo print. If you want them, say so in the first email and attach the list of names as a spreadsheet, one name per row, spelled the way it should appear. Mentioning names after the quote means quoting twice.
7. The hard deadline
This is the item people get wrong. The date a printer needs is when the caps must be in swimmers' hands, not when they should ship and not "before the gala". Standard lead time is 3 weeks from artwork approval, and Express and Super Express options exist. Whether your order needs one of them depends on that one date. Give the real date and the printer can tell you what is possible. Give a vague one and you either pay for express you didn't need or miss the weekend.
Remember that the 3 weeks start at approval. If the artwork goes back and forth for a week, that week sits before the clock starts. The six-week countdown shows how to plan it.
8. The delivery address
The country decides the delivery terms. Standard delivery is free anywhere in Europe. In the UK the price includes 20% VAT. For Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the rest of the EU, VAT and delivery terms are confirmed in your quote. For Norway and Iceland we handle customs on our side, and prices there are quoted without VAT. A full address also tells the printer whether it is a home, a club office or a pool reception, which matters if nobody is there on a Tuesday afternoon.
9. One delivery or several
If the caps should go to one place, say so. If half go to the training pool and half to the second site, or each squad coach gets their own box, say that too and give every address. The quote form asks whether delivery is consolidated or split for this reason: it changes how the order is packed and sent, and it is much easier to plan before the boxes are taped shut.
The email template
Copy this into your first email and fill in every line. Attach the logo and, if you need them, the names list.
- Club or event name, country and city:
- Contact name, email and phone:
- Material (silicone, long-hair silicone, suede, latex, polyester, lycra, competition, allover print):
- Quantity, including spares:
- Cap colour, with Pantone or colour chart code:
- Print colours (1 to 6), with Pantone references:
- Print sides (1 or 2), and what goes on each side:
- Named caps (yes or no; list attached):
- Hard deadline (date the caps must be in swimmers' hands):
- Delivery address, full:
- One delivery or split (if split, every address and how many caps each):
- Logo attached as .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg:
If you send it through our quote form rather than by email, the form asks for the same things, and the reply comes with a reference like AE-2026-00001. Keep it. It is the quickest way to find the order again when you reorder next season.
For the wider picture of running a club cap order, there is also a club caps checklist and a page on what custom swim caps cost.
Frequently asked questions
What logo file does a swim cap printer need?
A vector file: .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg. A .png or .jpg is accepted, but it has to be checked before it can be priced with confidence.
Why does the printer need Pantone references?
They name an exact colour. The printer's silicone chart matches each of its 29 cap colours to a Pantone, so a reference avoids guessing from a screen.
Which deadline should I give?
The date the caps must be in swimmers' hands. Standard lead time is 3 weeks from artwork approval, with express options for tighter dates.
Can caps be delivered to more than one address?
Ask for a split delivery in the first email and list every address with the number of caps for each.