Samples are entities in Creative Force that help you track physical items in your studio. By checking them in and out at various locations, or using them as styling components in your Outfits, Samples help bridge the gap between the data in your catalogue and the work being done in real places by real people.

Introduction

A Sample is the real physical item the studio receives, handles, and photographs, like the light blue T-shirt sitting in the warehouse backroom. Samples are usually tracked at the size level, so one product can have several Samples.


	In Product Hub, each Sample is linked to a Variant. The Sample Code matches the Variant Code, and the two share some properties.
	Every Product Request needs at least one Sample. With sample pooling turned on, one Sample can serve Product Requests in several jobs.

💭 For a more in-depth explanation of entities in Creative Force and their relationships, please see our dedicated article on the subject here.

Samples Page

The Samples Page is the central location for interacting with your Samples. From Gamma, you can review, manage, and take action on your items.

💭 For a more in-depth explanation of the Samples Page UI and its available actions, please see our dedicated article on the subject here.

Creating Samples

New Samples can be brought into the system in various ways– though the exact behavior may differ depending on your specific Sample Setting configurations.

Manual Creation

For any existing Variants, you can manually create a new Sample by going to Product Hub → Record Overview → Variants → Create Sample. Set any desired standard system property like Sample Code, Sample Name, SKU, Barcode, and Size, or any custom sample-level properties before saving.

💭 For a more in-depth explanation of the Product Hub UI and its available actions, please see our dedicated article on the subject here.

Import from File

Samples can be imported along with your product records by going to Samples Page → Import → and then mapping a column to Sample Code

💭 For a more in-depth explanation of importing Samples from a file, please see our dedicated article on the subject here.

Data Source

External data that exists outside of Creative Force in a compatible PIM can also be used to sync Samples directly to your catalogue. After having created a Data Source connection in Studio Settings, head to Workspaces → 'Edit' → Data Source

There are two available toggles that will decide how and whether samples are brought into Creative Force during syncs.

Toggle:	Keep Samples Updated
On	It matches samples by sample code within the Data Source and refreshes their property data when changed in the source.
Off	Property values are never updated from the source.
Toggle:	Add Additional when Updating
On	It finds matching records with the same Product Code; any sample code from the data source that isn't already in that product's pool is created as a new Sample for that Product.
Off	Matching records with additional sample codes from the data source are never brought into Creative Force.

💭 For a more in-depth explanation and walkthrough on setting up a Data Source in Creative Force, please see our dedicated article on the subject here.

Sample Settings

Because studios operate differently and require flexibility that matches their specific environment, a number of settings-level options can be configured that affect how Samples behave.

Property Sync

Since Variants and Samples are closely tied together, they share Sample-level properties. However, the exact nature of how the values of these properties behave in relation to each other is controlled by its Sync Mode setting.

When creating a new property, you are able to select between three sync options. Each option carries different logic for how values should be treated when writing to Variants and Samples.

Sync Mode	Logic Description
Inherited	The Variant owns the value. Each Sample linked to that record shows a read-only copy of it.
Allow Overwrite	The Variant supplies the value, but users can still edit it on the Sample.
Sample Only	The value belongs to the Sample alone. It does not show as a property on the Variant itself.

💭 For a more in-depth explanation of Property Sync Settings, please see our dedicated article on the subject here.

Sample Pooling

Sample Pooling is a Workspace-aware setting that allows one physical sample to serve every job that needs the same product. You don't import or create a new sample each time. Without pooling, each import creates a separate sample record and code for the same item.

💭 For a more in-depth explanation of Sample Pooling, please see our dedicated article on the subject here.

Import Settings

There are two toggles in Studio Settings that decide whether a product import also creates the physical Sample records, or leaves that until the item actually arrives at the studio. To get started, head to Studio Settings → Sample Import Settings

Both settings apply only to the standard Product/Job imports on their dedicated pages. The dedicated sample import and wardrobe import ignore them.
By default, both toggles are enabled.

Create Samples from Import

Controls when a Sample is created for imported products through file imports. By default, this toggle is enabled.

Toggle	Behavior
On	Every imported product gets a Sample created automatically. This is how imports have always worked.
Off	The import creates no Samples. The studio creates the Sample separately later, when the physical item comes in, either from the Variants tab in Product Hub or by scanning.

Create Default Samples

This one only matters when Create Samples from Import is ON. If you turn the main switch off, this toggle greys out and switches off too.

Toggle	Behavior
On	One default Sample is created for each imported product, even if there is no row defined for it on the import sheet.
Off	No Sample is created for that row, and the Production Request stays in Awaiting Sample status. Rows that do include sample data still get their Samples.

'Awaiting Sample' Status

When a Production exists without a Sample tied to the parent Product Request, it is given an 'Awaiting Sample' status. While a product is Awaiting Sample, the system won't let you:

start a photography task for it, including scanning it in to shoot
add it to an outfit, create an outfit from it, or delete an outfit it belongs to.
use the 'Reuse Image' feature with it as a destination product.

It loses this status once a Sample is added to its pool, and the restrictions are voided

Sample Overview