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Art & separations

Good prints start at the computer. How you separate the art decides how many screens you burn, which mesh you need, and how forgiving the job will be on press.

Updated October 20266 short topics~3 min to read it all13 sources

In short

  1. Pick the separation to fit the art and the shirt. Spot color for logos and type; sim process or index for photos on darks.
  2. Mesh at about 4–5× your line count is a common starting point. Sources differ, so test.
  3. Choke the underbase so white doesn’t peek out when registration shifts.
HALFTONE SCREEN, 22.5°
A halftone screen at 22.5° (our own drawing). The maker of AccuRIP recommends 22.5° for every screen to avoid moiré; other references set a separate angle per color. Sources: Solutions for Screen Printers; BQ e-learning.

In this guide

  1. 01Vector or raster
  2. 02Four ways to separate
  3. 03Halftones: line count, angle, dot shape
  4. 04Underbase, choke and trap
  5. 05Film positives and RIP software
  6. 06Computer-to-screen (CTS)
Sources for this guide (13)
  1. ScreenPrinting.com, CMYK vs. spot vs. simulated process
  2. Scott Fresener, T-Biz Network, Index color separations
  3. Atlas Screen Supply, Mesh count chart
  4. PrintFilmReady, Mesh count to LPI chart
  5. ScreenPrinting.com, AccuRIP Emerald RIP software guide
  6. Solutions for Screen Printers, Halftone angles demystified
  7. BQ e-learning, Four-color process (CMYK) technical manual
  8. Screen Printing Magazine, Choosing a halftone dot shape
  9. Layersmith, White underbase for screen printing
  10. Scott Fresener, T-Biz Network, Choking, trapping and cleaning up type
  11. Impressions, The challenges of screen printing on caps
  12. Solutions for Screen Printers, Ink and film density
  13. Screen Printing Magazine, Stencilmaking in the age of CTS

Where sources disagree, the page says so.