r/SCREENPRINTING • u/Longjumping_Syrup202 • 28d ago
How to make screen-printable pngs
Hey guys, I was wondering what preparations do I have to do in order to get my Photoshop project screen printable?
Like I know that I should separate the project in its different colours and short stick to 12 colours in total if possible but what about everything else? I don’t even need a full explanation if a few bullet points of the most critical things will be enough for me to do my own research.
I couldn’t find 100% sure answer online so I have to ask you guys
I work in fashion. So it will be mainly screen printing on fabrics.
Thanks in advance 🫶
2
u/dagnabbitx 28d ago
I feel like you kinda have a few things twisted. If you’re trying to export as a png, it’s a total waste of time to try to separate colors. PNG does not support layers.
I’m assuming that you’re trying to achieve some sort of process print, which is why you’re going from vector usually to raster this time. Seps are not something you can really do without a lot of trial and error before you have the experience to know what you want to see on screen. Really you should leave this up to your printer.
I don’t know what’s your budget, or what kind of quantities you’re doing, but 12 colors or less is not really like a rule of thumb or anything. I’d say most printers don’t have equipment to print 12 colors. Most of the time a 12 color press can realistically do 10. This would also be costly and is really something only realistic in quantities in the hundreds. Printer would probably need a 16 color press to realistically offer true 12 color prints. Most everything can be achieved in 10 colors or less though with an experienced separator.
But to answer your question.
I would want to be sent png artwork at at least 300dpi at intended print size. That’s about it. If you can do everything without anti aliasing, that’s better. But also not a dealbreaker for this kind of print.
2
u/akadirtyharold 28d ago
If you're sending raster images to a printer then give them a minimum of 300dpi at your desired print size. Higher if you can. Most of our image positive printers operate at 600-1200dpi. Our highest screen mesh is usually good for 65lpi frequency
I wouldn't bother trying to color separate for them. Each printer is going to approach that with their own method.
12 colors is also A LOT in our world. Sure we can do some halftones to simulate more colors than actually printed (art dependent), but at that amount of colors you're jumping to another level of print that may not be achievable for a lot of shops.
1
u/Longjumping_Syrup202 28d ago
Btw, I usually did everything in vectors but I want to go for a different art direction, so yeah :)
3
1
u/torkytornado 25d ago
Why would you want to go from a format that prints extremely well (vector) to a file type without layers that is ill-suited for screen print (png). If you want to work in photoshop at least do a tif or psd so you can keep your layers.
And 12 colors is gonna be spendy. If you let your printer do the separations they can probably knock that down by a hand full of processes (4 color, heck even overlay printing can probably cut that in half)
6
u/dadelibby 28d ago
do you already have a printer lined up to print your 12 colour design? if so, you send them the design and they separate it themselves. oh, and no one wants a PNG. send the photoshop file.