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Designing for Screen Printing

Where can I learn more about using Adobe® Illustrator for screen printing?

You can actually take a course for FREE! The Designing in Illustrator course covers the program's interface, highlights different tools, shows you how to use the tools, shares tips on designing, and demonstrates how to prepare a design to be printed.

How do I use image trace in Illustrator?

Vectorizing images is key to screen printing design. Adobe® Illustrator is an amazing tool to get everything ready to go for printing. You can vectorize images by using the “Image Trace” tool. Watch this video to see how it's done.

How do you do color separations in Illustrator?

When printing multicolor prints, you'll probably print spot colors majority of the time. There are several steps to this process. Watch this video to learn how to do it.

How do I invert a design in Illustrator?

Open Illustrator and paste the design in a new document. Once your artwork is pasted into a blank document, select the entire image. Using “Command C” and “Command F,” copy and paste the design on top of itself. Lock the bottom layer, so it is immova

How do I make a color a Pantone color?

You can turn any color into a Pantone color with Adobe® Illustrator in four simple steps. 1. Make a color palette. 2. Create a color group. 3. Make it a Pantone color. 4. Make any final touches. Those are the steps, in broad terms. If you'd like to k

How do you separate blends and halftones?

To make a smooth blend, first create a layer for each of the colors you want blending in and out of each other. Go to the gradient menu and adjust the midpoint. Adjust the midpoint so that the two colors overlap. You could move the midpoints to where

How do you customize a design from a vector pack?

Creating your own designs is both fun and challenging. With a vector pack, the artwork is there. All you need to do is create a design using elements from the pack. To learn the different ways you could customize a design, watch this video.

How do I create a new design without drawing?

Creating your own artwork can be a challenge, especially if you’re not into hand-drawing. How do you make a design look original without drawing your own? With a vector pack, you can create countless designs without drawing a single line. Watch this

Any tips for making a shop logo?

When launching a new business, one of the important tasks you need to tackle is creating a logo. If you don't have a graphic design background, making a logo can be daunting. Luckily, a fellow graphic designer has made your life a little easier. Cory

How do you make an underbase in Illustrator?

To make an underbase in Adobe® Illustrator, just follow these steps:. When printing white underbases, printers do not want the white base to show on the print. To make sure that it doesn't happen, the white base needs to be slightly smaller than the

How can I learn more about using Procreate for screen printing?

You can take this FREE course! The Designing in Procreate course will walk you through the program's interface, the basic tools like brushes, some insider tips and tricks, and more. What are you waiting for? Start learning now.

What are gestures in Procreate?

Gestures are shortcuts for different actions you can do. Here are the top five gestures used in Procreate for screen printers:. If you'd like to learn more about gestures and how you can customize them, read this article.

How do you shade using brushes in Procreate?

Looking to add depth to a design? A simple way to achieve that look is to use a shading technique. But, where do you shade? How do you get it to fade out? How do you make it look good? Watch this video to learn all the nuances to shading designs in P

Can you make a t-shirt design in Procreate?

Procreate is a great tool for designers who like to draw by hand. Screen printers can make unique t-shirt designs in the program. To see how it's done, watch this video.

What's the difference between CMYK, spot color, and simulated process?

CMYK is the oldest, color reproduction, print method. Using cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink, screen printers can print designs on white or light-colored garments. For users skilled in CMYK file preparation, Photoshop, and screen creation, this is

What's the difference between raster and vector images?

Raster images are made up of pixels. When you take a photo on your phone or a camera, that image becomes a raster image. You’ll know it’s a raster image because if you zoom in on the image, it becomes fuzzy. A vector image uses mathematical algorithm

What are halftones?

Halftones are a mathematical dot pattern that represents the grayscale value of a color and are created based on a grid. Printers can rotate the grid to change the angle, lines per inch, and more. This dot pattern can be so tiny that it appears as a

What's LPI (lines per inch)?

First up, Lines Per Inch (LPI). This represents the number of lines intersecting in every square inch. If a design has big dots, there will be a lower number of lines and a lower LPI. Small dots equals a higher number of lines across and a higher LPI

What's DPI (dot per inch)?

Dots Per Inch, or DPI, is the measure of the resolution of a photo. It’s also commonly referred to as PPI, or Pixels Per Inch. The ability to keep detail in DPI is directly related to the LPI.

What does angle mean when regarding halftones?

The angle of halftones refers to the slight rotation that the dot grid takes. This may sound confusing at first, so let’s break it down. Dots that fall at right angles on the screen (0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°) will line up with the threads of the mesh

What's dot gain?

Imagine this: you separate halftone artwork in Photoshop and it looks great. When you go to screen print it onto a garment, the image seems oversaturated and areas that should “fade” are way too dark. Those halftone dots didn’t all work together to c