Separation Studio
Split a design into spot-colour screens for screen and rotary printing, with trapping, halftones, Pantone matching and layered PSD export.
Credit Usage
Options & Settings
| Setting | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Screens | Buttons | How many spot colours to separate into. Each one is a physical screen to burn, so the count is what the print run is quoted on. Auto lets the clustering pick. Auto23456789101112 |
| Trapping | Slider | Grows each plate outward so neighbouring inks overlap. Hides the white gaps that appear when the press is slightly out of registration. 0-4 px |
| Halftone LPI | Buttons | Lines per inch for the halftone screen. Higher is finer, and needs a finer mesh. 55657585 |
| Registration Marks | Toggle | Stamps identical crosshairs on every plate so the press operator can align the screens. |
| White Under-base | Toggle | Adds a white under-base plate. Only needed on dark garments. |
| Output DPI | Buttons | Resolution of the exported plates. 150300600 |
| Export Format | Buttons | Single plate, a ZIP of all plates, a multi-page TIFF, or a layered PSD. PNGZIPTIFFPSD |
When to Use
- Preparing spot-colour screens for a screen-print run
- Quoting a job — the screen count drives the setup cost
- Preparing files for rotary screen printing
- Generating individual colour layers for engraving
Pro Tips
Fewer screens is a cheaper print run — start low and add only what the design needs
Turn trapping on if your press ever shows white gaps between inks
White under-base is only for dark garments — it wastes ink otherwise
PSD export keeps every plate as its own layer, with the nearest Pantone named
What to Expect
Best Results
- Designs with distinct, separable colors
- Flat color areas (spot colors)
- Clean edges between color zones
- 2-8 color designs
Limited Results
- Photorealistic imagery (too many tones)
- Very subtle color variations
- Designs with 15+ colors
- Anti-aliased edges (may create extra colors)
Real-World Examples
Screen Printing Separation
A 6-color paisley pattern was separated into individual color masks, each ready for screen exposure in rotary screen printing.
Halftone for Gradient Effects
A watercolor floral with soft gradients was converted to 4 screens using halftone dots at 55 LPI, making continuous tones printable as flat screens.
PSD Export with Pantone
A layered PSD was created with each color as a separate layer, plus a color manifest mapping each separation to its nearest Pantone TCX code for dye matching.
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