Artwork checking for screen printing
Screen print needs separations, not process colour. Prepta checks whether the artwork can be separated into the colours you can actually print, and raises anything that would require a halftone compromise before screens are made.
Customer file not ready for production?
Typical profile
- Colour
- Spot · up to 6 colours
- Minimum resolution
- 300 ppi
- Bleed
- 2 mm
- Cut contour
- Not required
- Transparency
- Flagged, never changed
- Vector artwork
- Required
What goes wrong
Process colour supplied for spot work
A photographic gradient sent for a two-colour print.
Colour count above what was quoted
The artwork uses eleven colours and the job was priced for three.
Transparency and blend modes
Effects that look right on screen and cannot be separated cleanly.
Fine detail below printable size
Hairlines and small text that will not hold on textile.
What Prepta does
Colour inventory reported
Every distinct colour listed with coverage, so the separation count is known before screens are made.
Transparency flagged before separation
On this profile live transparency is reported, never changed. Where a profile asks for flattening and the file holds spot colours, a person approves it.
Minimum feature size checked
Strokes and type below your printable minimum flagged with their measurements.
Colour changes never automatic
On this profile Prepta proposes rather than applies. Separation decisions stay with the operator.
Common questions — screen printing
Why is process colour a problem for screen print?
Screen print uses separations, not continuous-tone process colour. A photographic gradient cannot be reproduced as a small number of spot colours without halftone compromise.
Does Prepta auto-reduce colours for screen print?
No. Prepta reports the colour inventory and flags issues; separation decisions stay with the operator on this profile.
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