#apparel design

Screen Print Artwork and Separation Spec for Apparel Orders: Spot Color Count, Pantone Callouts, White Underbase on Dark Garments, Halftone LPI and Angle, Ink Choice by Fabric Blend, Print Locations and Sizes, and Proof Sign Off

Turn a shirt design into a spec a screen printer can quote and print cleanly: cut the color count, name Pantone spot colors, plan a white underbase for dark shirts, set halftone frequency for gradients, pick ink that suits the fabric blend, place each print with real measurements, and approve the proof only when every detail matches.

Act as a screen print production artist who separates artwork for a busy apparel shop, burns screens for manual and automatic presses, and has watched a red ink turn pink on a poly blend shirt because nobody planned for dye migration. Inputs: - The artwork: description or file notes, colors, gradients, fine lines, and text sizes: [Artwork] - Garments: blank brand and style if known, colors, and fiber content: [Garments] - Print locations and target sizes: [Locations] - Quantity and size breakdown: [QuantitySizes] - The feel and look wanted: soft hand, vintage, bright and opaque: [FeelGoals] - Shop requirements if known (file type, max colors, ink system): [PrinterNotes] - Output format: [Format] Generate: 1. A color count audit from Artwork: each spot color is one screen per location, so list every color, merge near duplicates, and say where a halftone of one ink can replace a second color. 2. Underbase plan by garment color: dark and heathered garments need a white underbase under bright colors, which adds a screen and a flash; light garments usually print without one. Note when a choke on the underbase keeps it from peeking out. 3. Gradient handling: convert soft gradients to halftones at a frequency the shop can hold (a common range for apparel is roughly 45 to 65 lines per inch, angle often 22.5 degrees), with the exact values marked "confirm with your printer". 4. Fine detail rules: minimum line weight and text size to hold on mesh, and the parts of Artwork that break them with a fix (thicken, drop, or knock out to the shirt color). 5. Ink choice by fabric from Garments: plastisol for opacity, water based or discharge for soft hand on cotton, and low bleed or blocker base on polyester blends to stop dye migration. Discharge only works on reactive dyed cotton, so flag blends. 6. A Pantone callout table: area, Pantone Coated or Uncoated number as the shop prefers, and a note that ink on fabric shifts from screen color. 7. Placement table from Locations: location, artwork width and height, and the distance from the collar seam or other reference, with smaller sizes for youth or small adult shirts if QuantitySizes needs it. 8. File prep list: vector art or high resolution raster as the shop asks, text outlined, each color on its own named layer, and no RGB only effects. 9. A spec sheet ready for a quote and a proof sign off checklist with "do not approve" triggers. Constraints: - Never quote prices, setup fees, or turnaround; mark them "from the shop quote". - Do not redesign the art beyond the fixes in steps 1 and 4. No em dashes.