Step By Step T-Shirt Business | Color Separations In Adobe Illustrator for Screen Printing 

I've found when prepping seps in Illustrator, and especially working with client's art, the Pathfinder "Crop" (bottom row, fourth one in from the left) tool helps clear out clipping mask bullshit, Object > Expand - All to outline strokes, and then running Pathfinder "Divide" (bottom row, first one) on everything. Then I just Select > Same > Fill Color for each color and use Pathfinder Shape Mode "Unite" (top row, first one) to group everything individual color and combine shapes.

Cam, would you do a few more tutorials like this, possibly a little series starting from a simple 1 color separation, up to a 6 color with gradients?

God damn it! This is the information I need! I’m setting up my work space now! 😂

Thank you my man for this knowledge. I have recently started living my dream and its because of inspiration like you and many others.

One way to deal with shadows and highlights and avoid the masking is to use black and white for highlights and shadows and change the blend mode of the those shapes to soft light. When you're done with the shadows and highlights go to Object and flatten transparency and drag the slider all the way to Vector. This will make the soft light blend mode shapes into solid colors without having to use opacity. I hope this make since and helps as well. I'm not sure if it will work for screen printing tho

That GiGi chillin and relaxin? Thumbs up just for that 👍🤘. Dude, keep up the awesome vids. I long ago stopped the silkscreen side of my biz, but guddamn, watching your vids actually makes me almost forget the mess that can be screening and start it up again.

I have a trick to create an underbase...So when everything is ready to print, I select all layers together, copy and paste, then merge them together will pathfinder. then pull it to the bottom layer. Boom underbase. Not sure if it makes sense to do this but I do my seps a bit different so I don't know if this will work for everyone. Love the channel and vids Cam.

This is so amazing, thank you. Is it possible to make a video to show how you made the spot colours.

3:09 is the exact thing that I am missing at home to get back into the swing of things for screen printing.

Thank you for this! Can I ask a question? In color separation, its so hard to grasp solidity and why we use it if it doesnt affect printing. I know nothing about it lol. I am new bee-. I just dont understand. thank you

Hey man great tutorial as always. Thanks so much. Can you please make separate tutorial video about the black overprint thing you handled here? We have been receiving graphics such as these lately but the sep process is becoming a pain. There's no decent vid that explains this. You seem to have mastered it so appreciate if you can make a vid on this for us who are still in the dark 👍

Cool video. What do you use to print the graphics?

I saw this video for the first time and i already started liking you

Thanks much bro, just wanted to do basic set and have you much help 🤗❤️🙏💯👍

Magic wand tool.....pathfinder....and ctrl+c and ctrl+f(place in front). Object-path-offset path for base white

Awesome video!! I am a newbie to these stuff and love your vids!!

Hey Cam, First of all, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the things I've learned on your channel. Thanks for all the time you spend teaching this craft. I am an old turd of 63 trying to learn this stuff. Can I use Affinity Designer instead of Illustrator to do color separations?

what printer would you recommend for a 13x19 transparency print?

Thanks for the video cam..I need to work on my color separation on illustrator.. this will help. Also saw you watching swagg getting down on call of duty haha

Hey cam, this is a great video, I was just wondering what pri9nter you use/recommend for printing your own film positives

Why do you have to choose the Pantone colors when assigning spot colors? I had to change the color theme of my image because the Pantone color book didn't have colors close to the original image. Is there another option for color choices? Thank for making these videos! You're helping me learn so much!

I made a script which can recolor all colors to PMS. Its part of a logo packer extension tool i helped create. I was checking the blue and pink color and noticed my Illustrator cc 2018 gives a different return using recolor. BOth my script and recolor return PMS 679c, which looks more closer than then pale look 5523c?!

Hey cam I’m a beginner and I worked with the Heat transfer but completely lost with the photoshop to get my film print any help would be appreciated thanks

I have a question . Can I use photoshop to create the art for my shirts to do silk screen ?

How long does it take to learn all these steps in Adobe ? Wow!

I'm still just as clueless as when I first started this video. 😅

You don’t ever need an under-base for black? also are the white cards a separate positive or just part of the under base

Hi!! great video as always. Many thanks. I want to ask something and tell if i am wrong!!! As you sed Acurip is expensive!!! You have your design ready, converted to spot colors. instead of choosing the acurip driver choose the postcript driver and save as .ps file!!! with separations, controlling the output and so on. Then passing the .ps file from acrobat distiller and create a pdf file. Then printing the pdf directly to the printer. I think is the same process from my 90s DTP experience!!!! Forgive my English!!! Thanks again.

I know this is a couple moths old but I hope you see this Comment anyways. Something I do to make my process faster is set up actions. So I have a action to Center and scale my art work to the fullest size of my art. Also for you going into recolor I would make that into and action as well. The cool part about actions is that you can have it do multiple things and then assign a Quick key to it so that you wouldn't have to do it every time.

Dude awesome learning for separation. Can I get a copy of your color will flex?

PS dont you need to clean the file using Merge with pathfinder and then clean oath?. I believe this design has many overlapping path items

So, you’re design was already separated into layers, what do you do if your image is just one layer? For instance if you used the PlaceIt website your mentioned?

very helpful!!

Great video. Do you not overlap the screens a little (like 1pt)?

hi i do screen printing but i have a real hard time on sizing the image. I have been not able to master this. i have a canon x1620 and my print comes really small. any tips?

Hey Cam, I love your videos! Thanks so much for sharing the knowledge!!! I'd love to drive out to Phoenix and shadow you for a day if you'd be cool with that? I have so much to learn about this business

cam yet another great video thks a million

Can you do this in photoshop as well?

Completely new to this...but what is the reason as to why you have to output to AccuRip rather than only turning on each layer you want to print and sending directly from Illustrator to the printer?

Much appreciated! This helped me tremendously!

Holy shit! After watching this video a year later. I am assuming that those watching this know their way around seps in illustrator. Ooops, Illl do a update to this soon that is simpler.

Thanx for the DIY tip when I called you Cam. Good looking out bro.

When you print transparencies does it automatically come out black?

What’s the best printer 2021?

Super helpful video, the one thing I am still confused about is where you mention registration mark fill. I am not exactly sure how to make the reg marks print on each film by only using one spot color?

Whats that plastic name that u printed and colour tye plz

Biggest thing missing is trapping. Aside from that, this is a great video!

First congratulations on the excellent tutorial .. My question is how you printed the halftones directly from the illustrator

the dog in the beginning lmao 😂😂

hello, i think i missed somethin'.... when you start separating colors, "HOW and WHERE do i start?.... i follow all your settings, and then when....... WHAAATTTT????? the A.W is already in there... you already done some of the steps.... BUT THANKS ANYWAY.... its also help me and i still follow subscribed...

Keep em coming bro..🤘

4:12 *cries in graphic designer*

As always, thank you for the info

Do u charge to make a Pantone color if so how much?

Hey there so I'm a beginner and my art work has all kinds of funky going on...so I may need to just start all over but my question is can you separate a font with 2 colors they have a stroke and a fill

I got a little bit lost with the halftone, how did u get it on the print?

Great stuff.

What do you recommend better Adobe vs Acu rip ruby Software?

For a new screen printer who is just trying things out. How would I print out the screens?

Hey cam! WhAt printer do you use to print film?

Where did you find that phat design ?

I feel that pain on the clipping masks! I hate those M Effers! Creating screen printer friendly art is so specialized and such a small niche compared to every other application it's tough to get graphics that are done right for your need unless they come from an artist that actually designs for screen print

HI. I FOLLOWED YOUR SPOT 3 COLOR SEPARATION IN PHOTOSHOP VIDEO STEP BY STEP, AFTER SAVE PHOTOSHOP DC.2.O EPS. IN ILLUSTRATOR I HAVE GOT A MESSAGE(( DCS EPS files cannot be opened or embedded. please place this file using the link option)) when i try to open or embed. please help me

THANK YOU SIR

Yeah over print was much much easier to create an underbase

Do you get your images from a website

What kind of dog is that in the video? Mine (half pekinese, half shih tzu) looks almost identical with the exception of the color and, ironically, also tries to climb in front of my keyboard.

I have been watching a few videos about screen printing but felt the illustrator tutorials a little too fast (I am not familiar with illustrator). I'm wondering what do you use to print films? I do not have a printer and most printers will only print A3 sized paper at most, with anything that prints larger costing exponentially more than a normal printer (in both cost and consumables). So I will likely take the file to a print shop for them to print it, and to save cost I will have them print the films over 2 sheets of A3 sized transparencies (because the cost for 2 A3 sized transparencies is much lower than the cost for a single sheet twice the size of A3). So how would I do the color separations where I do not really have control over how their printer prints? Is there a way to print to a pdf file and so their printer will print exactly what it sees?

Kinda tip. Astute graphics does some awesome plugins that make creating shit in Ai a breeze. Oh, and abuse the Shape Builder tool - probably Ai’s most underused tool I reckon. Gareetings from Souf Africa.

You can halftone the base by using the transparency as a knockout

Got a link to your registration template or is that part of the krabby patty formula?

I noticed you did not apply any trap to this image, how do you deal with that?

i have the cat here! is that works well too? 🙆

Cam, jesse still works for Monument? We are missing your crew.

Sweet

Pake papan banting bisa teu mang?

Naice man

Ive already subcribed

Really helpful tips #ThePrintLife

You are awesome

I stayed watching it because of the dog :)

How to convert this vector to cmyk?

Thank mr

If you do a lot of repetitive actions you can automate some of it with Actions

19:27 anyone know this printer model? or what is the actual name of this machine(printer)?

Hey bro print life fammmm

You are better than the Udemy course I paid for. Why don't you bundle your videos into a Udemy course and make some cash?

"Let's rock & roll" 🎨🖌️✒️⚡🤘

Wait, which minute you make 30% opacity into halftone? how it became halftone?

i hope you are doing well sir?

Great video, I actually learned something.

I hate illustrator. Not that its bad, but i cant do shit in it. Granted most of my time has been learning photoshop. I use sep studio 4 for my separations now, and ive had great luck with it.

Have you ever made screens with forever paper?????

Nice video very cool guy, but way too fast to understand anything, how can I learn to design from the beginning one color first maybe letters only

👍

I had to give a 👍 once he said he didn't give a shit...lmao..

i always wonder why nobody is using illustrator for scren pritning

I hate illustrator. Not that its bad, but i cant do shit in it. Granted most of my time has been learning photoshop. I use sep studio 4 for my separations now, and ive had great luck with it. Most of the things i make are halftones though.

I’m more confused than I was before man.

My Brian hurts.