In order to prepare the graphics to print on t-shirts you will need to utilize some specialized screen printing software. There are a lot of screen printing software programs to choose from today. They will help you work with RGB (red green blue) images, vector based images and pixel based graphics too. In order to determine which program is best for you, it is important to take a look at which ones are available on the market today.
Easy Art Software
Wilfex manufactures Easy Art Software, which is a great tool for separating colors and designing graphic. This is a plug in software program for Adobe Photoshop. With it you will find that it is easy to create color separations in the spot color channels in Photoshop so that you will be able to output films. You will find that it is easy to do because the program will actually tell you which order to print the colors in and what ink formulas to use. For what it does, this is actually one of the least expensive screen printing software programs costing around $400.
Spot Process Vue Rite
Spot Process Vue Rite is another color separation and adjustment program. Its features are specific to screen printing t-shirts and clothing. With this program you will be able to separate colors and create TIF format images that are in the RGB color mode. You can also easily adjust tonal images. All of this will only take you a matter of seconds to do because of all of the great tools that this program has to offer. Once you have everything done you will be able to accurately preview it on your computer screen too. This is a stand-alone program that will cost you around $700.
Adobe Illustrator
The leading screen printing software program is Adobe Illustrator. It is able to produce vector-based images that you can then scale to any size you wish without worrying about losing its resolution. This makes it easy to create t-shirt art because you can draw, type and use both shape and color tools within this program in order to create your design. You will also be able to easily select which color to print. If you are planning to use a continuous tone image, you can even import it into the program for use. Adobe Illustrator’s files can also be exported to Adobe Photoshop. All of this can be yours for around $600.
Adobe Photopshop
The gold standard program for pixel based editing is Adobe Photoshop. This program will allow you to create and edit art, logos and graphics. As a t-shirt printer you will be able to create color separations for your film’s output within Photoshop’s channel palettes. You will also be able to create process color film simply by choosing what color you want to work with from the print dialog box. The screen angles and number of dots per inch can also be manually set. However, Photoshop will not automatically create underbase white channels, so this is something that you will need to do manually. Nevertheless, this is still a great screen printing software program that can be had for around $700.
Raven Vector Editor
Anyone who is interested in some free screen printing software should take a look at Raven Vector Editor. This design tool is available online for creating vector formatted full scalable art and designs. It also makes it easy for you to be able t create t-shirt designs and logos. Therefore, it is a great program for anyone who is just getting started in screen printing or who cannot yet afford one of the other, previously mentioned programs.