Print Color Separations With Ghostscript - SEPARATIONS WITHOUT A RIP

I wanted to show you how I print color separations from Illustrator and Photoshop using Ghostscript and CutePDF without spending a dime. A couple of years ago, I showed you how to print color separations from Adobe Illustrator without using any RIP software. Well lots of things have changed since then but I am still not using any RIP.
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[@ceezertheking]

4 years later and your video is helping new screen printers !! thanks!

[@jamesl.223]

Great video, Thanks. One thing I just learned is that if you want your registration marks to print on all layers then you must set the color to registration, its the little swatch that looks like a registration mark. I was pulling my hair out on this one so hopefully this helps someone.

[@jesselejarzar5114]

Hi I just saw this video, I've been screen printing for twenty plus years and I just wanted to let you know I worked at some shops where we use illustrator to output our film without rip software, saving art as png bitmap 55 line 22.5-25 angle elipse or dot as per customer, then import the file in a separation template centered and then select the art and then use fill color registration black, that makes all the ink channels in the ink jet printer to print 100 percent. Works great. The shop where I'm at now uses a rip, and only prints the opaque black and all cleaning fluid in the other ink channels, to keep it easy to clean the head when it clogs with regular head cleaning.

[@TheInkBuildUp]

Awesome. This is what I needed. I currently live in Mexico, and I had someone "show" me how to do this, but I was completely lost due to the fact that he was using CorelDraw and explaining it in Spanish and my Spanish isn't that good. Big thank you.

[@claumoll]

Thank you! even though it is an old video I always come back to check your tutorial when I come across printing the halftones - a life saver

[@drewpocza2947]

I am so glad I found your videos! I was just about to buy AcuRip, and now you saved me some serious cash. I knew there had to be a way to do all this, and I am new to screening printing, but old school graphic designer so it makes sense. All it will cost me is a little time. And at this point, I have that!

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Thanks Drew! Glad you could save some cash!

[@DigitalStickman]

Man you are a godsend. Wish I found your video before my visit to the copy centre.

[@shaunspivey8718]

Great video. Worked like a champ. I use an Epson 7720 without rip. I am new to ScreenPrinting but I was tired of making layers black. Use this with an old (2008) version of Photoshop I had in a box. Thank you for this video.

[@nathandeganislibrera5520]

My mom LOVES your vids.. Thanks for the info as always! Killer shiitt!!

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Tell your mom I say hi! Thanks Nathan

[@michaelcervantes3112]

I havent seen one of your videos in a while. Great video.

[@jrbrandgoods9632]

Great tutorial. I just bought this printer, bulk 3rd party ink and film you recommended in another video. I haven't tried this yet but I will!!

[@devensharma305]

Simple, too the point, no BS. Thank you.

[@dedrahiggins1326]

Great instructional vide and I'm so glad to have come across your channel. Now if I can just find an alternative to CutePDF for a Mac...

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Check out my first video on my channel. I show how to do the same thing with Preview

[@dedrahiggins1326]

Thank you, I will

[@Yendi233]

Good work. I appreciate all your videos about this topic. I refuse to pay for RIP software 😂

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

I will never pay. Well, maybe

[@jamesl.223]

Thanks for sharing your workflow, saved me and probably about 3,000 other idiots like me $1000 on rip software.

[@josesanchez4922]

Thanks for the video... I’ll be trying this on my Canon Pixma Pro-100, can’t wait

[@Killeemegee]

This is what I needed. I have the same printer and it's hard to find rip software that is compatible for it. When I have it's been pretty expensive. Cheers

[@dontripas7728]

I can't wait to go to work tomorrow and try this, i had a bootleg version of accurip that went haywire and there's no way im paying 600 bucks for the real software lol thanks bro

[@user-qs9ix9wq8c]

just switched to adobe. familar with PS, learning Ai. nice video. however when i go to print (4min into video) it shows my process colors there. does this just mean there are still CMYK objects in my file? is this an issue if it doesnt affect the separations outcome of my spot colors? thanks

[@ivantribe]

How would you do the separations prior to that. Like if customer supplied artwork high resolution png and you want to rip with to halftones and having perfect dot, not pixelated dots

[@mikeodom3735]

Great video! What did ghostscript actually add to this workflow? Is it necessary?

[@JohannNavarijo]

Nothing, this is unnecesary

[@cto511987]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Where did Ghostscript come into the picture for the halftones. I use Ghostscript and GSview to print from AI and I don't have to halftone the gradients in Photoshop (a GS ps file is made for all the colors with reg marks and only that colors name on film). Just not sure why you would need rip Ghostscript in his workflow if you are only going to do the halftones yourself. Maybe there is a benefit he sees in this workflow, dunno.

[@dalebrown2128]

Can this work for dtf with colour undercoat and white on top

[@djghettofunk2530]

I just want to print a one color shirt print, the art is bold dark n9 shadows or different colors and want the transparent film print as dark as possible

[@chancesq]

It would be awesome to have a visualization of how the print turns out on a shirt

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

True

[@andy_truong]

Can you do a video on how to print transparencies at Staples or a Fedex for beginners like me and how to setup the document type so it's dark. Would really appreciate it, Love the videos!!

[@variations3]

Hi there, thank you so much for your video, super helpful :) I wanted to ask you, I have a hp laser jet for making films, not inkjet, is it still better to use ghostscript on a mac, doing the separations in illustrator instead of just doing the separations on photoshop, and then applying the halftone? Confused if I still need to install / use ghostscript, If I have an HP COLOR LASERJET printer.

[@grafprint2765]

Thank you for sharing. i have a question. does it matter the version of illustrator? i ask because when i send to print it only shows my process colors. none of the color separated colors .

[@openminded9224]

thanks Nate

[@yungthug182]

Shouldn't the rip software create the halftones without bit mapping and print darker? Otherwise, what's the point of the software?

[@sergepierre4344]

This video was a life saver. I almost gave up at one point! I wanted to know if CutePDF and Ghostscript works with GIMP or inkscape??

[@jamilmuhammad1320]

Thank you very much ❤

[@battrivera6884]

Omg. This is amazing. I just started screen printing, and this is a game changer for me. What do you do when this is on a dark shirt though? Underbase layer?

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Thanks Batt. Yes I add an underbase when I'm still in illustrator. I give the underbase a 1pt choke most of the time.

[@shaunspivey8718]

Ok, I’ve hit a snag. My spot gray is printing gray and not black. What am I doing wrong?

[@Hvsk-616]

What if you wanted to do this but with cmyk process? Would it still work?

[@sujayroy5758]

I like your video.. after a long tine I find perfect video ..

[@pupakearoad5483]

Replacing old laptop. Would you please give necessary requirements to run the programs you use ? Ram, cpu, ssd, that stuff. Hard to sift thru all the info out there. Any advice will be appreciated. Staying under $1k for a PC. Thank you

[@Dan-ol7ed]

Is there a way to get perfectly round halftone dots?

[@Big___Sarge]

Just tried this out works great but how do you get the underbase if printing on dark shirt

[@jonathanzambrano6349]

Good question....

[@haiqqalahmadi428]

Simple, use block design for the first print

[@ianbowie8121]

So do those free software downloads automatically set and seperate your spot colors ?!

[@rixal78]

how to do you make that design to spot color?

[@tolumontanafitness]

What transparency paper do you use? I find when I use my acetate paper it just prints too much ink that runs everywhere. Any tips or the paper you use. Thanks

[@dreamsports6235]

Once I go to output it is only showing one color ? need help?

[@caligrindin9492]

I tried this today and couldn't get it to work smh probably gonna try again tomorrow

[@WHYTEBLURGaming]

hey man i'm using the same printer pixma ix6820. Do you know how to make the printer pull black ink from the bigger 250BK cartridge instead of the smaller 251B

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Im not entirely sure but I think it pulls from there when it thinks it's printing only text. If there's a way to trick it into thinking it's printing text maybe?

[@StayViralMedia]

Hey, Sorry for what probably is a dumb question but I'm new to screen printing. I'm doing my first design with no gradient or halftones. I am using spot color where one area is all one area. Is this needed for basic spot color designs or is for the more complex designs. Thanks and great video!

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Yes this method can be used to print films for a basic one color design. You should still go through the steps to rasterize it before printing

[@samcowey2443]

Does this create a faded color issue when printing? I imagine if the halftones of two different colors don’t line up correctly it would create space where the shirt is exposed. For example the green and yellow blend. The green halftones would need to print exactly where the yellow halftones are not. What’s preventing photoshop from producing halftones that are just sitting on top of one another? Hopefully this question makes sense 😅

[@BigTazz83]

this method does not reconsider interlock halftones. unless you have a rip that supports interlocking you will need to do it manually in PS.

[@samcowey2443]

@@BigTazz83 interlocking halftones yes, thank you… I’ll have to look up a PS tutorial for that

[@BigTazz83]

@@samcowey2443 please see the following channel: kzbin.info Max Chroma has a thorough explanation of how those things work.

[@backhandthings4942]

are you using an all black ink system?

[@terradan2013]

When doing this for CMYK prints, how do I know which film is for each particular color when printing from photoshop or does it matter?

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Label them in illustrator using their corresponding colors

[@techgalaxy100]

Nice video bro!!

[@poseidon3741]

Good day Bro, this will work in Coreldraw?

[@jamescrellin2886]

Great Vid man!! I am curious what you are using to screen record that has that magnification option?

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Thanks James. I used to use ScreenFlow for Mac. Now I use Camtasia 9 for Windows

[@omargonzalez77]

AWSOME! HOW DO YOU TRANSFER THE REG MARKS ONTO EACH LAYER?

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

There is a color swatch in illustrator called registration (it looks like a little target) that will show up on every layer. Anything with that color applied to it shows up on every film

[@CyrilLebret]

Hey ! Awesome video !!! I was thinking we have to change the angle of the halftone screen for each colors, am I wrong ?

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Yes usually. I do it in increments of 15 degrees but I don't know if this is best practice. Thanks cyril!

[@CyrilLebret]

@@StartScreenPrintingNowTV thank you for your answer. I'm asking because I don't know what to do about hat either and I thought you where going to talk about that haha. No worries. Thank you so much for this video this is really awesome and helping a lot. Keep going !

[@901thuggin]

Does it work in Coreldraw?

[@bagahmet]

hi my friend; this is perfect share thanks , i installed cute pdf and gost script , when i click the write button the cutepdf dialog box don't come to save as a pdf, only popup a dialog( cutePDF Writer must be used with PS2PDF converter.) and i instaled that but nothing change. Do you know why ?

[@sherwinlabrador5110]

try install the 32bit version of GhostScript

[@theinsaneone8795]

@@sherwinlabrador5110 THAT WORKED THANKS!!

[@MrGUSGUS2]

Help full video, are you able to guide me on how to do a one-color design with this process? I usually just get one-color orders for white ink.

[@DanteNava]

I think with one color you don't need to separate colors and just print it to black.

[@MrGUSGUS2]

@@DanteNava from experience you need too make your image in spot colors in or the Canon will not print dark enough positivess, but I figured it out.

[@DanteNava]

@@MrGUSGUS2 what did you end up doing? I'm still new to this too. Did you use black spot color?

[@MrGUSGUS2]

@@DanteNava correct, I followed all his steps except for one... I converted the image into a black spot color, that was my 1st step. I'll post the link in just a bit. you'll see it will make a significant difference.

[@MrGUSGUS2]

@@DanteNava here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2m1oXatbMiWnq8 let me know what you think!

[@designsmaniacs4688]

hi what are you doing now a days

[@JohannNavarijo]

NO. This is not the way you use GS. Export your file in .eps and open with Corel Draw, then select GS and spot process (Select the DPI and the angle), then save the files in .ps and open it with GSView, then print in your regular printer. GS will make the halftones as a RIP Printer emulator.

[@zacharyvaughn8135]

why can't you just copy and paste your artwork from illustrator directly into photoshop and convert it to bitmap and print it out the same way?

[@terradan2013]

The idea is to separate the colors for screen printing each color individually to arrive at the original image. Doing it that way you won't be separating all of the colors.

[@Xhilyn]

"right off the bat"

[@barnavah]

One question are Ghostscript and CutePDF compatible with Corel Draw?

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Hi Hector. I'm actually not sure. I don't have Corel installed to test

[@barnavah]

@@StartScreenPrintingNowTV it's ok I'll try it on Corel Draw I'll let you know if it works

[@oscarmartinez-wb9io]

Nice video I just subscribe I think is not complete free illustrator is expensive. But a lot less the acuript for sure

[@felixc.castillo9115]

super fire flame!

[@liewarscreenprinting]

Nica

[@EJSVARZ]

man i wish this was on mac

[@stevencoffman1707]

Hey is there a Cutepdf for mac im stomped

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

There is not BUT you can use the built in program called Preview to get a PDF

[@potatosalad5355]

Ok my friend, you have a bit of confusion of concepts ... First of all, you can save your artwork as * .PS (Postscript) directly from Illustrator (with all output configurations ready, lpi, angles, etc.) Now that you have INSTALLED GHOSTSCRIPT (the PostScript interpreter) you need to install "GHOSTVIEW" (A Viewer to view PS from Ghostscript) Once you open the Illustrator PostScript file in GHOSTVIEW, you will see all the plates like the ones you see in Photoshop . I mean a beautiful gradient and NO HALF TONE. ....! Relax, the Half tone is there "under the hood", all you have to do is save the entire document in PDF from Ghostview ... and you can see the CRISPY AND CLEAN HALF TONE ...! .... obviously you can print directly from GHOSTVIEW and you will get a positive print of half tone... Finally the Ghostscript+Ghostview together ARE THE R I P SOFTWARE... : )

[@StartScreenPrintingNowTV]

Hi Adam. I actually played around with ghostview a while back and wasn't able to get it to work. Maybe it's because I didn't realize it provided those halftones under the hood like you mentioned. This is a good tip. Thank you

[@JanetDiaz6152]

Ghostview seems like its been discontiued . I tired to install and it says failed .. Is there anything else i use ??

[@manooti]

im trying to understand all this. whats the point of using gs and gsview if youre already doing the halftones and using ai and ps? why not just make the halftones manually in ps?

[@710addict]

manooti I’m asking the same question

[@bradbiddle3067]

Ghostview is discontinued. gsview.com/

[@youwierd]

Work on Mac?

[@ShawnMKnox]

Nope. Apparently Windows only. Back to the drawing board.

[@gideon360]

Use pdf for separations.... you loose quality when you go to photoshop. Cool video.

[@backhandthings4942]

share this video with your mom

[@RajuKhan-ds7by]

Print job aply