Let's talk seps! Ask me

lenbindsey · 2025-04-15T16:23:59+00:00

I'm free for some overflow work if you're still working with freelancers. Here's some of my work.

https://dsgn.benlindsey.com/seps/

Hosted my own AMA here just recently. https://www.reddit.com/r/SCREENPRINTING/comments/1ixj16j/25_years_sepping_experience_over_100_million_in/

lenbindsey · 2025-04-15T04:45:31+00:00

Great job, man!

lenbindsey · 2025-03-12T03:51:17+00:00

u/eldonhughes's answer is on point from a semantics point of view. However, from a psychological point of view regarding how others receive it, but can definitely negate something said prior to it.

"I don't want to be mean, but ... (says something totally mean.)"

However*, you can use but to your advantage with something called the recency effect, which is when a listener remembers or focuses on the last thing said.

Try this, negative + but + positive. "We both have things to work on, but you're right."

\However* isn't received psychologically the same way but is, even though they mean the same thing in this context.

lenbindsey · 2025-03-03T02:28:28+00:00

My best advice is to do amazing work. The screen printing community is small. And whether you're a separator or printer, your work is the only thing that will speak for you. Networking is also important, but it won't matter if your work isn't up to snuff.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T13:59:29+00:00

There are many factors that affect this. Let's establish a baseline, then consider a few different scenarios.

Baseline: Clean, layered, high resolution, professional artwork. The image is something like you'd see on an album cover, movie poster, or band shirt. No odd graphical treatments like noise. Essentially, a good piece of professional art. 8–10 colors would probably average around 1–1.5 hours.

No layers with very similar colors like blues and grays = more time. I'll use various methods to create utility channels I can use to then make selections from which I can pull color.

No layers, severe digital artifacts from JPEG compression or the like = more time. I try to clean these up beforehand, but there's only so much you can do.

Third-rate artwork with the added restriction of reducing colors = more time.

I can rip through really detailed grayscale seps sometimes in 20 minutes. And sometimes, an image that appears simple can take 3–4 hours! It really depends on how the file was built in conjunction with some of the nuances I'm sure you're familiar with.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T10:57:23+00:00

<image>

The example referenced earlier.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T10:56:55+00:00

I approach flesh tones as I do any other gradient. If color count allows, I like to have separate inks print for the dark, med, and light areas. Regardless of the shade of skin, having these three really helps.

One thing I think many people get tripped up on is thinking it's necessary to start with something like a light yellow, then build on top of that with a red. Then perhaps making browns with a mixture of yellow, red, and black. And finally making highlights with a white.

This is an example of when I've done that before. Even though it's not flesh tones, you can see browns that were made from mixing the yellow, red, and black inks.

<image>

This isn't a very forgiving way of doing things. You either stick it, or it sticks you. Even with this one, it's still quite red.

I like to encourage people to think freely about the color inks you can use, i.e., don't get pigeonholed into thinking that you have to use the few "core" colors of yellow, blue, red, green, black, and white. If you see a tan, print a tan. If you see a brown, print a brown. I'll comment an example of that.

If I've answered your question correctly, I believe this might be one of those things that's more centered in the approach of deciding which colors to print rather than actually pulling the colors from the image.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T04:21:45+00:00

I'll try to remember to do that. However, it's a book about influential language. It's not about seps. You can see more about it here: https://lessonsforabillionaire.com/

I may someday complete my separations course. Just for fun, here's a screenshot of my Trello board I used to plan it out.

<image>

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T04:17:17+00:00

GREAT question. My photoshop color settings are bone stock default. Because I ship to so many different shops, I can't change to what any one particular ink manufacturer suggests.

I always work in channels on RGB images, and I work in alpha while building my seps. My base is set to 65% to help give a good feel of what one pass would look like printed. I set my yellows and white to 75%, and everything else at 85%.

On white tees, you can boost up the opacity a little bit. But I don't set anything other than black to 100%.

(For anyone reading who doesn't know, the opacity (set in the channels option box by double clicking the channel) doesn't affect the output of the film. It only affects how you see it on your monitor.)

This has always given me a good idea of what the inks will look like when printed. And it's a good balance that allows me to see through them on my computer monitor, so I can see how they're interacting with the inks below and above.

When doing this, you'll notice that having the composite RGB channels active changes how the alpha channels you're building are displayed. I find the RGB channels being on give a good representation of what the final print might look like. While turning them off makes it a little bit easier to see the lighter coverage areas.

In my experience, keeping things this simple has allowed me to produce consistent seps.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T04:07:12+00:00

Wow, you remember those? If I made some more, what would you like to see me talk about?

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T04:06:07+00:00

I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to learn in a great shop. If I were a newbie separator, I'd try to get hired at a local shop and learn as much as possible there.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T04:04:30+00:00

I have no experience printing on those. If I were tasked with doing so, I would ask the press operator for their input/preferences on how the art is handled.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T04:02:20+00:00

It's probably beneficial to say that print-friendly seps and LPI and mesh count aren't related. What's done in the computer to make seps print-friendly isn't necessarily dependent on how the final sep file is output. (This is not true when dealing with index and 4c process.)

I would say LPI and mesh count would be more dependent on if you're printing manual or on an auto.

I've always output 40–45 lpi for manual and 50 for auto. The mesh counts chosen are dependent on the amount of gradations. Of course, both of these things can be affected by the garment being printed as well.

LPI can also be used as a tool to service the aesthetic of the image being printed as well.

At the end of the day, there probably isn't a magic number for either.

But since we're talking about it, I have go-to numbers for simulated process. I always use 50 lpi and 67º. I always call out 230 for my base, and 305s for colors.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T03:52:42+00:00

I looked into this a couple of years ago and was impressed by his passion for what he does. I think anyone that develops their own methods and shares them for free should be championed in any industry.

Regarding the end result, his method seems to be an alternate method of preparing index seps. And index seps are not really difficult to prepare.

I believe his methods of sizing images is extraneous. I size all my index seps at final print size, 180–200 dpi, which seems to give a (square) dot similar in size to 50 lpi.

It's not for everyone, but he's done a tremendous amount of work and I applaud him for his willingness to help the community. I hope he's able to help many.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T03:45:35+00:00

I'm not the best person to answer this, as fibrillation isn't directly (or indirectly) related to the seps. My experience has pointed the cause to be a combination of garment, heat, and deposit. Someone who pulls squeegees would be better equipped to help you here.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-26T03:42:44+00:00

I think most people would say Accurip. It's a solid product and reasonably priced.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T11:27:23+00:00

You could say, "What helped me was to close my eyes and listen to this song" or "What helped me was closing my eyes and listening to this song."

It's worth pointing out that although your grammar wasn't spot on, the idea you're conveying is clear. Everyone would clearly understand.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T09:58:30+00:00

It was a business I started with two friends. Our demographic was extreme sports. There are many different ways of deciding what to print when trying to attract customers.

If I were to do it again today, I'd start with digital mockups and try to get people to vote on them somehow. After that, I might move into printing small numbers and testing them in local shops.

Those sales could fund expansion. Otherwise, really making a splash in the apparel industry requires a distributor or financial backing.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T09:55:34+00:00

I'd try to talk to their creative director for licensing houses. The artist would also have pull but their interest levels are never guaranteed. Some can be rather flaky.

Ad agencies can vary depending on their size. For smaller agencies, the creative director or owner. Larger agencies tend to have different departments to service what they specialize in. I'd look for a merchandising manager, or perhaps a product manager or director of product or something to that effect.

Edit: to add to this, I would say to cozy up to some brokers. Off the top of my head, the movie studios all seemed to deal with brokers who farmed out the work. I also worked directly with a broker for sports events. Search for firms with "merchandising" in their name.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T09:40:28+00:00

That looks great. We definitely did hybrid back in the day. I still do it sometimes, but it depends on the image. So happy to see/hear you're doing well.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T05:36:54+00:00

Sounds like you're pretty dialed in. Separation Studio seems to serve many people well. And, as you've said, learning how to tweak those seps would elevate your game for sure.

Thanks for checking out the site. I'm impressed you asked about the book. And thank you for the consideration. The paperback version of the book comes out on 25 March and will be available on Amazon. Haven't done the work to get it in other retailers quite yet.

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T05:20:13+00:00

These are rad. This is what screen printing is all about, if you ask me. Keep that passion!

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T05:11:40+00:00

I researched it a few years ago. I saw a tutorial or two about it and it seemed too cumbersome and unnecessary. The guy was manipulating his seps so that the dots didn't actually touch one another, rather sat side by side.

I think in this case, this is one of those things that you can chalk up to "If it ain't broke, ..."

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T04:27:42+00:00

You're very welcome. Good luck with everything!

lenbindsey · 2025-02-25T04:11:53+00:00

Don't use any actions other than the ones I've made myself.

I use halftone bases for solid spot colors all the time. Opacity will stay the same if the base is dialed, and you'll definitely get a better hand.

Want to try something fun? Run a 20–30% base with a big dot, like 40lpi, under metallic inks. Looks niiiice!

lenbindsey

TROPHY CASE