How to prepare a spot-color logo for screen printing

1. Ask whether the printer wants artwork or separations

A client needs a two-color logo on staff shirts. Your first question is not which PDF preset sounds most professional. Ask whether the shop wants clean composite artwork for its own prepress team or a file with production separations already prepared. Those are different deliverables, and the second requires agreed production specifications.

Record the garment material and color, print location, final artwork dimensions, quantity and approved logo version. Ask the shop to identify any detail that cannot reproduce reliably at that placement. Do not substitute generic internet measurements for the shop’s requirements or assume a mockup communicates the exact print size.

Supplier intake rules differ. For example, Good Ink asks for RGB source artwork and handles ink matching later. Follow the chosen supplier’s brief rather than treating that example as a universal color-mode rule.

Further reading: Good Ink: design and intake guidelines

2. Write an ink map before editing colors

Describe what each visible region means physically. Is the white lettering printed white ink, or is it unprinted garment showing through? Is the navy background a navy shirt or a large printed rectangle? A screenshot cannot reliably answer those questions. Put the answers in the job brief and make the artwork consistent with them.

For a proposed red-and-white logo on a black shirt, list red ink, visible white ink and unprinted black fabric separately. Ask whether a base layer is needed under the red and whether the shop treats that as a separate screen or print step. Do not quote the job as two screens solely because the brand drawing contains two visible colors.

Use the supplier’s accepted ink identifiers or approved matching references. If the quote permits only stock inks, show the client the proposed substitution before changing the art. An approximate on-screen match is not approval to replace a specified brand color.

3. Build actual spots when that is the agreed deliverable

Keep the editable brand master and make a production copy. In Illustrator, use Window > Swatches and create or edit the required swatches with Color Type set to Spot Color. Apply the intended swatch consistently to the relevant artwork. Merely renaming a process swatch “Brand Red” does not change its color type.

Review the file for near-identical colors that accidentally use different swatches. Confirm whether lighter areas are intentional tints, separate inks or unwanted leftovers. Keep a short list of expected inks beside the file so the designer checking it does not have to infer the plan from appearance alone.

A one-ink logo should be evaluated as one intended printing separation, not merely as something that looks black on screen. Do not use the Registration swatch for logo artwork: that special swatch is intended to appear on all printing plates. Document color mode and ink structure are related settings, not interchangeable concepts.

Further reading: Adobe: create spot-color swatches · Adobe: swatches and Registration color

4. Inspect what each separation contains

In Illustrator’s CMYK workflow, open Separations Preview, enable Overprint Preview and inspect each ink. Compare its contents with your ink map. Investigate unexpected process-color marks, missing letters or extra spot names. Preserve the supplier’s requested source separately if its intake mode differs.

Hiding an ink in this panel changes only the preview, not actual output. Adobe also identifies production settings the preview cannot verify. Use this check to detect artwork problems, not to certify film, mesh or press setup.

Further reading: Adobe: separation preview and its limitations

5. Leave technical production choices with their owner

Ask who prepares the underbase, trapping and any halftones. Do not add a guessed choke, universal overlap or automatic black overprint because another tutorial recommended it. These changes can affect the design and depend on the actual production method. If the shop wants you to build them, request its specifications and agree how the output will be reviewed.

Keep gradients and transparency visible in the discussion. If a flat spot treatment is needed, get the changed appearance approved. If the client wants the original tonal effect, ask the printer to assess the appropriate separation method rather than pretending a solid-color export preserves it. This guide concerns a flat spot-color logo, not a complete simulated-process separation tutorial.

6. Deliver a reviewable job, not a readiness claim

Send the requested artwork, a labeled composite reference and the job brief together. Include the agreed dimensions, garment color, ink map and unresolved questions. Export using the printer’s requested format and settings, then reopen the delivered file to check that the intended color structure survived. Keep presentation backgrounds out of production art unless they are meant to print.

Review the supplier’s proof against the same brief. Confirm placement, spelling, proportions, color references and any production adaptations. If exact appearance is critical, discuss a physical sample before the full run. Label the status accurately: supplied for prepress review is not the same as approved for production.

Screen-printing handoff checklist

• ✓The printer has confirmed composite artwork versus prepared separations.
• ✓Garment, placement and final dimensions are recorded.
• ✓Printed white and unprinted fabric are distinguished.
• ✓The ink map matches the approved artwork and quote assumptions.
• ✓Spot swatches and separation contents have been checked where required.
• ✓Underbase, trapping and halftone responsibilities are assigned.
• ✓The delivered export has been reopened and inspected.
• ✓The named approver has reviewed the supplier’s proof.