Most affordable — from $15

Spot Color
Separation Service

Clean, precise PANTONE-matched separations for logos, branded apparel, and flat-color artwork. Every color gets its own screen — crisp edges, perfect registration, and vibrant opaque coverage on any garment color.

Same-day delivery
From $15 per design
PANTONE® color matching
Send Your Artwork >Ask a Question
Spot color separation for screen printing — flat color channels in Photoshop

Spot color separation — each ink isolated as a clean solid channel

The Technique

What Is Spot Color Separation?

Spot color separation is the foundation of screen printing. Each color in your design is isolated into its own channel and printed as a solid, opaque ink — no halftone dots, no color blending, just clean and direct coverage straight onto the garment.

Unlike CMYK process printing, spot color inks are pre-mixed to an exact formula — most commonly using the PANTONE® Matching System (PMS). This means your brand's specific blue, your logo's exact red, and any color in between can be reproduced with total consistency from run to run, shop to shop, anywhere in the world.

Spot colors are also the most opaque inks available in screen printing. This high opacity means they can print bright and accurate over dark garments, block out fabric color beneath them, and produce vivid results that transparent process inks simply can't match on dark substrates.

  • Works on dark and light garments — any fabric color
  • Exact PANTONE® Coated or Uncoated color matching
  • Crisp, clean edges — ideal for logos, text, and graphics
  • Up to 12 colors per design
  • Most affordable separation — starts at just $15
  • Trapping added between adjacent colors automatically
  • Optional halftone gradients within a single spot color
SPOT COLOR — HOW IT WORKS ORIGINAL ARTWORK → SEPARATE SCREEN 1 PMS 021 C SCREEN 2 PMS 285 C SCREEN 3 PMS 130 C RESULT ✓ PRINT READY PANTONE® 021 285 130 PMS NUMBERS SPOT COLOR KEY FACTS ✓ Each color = one screen = one solid opaque ink ✓ Works on black, white, and all colored garments ✓ PANTONE® matched — consistent across all print runs

Each color in your design becomes its own screen with its own PMS ink

PANTONE® Color Matching

Any Color. Exact Every Time.

We specify the exact PANTONE® PMS number for every ink channel. Your printer mixes the ink to formula — the same result every time, on any press, anywhere in the world.

PMS 485 C
PMS 021 C
PMS 151 C
PMS 130 C
PMS 109 C
PMS 354 C
PMS 342 C
PMS 313 C
PMS 285 C
PMS 2757 C
PMS 268 C
PMS 226 C
PMS 9100 C
Cool Gray 8
PMS Black C
PMS 4625 C
PMS 698 C
Silver
Gold
Neon Pink
Neon Yellow

Any PANTONE® Coated, Uncoated, or custom-mixed color — fluorescents and metallics included. We identify the exact PMS numbers and include them with every separation.

Real Separation Files

What Your Files Look Like

Each spot color is delivered as a clearly labeled channel in Photoshop — one screen per color, trapping applied, and organized for immediate output.

Spot color separation file in Photoshop — labeled color channels for screen printing

Clean Photoshop channels — one per color, clearly labeled with PMS reference

Spot color separation sample — screen-ready flat color file for apparel printing

Screen-ready output — each color registered and ready to film or RIP

What's Included

Everything You Need to Print

Every spot color separation includes professional trapping between color areas to prevent gaps or misregistration halos, PANTONE® ink number specifications for your printer, and a clean PSD file with every color on its own named layer.

Tip: Spot colors can also be combined with CMYK process printing. Adding one or two spot color channels to a CMYK base lets you hit out-of-gamut colors like vivid orange, neon green, or exact brand colors that CMYK alone can't reproduce.

Up to 12 spot color channels
PANTONE® PMS specification
Trapping between all colors
White underbase (dark shirts)
Highlight white (if needed)
Color correction included
Optional halftone gradients
Named layers in PSD
Print order recommendation
Ink density notes
Revisions included
RIP & film compatible
WORKS ON ANY GARMENT COLOR DARK GARMENT ✓ Opaque = vibrant ✓ Blocks dark fabric WHITE UNDERBASE added automatically 021 285 130 White BLACK SHIRT LIGHT GARMENT ✓ Same inks ✓ Works great NO UNDERBASE needed on light shirts 021 285 130 WHITE SHIRT

Spot color inks work equally well on dark and light garments

Our Process

From Artwork to Screen-Ready File in 4 Steps

Send your artwork in any format — we handle every technical detail and deliver a print-ready file the same day.

01

Send Your Artwork

Any file works: PSD, AI, PDF, PNG, JPG, CDR. Vector artwork gives the cleanest results, but we can work from raster files too.

02

Color Identification

We identify every color in your design, match each to the closest PANTONE® Coated or Uncoated number, and confirm the ink count.

03

Channel Separation

Each color is isolated into its own clean channel. Trapping is applied between all adjacent colors. Underbase added for dark shirts.

04

File Delivery

You receive a layered PSD with named channels, PMS ink numbers, print-order notes, and ink density recommendations.

Why Choose Spot Color

The Printer's Most Trusted Separation Method

Reliable, affordable, and color-accurate — spot color separations are the backbone of the screen printing industry for good reason.

Exact Brand Color Accuracy

PANTONE® PMS numbers guarantee your brand colors print identically every time — critical for corporate uniforms, licensed merchandise, and brand consistency across multiple print runs.

Most Durable Prints

Opaque spot color inks lay down thick, solid coverage that withstands heavy washing. No halftone dots to fade — just pure, vibrant color that lasts the lifetime of the garment.

Lowest Cost Option

Starting at just $15 per separation. Fewer colors mean fewer screens, less setup time, and lower per-shirt costs — spot color is the most economical path to professional results.

How It Compares

Spot Color vs Other Methods

Spot color is ideal for clean graphics and brand marks. When your design has photos or gradients, other methods may be better — we'll always recommend the right approach for your artwork.

Feature Spot Color Simulated Process CMYK Process
Best for Logos, text, flat graphics Photos on dark garments Photos on white garments
Works on dark garments ✓ Excellent ✓ Excellent ✗ Not recommended
Photo/gradient support ✗ Flat only ✓ Excellent ✓ On white
PANTONE® matching ✓ Exact Approximate Approximate
Ink channels 1–12 6–10 4
Starting price $15 $25 $20
Edge sharpness Razor sharp Soft halftone edges Soft halftone edges
Common Questions

Spot Color Separation FAQ

Spot color separation isolates each color in your design into its own channel. Each channel is printed as a solid, opaque ink — one screen per color. The result is crisp, vibrant, and consistent, making it ideal for logos, text, solid fills, and clean graphic artwork on any garment color.
We can separate any number of spot colors. Most jobs use 1–8 colors, and we can go up to 12 or more. Keep in mind that each color requires its own screen — more colors means higher setup costs on press. If your design has more than 8 well-defined colors, we may recommend simulated process as a more cost-effective alternative. We'll always advise what works best for your specific design.
Yes. We identify and specify the exact PANTONE® Coated (C) or Uncoated (U) PMS number for every ink channel in your separation. We include these numbers with the delivered file so your printer can mix the inks to the precise PANTONE® formula. This ensures color consistency across every print run, on any press, anywhere in the world.
Absolutely — spot colors are one of the best methods for printing on dark garments. Because spot color inks are opaque, they block the dark fabric beneath and lay down bright and accurate. For very dark shirts, we add a white underbase beneath the design to maximize vibrancy. This is included automatically in every separation for dark garments.
Yes. Even within a single spot color ink, we can create gradient effects using halftone dots — the ink transitions from solid coverage to a lighter shade using varying dot sizes. This is different from simulated process (which mixes multiple spot colors to create full-color imagery) but allows you to add shading or dimension to a spot color design without adding extra ink channels.
Trapping is a small intentional overlap (typically 0.3–0.5pt) added between adjacent color areas. Without trapping, even minor misregistration on press can leave a thin white gap between colors. We apply trapping automatically to all spot color separations — you'll never see those white lines between your colors, even on a manual press.
We accept PSD, AI, PDF, PNG, JPG, TIFF, EPS, CDR, PPT, and PUB on Mac and PC. Vector files (AI, EPS, PDF) give the cleanest results for spot color work. Raster files at 300 DPI at print size also work well. If your file is low resolution, contact us and we can advise whether vectorization is needed.

Get Your Spot Color Separation Today

Send your logo, apparel design, or artwork and we'll deliver clean, PANTONE-matched spot color separations — ready to burn to screens the same day you submit.

Send Your Artwork >Ask a Question

Accepts PSD · AI · PDF · PNG · JPG · CDR · Same-day available · From $15

Other Services

More Separation Options

Simulated Process

Simulated Process Separation

Photo-realistic prints on dark garments using opaque spot color halftones. Best for complex artwork, gradients, and portraits.

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CMYK Process

Four Color Process (CMYK)

Full-color printing on white and light garments using transparent inks. Most economical option for photographic designs.

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Index Color

Index Color Separation

Square-dot separations with zero moiré risk. Great for fashion prints, soft-hand printing, and lower mesh counts.

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Leo Ortiz
● Online · Color Separation Expert

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