[JRL0501]

When designing an artwork in photoshop, if I use only 3 different spot colors but combine them together with gradients, different opacities and layering etc for a hand painted effect, does it still count as a 3 color design that can be separated and screen printed with just 3 colors?

I really have no idea about this sort of thing so I hope this isn't a silly question

 

[Preston]

When designing an artwork in photoshop, if I use only 3 different spot colors but combine them together with gradients, different opacities and layering etc for a hand painted effect, does it still count as a 3 color design that can be separated and screen printed with just 3 colors?

I really have no idea about this sort of thing so I hope this isn't a silly question

Yes, no, maybe..

If you create the art using just 3 colors from a pallet and variations there of into say an RGB file it may or may not be able to be separated back into just 3 plates for making screens.

If on the other hand you create the art with the 3 colors placing each one in it own channel and not in the composite RGB or CMYK channels then it will already be separated to use just the 3 spot colors for screen printing. This can be done by starting with a blank RGB file and creating new channels for each color or starting with a multichannel file and creating a channel for each color.

 

[JRL0501]

Awesome, thankyou.
What about using halftones to transition between colors and different opacities, is that another way to go about making an image with lots of shading that would be easy to print in 3 colors?

 

[Preston]

Awesome, thankyou.
What about using halftones to transition between colors and different opacities, is that another way to go about making an image with lots of shading that would be easy to print in 3 colors?

Sure, this is done all the time. A prime example is with 4 color process. This is using halftones of 4 colors to make 64 million colors. While you cannot get that many colors from regular spot color mixing you can get a wide variety. Naturally the less spot colors you have to work with the fewer color mixes you can achieve. If you have a red screen and a yellow screen then you can print red, yellow and a wide range of orange by mixing the red and yellow with halftones. Add a blue screen and you can now get red, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and a shade of black.

The method used in screen printing is called "Subtractive Color mixing". Here is some basic info on it. Plastisol Ink Mixing & Color Theory