simulated process in photoshop

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the forum. I'm pretty new here, too and I have a similar issue. I'm trying to find the best way for my company to begin doing our own index, process and simulated processes separations. We've been doing spot color seps for some time now.

I've been researching programs like Fast Films and Screenprint Separator. The screenprinters I use advise against them, but many forum member seem to like Fast Films. The real key is to get the right training and that part has eluded me.

If you get any other advise, be sure to pass it along!

there is nothing wrong with using separation programs. You just need to know that you cannot just press a buttom and BAM you have award winning seps. The progs out there will do a decent job and will look good on press. To get a outstanding print you need to tweak the files after running the progs.

This will get you going with Index Separations
http://www.teedesign.com/Technical_Info.htm
Be warned that lots of gradients do not work well with this type of separation.

Impressionsmag.com is a great industry mag with tons of knowledge that can be learned just by reading the articles. (actually how I learned most of what I know)