
So, what about color separation tools like UltraSep or Separato? While those are nice to have screen-printer software, they are not essential. Bonus: if you’re a screen printer who also provides embroidery services, Inkscape is a great option as it has a free plugin called inkstitch that is meant for embroidery designers.

Inkscape differs from GIMP’s raster editing and photo manipulation capabilities as Inkscape is meant for vector design. It also offers color selector tools and a great image manipulation feature. Inkscape is another open-source screen printing software that is great for vector design. We recommend Inkscape as a free and great alternative to Illustrator. When considering pricing, particularly if you are starting out in the screen printing industry, Illustrator might be pretty expensive. The pricing for Illustrator is $20.99 per month with an annual commitment or $31.49 monthly. Illustrator is the standard for vector image editng, and it’s also capable of color separation. Illustrator is a great software for vector graphics, and is great to use for your screen printing business as clients usually send files in vector format for better resolution. However, if you know how to navigate your way around the software and features, you can find any design tool you desire, including a specific plugin for color separation. The downside to using GIMP is that you do not enjoy a streamlined user experience as the software is crowdsourced. Various plugins and upgrades are available, so you can easily customize your experience as you want it to be. GIMP is a free raster image manipulation software operating on an open-source code. GIMP is a free and great alternative to Photoshop. We understand that integrating Photoshop can be expensive when you are just starting in the printing business.

You also have access to their customer support via phone, email, and an online forum. The annual plan starts at $20.99 a month, while a regular monthly plan is $31.49. Photoshop offers you a 7-day free trial period that includes all the latest version’s features. Photoshop is also available on your desktop or iPad.

You can edit images, separate artwork to be printed onto separate films based on their color, and utilize halftones to print gradients. Widely renowned for being the #1 photo editing suite, Photoshop is a great general-purpose tool for screen printers.Īdobe Photoshop is most powerful for creating and editing raster images. So, here are our top picks for your screen printing design software. There are lots of design software out there, but let’s face it, all you need is software capable of doing color separation. Without great designs, you cannot run a successful screen printing business. Ready to Scale Your Screen Printing Business?ĭesigns can often be the backbone of your screen printing business.
