Start hereNo RIP, no Photoshop bitmap dialog
A dedicated film RIP costs $495 or more before you have printed a single shirt. PrintFilmReady does the same calculation — line frequency from your mesh count, a 22.5° angle that avoids moiré, and true 1-bit output — for free, in your browser, with nothing uploaded.
Halftone films without a RIP
How browser-based screening replaces a RIP for spot-colour work, and where the cheap routes (Photoshop bitmap mode, online converters) go wrong.
Read the guide →Color separation for screen printing
How artwork gets split into spot-colour layers, one film per ink, ready to expose.
Read the guide →Get the numbers rightMesh, LPI, exposure and moiré
Four numbers decide whether a garment print holds detail or falls apart on press: mesh count, line frequency, exposure time and halftone angle. Get any one wrong and the symptom looks like a different problem entirely.
Mesh to LPI calculator
Free tool. Enter your mesh count, get the line frequency, smallest printable dot and usable tonal range.
Open the calculator →Exposure calculator
Free tool. One test film, one screen — work out correct exposure time without guessing.
Open the calculator →Step wedge generator
Free tool. Printable step wedge to read your screen's real exposure latitude.
Open the generator →Why halftone dots wash out
The four causes, in the order worth checking, and the mesh-thread-count table behind them.
Read the guide →Moiré is a ratio problem
Keep mesh at roughly 4½ times your LPI and the angle at 22.5° — how to spot which one bit you.
Read the post →Why 22.5°, and never 45°
The halftone-angle chart you find online is for offset CMYK. Screen printing has one correct angle.
Read the post →Prep your artworkFrom sketch, photo or AI image to separated ink layers
Garment jobs usually mean spot inks, an underbase for dark fabric, and artwork that did not start life as a clean vector.
Underbase and halftones for dark garments
Why a dark shirt needs a solid underbase choked inward, and how it interacts with the halftone on top.
Read the guide →Ink mixing basics
Matching and mixing spot inks for a screen-print job, from Pantone reference to press-ready.
Read the guide →Prepare your artwork for your mesh
What resolution, line weight and detail level actually survive a given mesh count.
Read the guide →AI prompts for screen printing
Getting an image generator to produce art that separates cleanly, instead of a muddy gradient mess.
Read the guide →Using Canva with your films
Exporting Canva designs so they separate the way you intend, not the way Canva flattens them.
Read the guide →Transparent inks and overprints
What happens when two spot inks overlap, and when transparency is the effect you want.
Read the guide →Print the filmsDriver settings, file formats, dense black
A film is only as good as the printer driver behind it. This is the single biggest lever most shops have over film opacity — ahead of paper choice.
Printer settings for screen-printing films
Media type, colour management, ink limits — the driver settings that print a truly opaque black.
Read the guide →Printing films on an inkjet
What to look for in a desktop inkjet and film stock for screen-printing positives.
Read the guide →PNG or EPS for your films?
What each file holds, where each works, and why an EPS export here is not a vector.
Read the post →Seven things print shops do that the file can't
Filtering emulsion, powdering screens, the 2&2 double coat — real shop-floor tricks.
Read the post →On press and afterRegistration, exposure, screen care
Align the marks, not your eyes
Why registration drifts — a flipped emulsion side, the wrong print order, an unlocked screen — before you ever touch a squeegee.
Read the post →The file is not the stencil
PrintFilmReady's job ends at a perfect 1-bit file. Whether it becomes a working stencil is exposure and emulsion.
Read the post →Every reclaim costs something
The correct strip order, degreasing every cycle, and safe pressure-washer technique.
Read the post →Merge, duplicate, undo
The ink editor isn't a one-shot export — fix a bad automatic split without spending a free job.
Read the post →Separate your first garment job free
Up to 3 inks, 360 dpi, 3 jobs, every feature on — enough to print real films and judge the dots on your own press.
Pro: €99 a year or €59 for half a year, launching October 2026. Full pricing →
Open the toolCommon questions
What mesh count should I use for a garment print?
It depends on the finest detail in your art: 110 mesh holds roughly 24 LPI, 156 mesh roughly 35 LPI, 230 mesh roughly 48 LPI on textile. Coarser mesh survives a wash cycle better; finer mesh holds smoother gradients. See the mesh to LPI calculator for the full table.
Do I need a RIP to print halftones for screen printing on garments?
No. Screening artwork into halftone dots is a calculation PrintFilmReady does in the browser. A RIP additionally controls printer ink density, which you can approximate with driver settings instead — see printer settings for screen-printing films.
How do I print on a dark shirt?
With a solid underbase, printed first and choked slightly inward so registration drift never shows white at the edge, with the coloured halftone inks printed on top. See underbase and halftones for dark garments.
Why do my registration marks line up but the print still drifts?
Usually a flipped emulsion side, a print order that skipped the underbase, or a screen that was never locked square before you started registering to it. See align the marks, not your eyes.
What does PrintFilmReady Pro cost?
€99 for 12 months, or €59 for 6, both auto-renewing with a 14-day refund. Pro launches October 2026; the free tier works today with 3 inks, 360 dpi and 3 jobs, no account and no payment required. See full pricing.
Screen printing on paper →
Art prints, posters and editions instead of garments: finer mesh, higher dpi, different film handling.
See the paper guide →Lino & block printing →
No mesh, no halftone maths — solid carving guides at exact block size instead.
See the lino guide →Want hands-on training?
Academies, workshops and rentable open-access studios by country.
See the training directory →