Screen Color Separations Built Into Your Shop Software
Screen color separations built into your shop software: spot, sim-process, white underbase, and halftone film positives, with screen count flowing into pricing.
Color separation usually lives in its own silo: a separate app, a separate person, and a separate step that happens after the quote is already out the door. That separation between separation and the rest of the job is where color counts get missed and prices get mis-set.
Building separation into the shop software closes that loop. When the seps and the quote share the same screen count, pricing and production finally agree with each other.
The problem with separate separation tools
When seps happen in a standalone app, the color count is decided after the quote and rarely flows back into the price. A job quoted as three colors that actually needs a white underbase plus three is now a four-screen job priced like three. Multiply that across a week and the small mis-sets add up to real lost margin.
- Seps done after quoting never feed back into the price.
- A missed white underbase turns a 3-color job into a 4-screen job.
- Pricing and production disagree about how many screens exist.
- Small color-count errors compound into real lost margin.
What the built-in Separation Studio does
PrintShopCRM includes client-side color separation, so the seps happen inside the software the job already lives in. It handles spot inks, simulated process, white underbase, and halftone film positives. Because it is built in, the screen count it produces flows straight into the pricing, no re-entry and no guessing.
- Spot color and simulated process separations.
- White underbase generation for dark garments.
- Halftone film positives ready for output.
- Screen count flows directly into the job price.
- No competitor bundles separation into the shop software this way.
One color count, from quote to print
The real win is a single source of truth for the color count. The number of screens the separation produces is the same number that prices the job and the same number production burns. That alignment means the margin flag on the quote reflects the actual screens, and the shop floor is never surprised.
- The separation defines the screen count once, for everyone.
- Pricing uses the real color count, so the margin flag is honest.
- Production burns exactly what was quoted and separated.
- No re-entering color counts between apps and people.
Common Questions
What kinds of separations does it handle?
It handles spot color, simulated process, white underbase for dark garments, and halftone film positives. The separations run client-side inside the same software where the job is quoted and produced.
How does separation affect my pricing?
The screen count from the separation flows directly into the job price. That means a white underbase or an extra spot color is reflected in the quote automatically, so you do not price a four-screen job like a three.
Do other shop platforms include separation?
Bundling color separation into the shop software is unusual; most tools leave it to a standalone app. Having it built in keeps a single screen count shared between quoting and production.