Graphic Design Software for Screen Printing

Screen Printing software programs can help you create a logo, design your t-shirts, banners and more. Screen printing design software free will help you create professional screen prints for home or for business.

Screen printing software programs and screen printing design software are computer programs with the purpose of making all or part of the process of screen printing easier and more convenient. The programs have one or more tools to enable the user to map out designs, create and edit color and other attributes, set up templates and prevent unauthorized access.

Affinity Designer

Affinity designer offers both a vector design program and raster image processing technology. This lets illustrators create advanced, complex images that work well either in physical form or on the screen! This software works for Windows, Mac, and on iPads.

Affinity Designer won a recent Apple design award. Everything in the software is built for professional use. The program includes the ability to handle huge images and control multiple projects at one time. It also offers set up time-saving steps such as keyboard shortcuts.

On top of that, the software offers several different color control options to allow you to prep your design for printing!

This tool has a lot to offer and is rapidly gaining popularity. It also comes with a reasonable price tag of $54.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator has held onto its spot as the industry standard for pretty much any type of graphic design for quite a long while now. This doesn’t mean that Adobe is old-fashioned or out of touch, though! This software comes packed with every tool you need to create precise, clear vector designs for your screen prints.

This vector design software offers pretty comprehensive accessibility. You can use Illustrator on mobile apps as well as on Windows and Mac.

Adobe offers a free seven-day trial and a generous discount for teachers and students. You can choose to pay an annual fee of $240 or a monthly subscription of $21 at full price.

CorelDraw

CorelDraw often ranks as Adobe’s biggest competitor for screenprint design. It gives you a rich variety of vector design tools and an easy-to-use color separation program to prep your prints. Plus, students and beginning artists often find CorelDraw more intuitive and easier to learn than Adobe.

Nothing good comes without a price, though, and this program is no exception. It costs a whopping $500 plus additional fees if you want to update to the latest version in future years!

Like many up-and-coming design programs, CorelDraw has made a lot of advances in recent years. For example, you can now use this program on both Windows and Mac. A few years ago, its greatest drawback was that it was only compatible with Windows.

GIMP

GIMP is unique among most of the design tools listed here because you can use it for free! This popular open-source program uses raster editing rather than vector design. That said, it also comes with every kind of plug-in and upgrades imaginable.

GIMP doesn’t offer you an especially streamlined user experience because it’s crowdsourced or user-built.

If you know how to look for it, you can find any design tool you want to use within this program! For example, you can use Gimp for color separation, but you need a specific plug-in to make this happen.

Graphix Pro Studio

GraphixPro Studio provides design manipulation tools rather than advanced vector design capabilities. For example, you can take a t-shirt template and easily add a customer’s name to the design using this program. If you compare it to Illustrator, this program gives you the final steps of the process, rather than a beginning-to-end mastery of an image.

Depending on your skill level, this simplified program may offer everything you need, though! It comes loaded with a generous array of font options and color matching tools. It also provides business-related tools like a quote generator.

Unfortunately, this software has a one-time purchase price of $900, making it a serious investment! You will probably find this tool more useful if you run a small business. If you screen print as a hobby, the price point may put this design tool out of your reach.

Inkscape

Inkscape is another free, open-source tool that offers vector graphic design tools. It mostly works in SVG or Scalable Vector Graphics format. This program runs on Windows, Mac, or Linux computers, too, making it pretty universal!

To date, this program tends to get more use in small-scale illustrations like clip art and comics. It lacks the complex features necessary for advanced, large-scale illustrations. It also does not offer a color separation tool to translate your design into printable screens.

However, it does have a rapidly growing user base and a robust online community to provide education and support for new users.

This software may give you a solid boost if you’re just starting with vector design, too. You will likely find it much easier to master than an advanced program like Illustrator.

EZ Screen

EZ Screen offers everything you could need in a color separation tool. It can break down even a complex image into just three or four color layers. It can prep the layers to work on any color of the material, preventing bleed through or images that don’t match the fabric beneath.

It also provides advanced options like using halftones and saving your designs in many formats. The only downside to this comprehensive package is that it does cost $795. This is definitely a tool intended for the business person making thousands of screen prints a week!

That said, EZ Screen does offer pretty great customer service and compatibility with any operating system.

Separo

Separo works a bit differently as an online tool rather than as downloadable software. This program does basic color separation that could work great for your own designs. But it excels at streamlining quick spot separations.

For example, suppose you run a business where you offer to print custom images onto t-shirts. Separo lets you take a photo of your customer’s 80th birthday, break it down into separate color layers, and then print those layers out quickly.

This on-the-spot cost-effective system saves you from spending a lot of time setting up one image. This matters a lot when you won’t get the return on investment you do from mass-producing a single design.

You can purchase either a beginner monthly subscription of $49 or a more advanced package with a monthly subscription of $149.

Simpleseps

Simpleseps offers color separation for use within another program such as CorelDraw. If you design your own graphics, you may find this add-on super helpful. It provides all of the print setups you need, from adding a white under-base to dealing with halftones.

Of course, you have to use one of the programs compatible with this tool or it won’t be useful to you.

Currently, Simpleseps has reached its 5th edition. The pricing depends on how many computers you plan to use it on, making it a flexible product for the small business owner.

Conclusion:

Screen Printing Software programs come in a variety of features and price points. Whether you’re looking for free versions or very inexpensive versions you will find answers here. Screens are used to overlie a printed pattern or image onto fabric, vinyl, metal or other surfaces for various uses including T-shirts, ball caps, jackets, etc…