Two ways to separate the same artwork — and the choice mostly comes down to the art itself. Here's how to pick the right one every time.
If the design has soft transitions, photo realism, or more colors than you'd want to mix as individual inks, simulated process will reproduce it faithfully on a manageable number of screens. If it's a crisp logo with flat fills, spot color keeps those edges hard and the colors true.
On dark garments, both methods print over a white underbase so the colors stay vivid. Simulated process tends to shine here — the dot structure lets a handful of inks blend into a wide range of tones over white.
Spot color usually means one screen per color, so a 3-color logo is a clean 3-screen job. Simulated process can reproduce a full-color image in roughly 4–8 screens by mixing dots — far fewer than printing every literal color as its own spot.
For simulated process you'll set a line ruling (LPI) and dot angles. A safe starting point for most shops is around 45–55 LPI with standard angles; finer rulings hold more detail but are harder to burn and print. Good separation software sets sensible defaults so you're not guessing.
AI Separations does both methods, and its AI advisor reads your artwork and recommends which one to use — plus ink count, palette, and underbase. Standalone, no Photoshop, free trial.
Related: what is AI color separation · separating without Photoshop