Printing Halftone For Print

[dahmitdesigns]

Hello All,

I am currently trying to print film for a a project that has a halftone in the words, but also needs a base.

The screen printer let me know he is printing the black layer first (The layer that contains the halftone.)

I am trying to separate the other layers (base, highlight, and grey.) To include the white part of the base and highlight without covering up the black halftone that he will have already printed, he is telling me i need to create a halftone on the base and highlight that goes around the black halftone..

I am at a complete loss as to how to achieve this. Generally I set my halftone as a gradient in illustrator and then it prints a halftone through AccuRIP.

Can anyone help me in setting up the halftone to be "hollow" (open circle) as my printer described it for the other two layers?

Any help is appreciated!!

[blue moon]

can you post the art?

pierre

[Dottonedan]

Yes, there seems to be a lot there in the request and seeing the art might help us understand whats needed or where to start.

[Dottonedan]

I think I understand what you're describing. Sounds like interlocking.   I'm not a fan/believer of that myself, but to each his own.Sounds like the printer is wanting to print black down first with halftones and the halftones to knock our of the middle grey and the top white.
It sounds like this should be more of a raster (pixel art) file rather than vector.  You could take the black file, bring it into photoshop and make the halftones from that vector file by converting the image mode to BITMAP, keep resolution high like 600ppi. Bitmap to the LPI needed (55lpi, 22.5 degree screen angle, elipse dot shape. Then change the mode back to greyscale. Now, you then make your grey screens however you need to, then make selection of the black (each and every pixel) by holding down the Ctrl/command key and clicking on the black channel. Then move to the other WHITE and GREY screens and knock out of those.
What is a bit confusing is the mention that "The printer already has the black".   Whats that mean really?

[Sbrem]

I think I understand what you're describing. Sounds like interlocking.   I'm not a fan/believer of that myself, but to each his own.Sounds like the printer is wanting to print black down first with halftones and the halftones to knock our of the middle grey and the top white.
It sounds like this should be more of a raster (pixel art) file rather than vector.  You could take the black file, bring it into photoshop and make the halftones from that vector file by converting the image mode to BITMAP, keep resolution high like 600ppi. Bitmap to the LPI needed (55lpi, 22.5 degree screen angle, elipse dot shape. Then change the mode back to greyscale. Now, you then make your grey screens however you need to, then make selection of the black (each and every pixel) by holding down the Ctrl/command key and clicking on the black channel. Then move to the other WHITE and GREY screens and knock out of those.
What is a bit confusing is the mention that "The printer already has the black".   Whats that mean really?

This is pretty much how I'd go. I love Illy, but sometimes, Photoshop makes some things easier, once  you know how of course, but if I learned it, anyone can. Dan's formula above is right on.

Steve