My fades and glows print as muddy stripes
A smooth gradient holds more shades than ink can reproduce, so it collapses into visible bands.
Check my file for this
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What is actually happening
A gradient on screen moves through hundreds of steps. Ink on fabric cannot hold that many — the press rounds each area to what it can lay down, and the rounding shows up as stripes. It is worst in long, subtle fades and in glows around a bright element.
How to fix it
- 1.Run the file through the check. It flags gradients that are wide and smooth enough to band.
- 2.Halftone the fade so the tone is carried by dot size instead of by shade. Dots the press can hold reproduce a gradient that flat colour cannot.
- 3.Keep the print size in mind — the same halftone at a much larger size gives coarser dots.
Not sure this is your problem?
The check looks at everything at once — edges, transparency, resolution, stray pixels, garment contrast — so you do not have to know which one to look for.