neoStampa allows you to apply a hole pattern or halftone effects to gradient combinations on the white mask. This helps the garment breathe better and provides a softer touch.
Important Setup for Punch Designs
- White ink should be set to Flat mode (optional Highlight)
- Punch combinations are saved (Apply + Save) according to the selected scheme.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Punch with Choke
When working with designs that use Color Punchout + Punch, users may notice that the choke effect does not behave as expected. Standard designs without Punch usually apply choke correctly, but punched designs require a different approach. Choke is always applied directly to the image contours.
This means:
Choke affects the outer edges of the artwork.
Choke is not applied inside the holes created by the Punch function.
As a result, punched areas will keep their original hole size unless another setting is used.
Because of this behavior, using Punch together with halftone gradients may require adjusting other parameters instead of relying only on choke.
Recommended solution
To achieve the desired result with halftone gradients, use the Variable Halftone settings together with Bleed.
Option | Description | Recommendation | Example | Important | Recommended Default |
1. Min Value | The Min value removes very small halftone dots below a defined threshold. | It is recommended to use at least: Min = 5% This helps prevent tiny halftone dots from appearing across the full background. | If you want to remove all dots from 20% and below, set: Min = 20% | -- | 5% minimum recommended 0% possible if all dots are needed |
2. Max Value | The Max value defines the point where the halftone size remains fixed. | -- | If you set: Max = 70%, then every value above 70% will use the same halftone size. | For gradient effects, setting a value below 100% may create the opposite result from what you expect. To preserve the natural gradient behavior: Set Max = 100% | 100% |
3. Frequency (LPI) | Halftone frequency controls the size and density of the dots. | 10 to 50 LPI | -- | Lower frequencies create larger dots, which:
| In most garment printing cases: Lower frequency = better durability and consistency |
4. All Channels | This option determines whether the halftone effect is applied only to White or also to the CMYK color channels. | Enabled: Halftone is applied to:
Disabled:
| -- | -- | Enabled / Checked |
Additional settings
Using bleed instead of choke
For Punch workflows, the recommended method is to use Bleed rather than traditional choke.
Instead of removing White, Bleed:
Adds extra color inward
Enlarges the holes internally with color
Creates an effect similar to choke
Preserves the selected halftone frequency and dot structure
This approach keeps the exact hole size and halftone appearance you designed.
- Recommended Bleed Values: 15% to 25%
Start within this range and adjust depending on the artwork and material.
Transparency & Opacity
For this workflow, you can enable: Color Opacity Control = 90% to 100%
This improves the appearance of very small dots that may otherwise look too white.
Working with Photoshop halftones
When halftones are created directly in Photoshop, image resolution becomes very important.
Use a resolution compatible with the printer output resolution.
- If the printer uses: 720 × 1800
- recommended image resolutions are:
720 DPI
360 DPI
240 DPI
Using matching resolutions helps maintain cleaner halftones and sharper dot structure.
Choke settings for Photoshop halftones
When using pre-created Photoshop halftones, then the choke should be extremely small - 0.02 mm to 0.05 mm
Improving choke results on Photoshop halftones
For this workflow, you can also:
Enable Transparency
Enable Discard Gradient on White Opacity Control
This improves choke behavior and produces cleaner results on gradients and small halftone details.