Help CenterKloudSeps™ Press Planner

KloudSeps™ Press Planner

Automatically build an optimal print sequence and generate a bird's-eye diagram of your carousel press — so your crew knows exactly where every screen goes before loading a single pallet.

What is the Press Planner?

The Press Planner is a feature inside KloudSeps™ that takes your separated color channels and your press configuration and outputs two things:

Numbered print sequence — a ranked list of which color to print first through last, following screen printing best practices.
Radial press diagram — a visual bird's-eye SVG of your carousel with every station labeled, color-coded, and numbered. Each flash unit and cool-down station is plotted in the exact position it should occupy.

The Press Planner lives in two places: the guided wizard (step 2 — between art type and garment color) and the Press tab inside the full editor. You can adjust your press configuration at any time from the editor tab.

How the Print Sequence Works

KloudSeps™ follows the standard screen printing rule-set to order your screens:

1
Underbase white(s) first
Underbase channels always print first to build a white foundation on dark garments before any color is applied.
2
Flash cure after underbase
A flash unit is inserted immediately after the last underbase screen so the white ink gels before colors are applied on top.
3
Heavy-coverage colors first
Colors covering ≥ 45% of the print area are placed before lighter-coverage colors. Heavy ink deposits must be printed before lighter ones to prevent ink pick-off on the pallet.
4
Optional second flash (2-flash presses)
If your press has two flash units, KloudSeps™ places the second flash between the heavy and light color groups — further reducing pick-off risk on high-coverage separations.
5
Light-coverage colors
Remaining colors that cover less than 45% of the print area print after heavy colors.
6
Highlight white(s) last
Highlight white channels always print last to restore brightness and photorealistic highlights on top of all other colors.

Press Configuration Options

Station Count

Choose how many stations your carousel has (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, or 16). This controls how many stations appear in the radial diagram. If your job needs more stations than configured (colors + flash + cool-down), KloudSeps™ will warn you and suggest splitting into multiple passes.

Flash Cure Units

Set to None, 1 Flash, or 2 Flash. Each flash unit takes one station on the press. Two flash units allow KloudSeps™ to insert intermediate curing between heavy and light color groups for complex separations.

Cool-Down Station

If your press has a dedicated cool-down station (a station without a screen where the pallet air-cools after a flash), enable this and KloudSeps™ will insert a cool-down slot immediately after each flash unit in the diagram.

Rotation Direction

Choose Clockwise (CW) or Counter-Clockwise (CCW). This affects the direction stations are numbered around the diagram hub and matches the physical rotation of your press.

Reading the Press Diagram

The radial diagram shows a top-down view of your carousel press. Each arm extends from the central hub to a station card:

Gray cards — empty stations with no screen loaded.
Amber cards — flash cure units. The ⚡ icon identifies them.
Sky blue cards — cool-down stations. The ❄ icon identifies them.
Colored cards — print stations showing the channel's ink color. The small circle in the card matches the ink color. A #N badge shows the print order.

Station 1 always appears at the top of the diagram and numbering proceeds in your chosen rotation direction.

The diagram is a planning aid — it does not communicate directly with your press. Use it as a reference sheet for your screen department when loading pallets.

Accessing the Press Planner

In the Guided Wizard

When you create a new KloudSeps™ project, the wizard guides you through 5 steps. Step 2 is the Press Planner — configure your press before extracting colors so the sequence is ready as soon as channels are generated.

Press Tab in the Editor

Open any KloudSeps™ project and click the Press tab in the right panel. The diagram and sequence table update live as you add, remove, or reconfigure channels. You can also adjust station count, flash units, and cool-down settings directly from the collapsible config panel in the tab.

Frequently Asked Questions

My job has more colors than stations — what do I do?

KloudSeps™ will display a warning. Your options are: (1) reduce the color count by merging similar channels, (2) split the job into two passes (print half the colors, cure fully, then print the second half), or (3) use a press with more stations.

I have no underbase — where does the flash go?

If no channel is marked as an underbase, KloudSeps™ will warn you that a flash unit is configured but no underbase exists. Flash placement requires an underbase to cure. You can mark a channel as underbase in the Channels panel.

Can I manually override the print order?

The sequence engine provides a recommended order. You can manually reorder channels in the Channels panel (drag to reorder by sortOrder), which will affect how KloudSeps™ breaks ties when coverage percentages are equal.

What is the 45% coverage threshold for 'heavy' colors?

Colors covering 45% or more of the design area are classified as heavy-coverage and placed before lighter colors to prevent ink pick-off. Coverage percentages are calculated during color extraction and shown next to each channel in the editor.

Does the Press Planner connect to my press controller?

No — the Press Planner is a visual planning tool and does not integrate with press hardware or controllers. It is designed for use as a reference guide for your screen room team.

Back to Help Center KloudSeps™ overview

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What is the Press Planner?

The Press Planner is a feature inside KloudSeps™ that takes your separated color channels and your press configuration and outputs two things:

Numbered print sequence — a ranked list of which color to print first through last, following screen printing best practices.

Radial press diagram — a visual bird's-eye SVG of your carousel with every station labeled, color-coded, and numbered. Each flash unit and cool-down station is plotted in the exact position it should occupy.

How the Print Sequence Works

KloudSeps™ follows the standard screen printing rule-set to order your screens:

Underbase white(s) first

Underbase channels always print first to build a white foundation on dark garments before any color is applied.

Flash cure after underbase

A flash unit is inserted immediately after the last underbase screen so the white ink gels before colors are applied on top.

Heavy-coverage colors first

Colors covering ≥ 45% of the print area are placed before lighter-coverage colors. Heavy ink deposits must be printed before lighter ones to prevent ink pick-off on the pallet.

Optional second flash (2-flash presses)

If your press has two flash units, KloudSeps™ places the second flash between the heavy and light color groups — further reducing pick-off risk on high-coverage separations.

Light-coverage colors

Remaining colors that cover less than 45% of the print area print after heavy colors.

Highlight white(s) last

Highlight white channels always print last to restore brightness and photorealistic highlights on top of all other colors.