Screen Printing Forum

I am brand new to screen printing. I am looking to screen print a very detailed b&w photograph. I converted it to halftones based off a recommendation I saw online. Now, I am confused with the LPI/Screenmesh relation. I want the picture to be very detailed but I was told to divide my screen mesh by 4 to obtain your LPI number. The highest screen mesh count I have seen is 305 but many sources say that you need 130 LPI for very fine detail. Based of the formula of divide screen mesh by 4, you would need a screen mesh count of 520.

So my question is.... How strict is this formula? Can I just bump up the LPI to 130 when converting to halftones even though I am using 305 mesh?

Pretty much right.
130 is VERY fine for screenprinting, you'll really only see that on CDs with uv ink.
You can get a good effect by printing a duotone or tritone image (like they do with Vogue)

We do a very high volume of jobs every day using Index prints and spot prints alike. We have always used a 305 screen mesh for the fine details including photo prints and have had no problems. As long as your sequence is correct, then you should be able to pull those details just fine with a 305 screen mesh.