In 1960, Spreitz exhibited his work for the first time in the Vancouver Island Jury Show. Many of his pieces at this time were reactionary photo-collages rebelling on the restrictions placed upon him by the editors of Look, Star Weekly, the Globe and Mail, the Victoria Daily Times, and the Victoria Daily Colonist, for which he was working as a freelance photographer.

Spreitz's big film debut was in 1964 at the International Film Festival, in Victoria. There, he won first prize in the British Columbia category for Steelhead River, a film featuring Richard Ciccimarra as a fisherman. This twenty-minute documentary, depicting an actual fishing trip on the Cowichan River, was noted particularly for its authenticity. Spreitz continued to film the outdoors of British Columbia and the lifestyles of its residents as a staff photographer for the magazine Beautiful British Columbia from 1965 to 1968, then from 1968 to 1972 working for CTV television. He has also worked as a freelance filmmaker and has made films for the National Film Board, the Provincial Museum of BC, and the BC Department of Travel and Industry. While his reputation as a filmmaker and photographer rose, Spreitz also maintained his interest in painting and collage. In 1972 he joined his friends Herbert Siebner, Elza Mayhew, Richard Ciccimarra, Maxwell Bates, Myfanwy Pavelic, and Robert de Castro, as a member of the Limners Group of artists. Over the years Spreitz has collaborated with these artists on various projects such as books, art exhibitions, portrait productions, and short films. Karl Spreitz still resides in Victoria and maintains an active role in the local arts community.

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