sense of press
Roughly the same size and shape as a standard Xerox copier, the Risograph has historically been used to print content at high volume and low cost. In the past few decades, the riso process has been appropriated by artists, designers, and publishers as an economical and environmentally friendly means of producing unique and tactile prints.
master roll
master roll
color drum
paper feed tray
exit tray
the process
The Risograph creates fast, inexpensive copies by burning a stencil master onto a wax paper-like material, which is then placed on a color drum.
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STAGING - The operator selects the desired drum color and installs it in the printer. Paper is placed in the paper feed tray on the left side of the duplicator.
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MASTER PREP - The design is sent to the Riso via a USB input or via the scanning bed. Then, the printer burns the master stencil and places it on the drum.
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PRINTING - The paper moves through the printer guided by a series of rubber rollers. The paper makes contact with the drum via the pressure roller and is then ejected from the printer, landing in the exit tray.
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Steps 1-3 must be repeated for each unique color included in your design.
card design by SJ Brekosky
our colors
Risograph inks are environmentally friendly, as they are made from soy and even rice. Each is slightly transparent, which provides rich territory for experimentation. Overlapping various inks often produce exciting new hues! Because Riso ink contains fewer solvents than its traditional inkjet counterparts, its texture and absorbency vary considerably depending on the type of paper used. This characteristic is most visible in larger blocks of color. Our studio currently stocks the colors listed below.
formatting
ALL FILES should have a 1/4” margin on each side, and a 1” leading edge (top margin). The leading 2-3” and center 1” of a tabloid sheet are likely culprits for smearing, so we recommend avoiding large color blocks in either of those places. All large filled areas should be reduced to 70-80% opacity. All final print files should be separated into individual grayscale PDFs for each color that is to be printed. We’ll also accept PSD documents with each color separated into a unique layer.
smudging
The Riso grabs each sheet of paper using Paper Feed Tires located at the center of the paper feed unit (see the small gear near the paper feed tray in the diagram). When printing multiple colors, often the feed tires will create slight smear marks on the top center of the print, but can be easily erased using a rubber eraser.
Because of the composition of Riso inks, each dries very slowly and is often easily smudged. Often, as a print exits the printer and lands on the previous copy, a “ghost image” will transfer onto the back. This effect is most likely to occur when printing high-density or ink-heavy designs.
ghost images
Although many Riso prints are designed using digital tools such as Procreate, Photoshop, or InDesign, the resulting prints always contain slight variations. Registration often varies from 1/32” - 1/4,” generating imperfect — but always unique — results.