With roots dating back to 1980’s Japan, the Riso creates striking prints in a unique range of spot colours.

What sets Risograph apart are the serendipitous mechanics, which produce charmingly mis-registered imperfections in each print.

Risograph is a wonderful and vibrant print process, but does have limitations and works best when artwork has been set up specially for the process. Read our guide below before ordering prints, so you’re fully prepared!

Risograph Printing

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Riso Paper Stocks

Risograph Print Guide

Riso Ink Colours

❋ Maximum print size: A3 (420 × 297mm) with 5mm blank margins.
❋ Riso printers use uncoated, A3 paper ranging from 80 - 300gsm.
❋ Prints can be trimmed to any custom size within an A3 sheet, and duplex printing is possible.
❋ One master stencil is used per ink colour - they are single use and cannot be saved for future reprints.
❋ We don’t recommend using more than 6 ink colours, to avoid oversaturated paper and imperfections.
Files are sent to the Riso via a computer connection or manually through the scanner bed, reminiscent of a photocopier. Artwork is then burned onto a roll of thermal-sensitive paper which wraps around the print drum.
Ink is forced through the rotating metal mesh of the drum and paper, creating a stencil from which hundreds or thousands of prints can be made. Each layer is printed using a separate drum, with inks overprinting to build up the artwork. Stencils cannot be saved between print jobs, so all copies are printed in one go.
It's important to note that Risograph doesn't promise perfection!

Prints carry a unique character distinct from digital artwork, and ink colours will not match exactly what you see on screen. Prints are manually aligned and adjusted, a process that brings with it the charm of mis-registrations and tiny imperfections.

These quirks and idiosyncrasies are what sets Risograph printing apart from other processes!
Risograph is a spot colour printer, meaning each ink comes straight from the tube. We carry a palette of 35 inks which can be printed independently, or overprinted with one another to create new hues and interesting effects - the only exception to this is metallic gold, which sits on the surface of other inks rather than mixing.

The inks also change appearance depending which colour paper is chosen - for example, fluorescent pink on yellow paper will appear more ‘orange’.
Overlaying inks is a handy technique resulting in less stencils and cost. A good way to visualise overlaying colours is to set your digital artwork layers to ‘screen’ and ‘multiply’ in Adobe. You can choose to set your artwork to overlay where colours will overprint and mix, or designs can be cut out for colours to print independently.

Adding trapping to your design will help minimise any visible gaps from mis-registered layers.
Using lower opacities of ink is recommended for mixing shades and printing large blocks of colour, which helps to reduce the wetness of the paper and printer jams. Gradients of ink can go from light to dark, or allow two colours to fade into each other.
Each layer is printed one at a time and registration is controlled manually, therefore one of the Risograph's signature quirks is that you’ll often find a couple of millimetres mis-alignment between layers. The more layers in your design, the higher the chance of mis-registration.

If your design demands precision down to the last millimetre such as very fine details or doubled up text, Risograph is not a suitable print process for you! Double-sided prints can be a little tricky to align between back and front, so you should make allowances for this in your artwork.

You won’t achieve perfect alignment with Risograph, but that’s part of the fun!
The printers accept A3 sized paper (297 x 420mm) and the maximum printable area is 287 x 410mm - a 5mm blank margin needs to be left around the A3 sheet, as the Riso can’t print full bleed.

We print onto A3 paper and trim if needed - for example you’ll get 2 x A4 copies / 4 x A5 copies / 8 x A6 copies from each sheet.
We can trim to custom sizes within the 287 x 410mm printable area, allowing for crop marks and bleed. We have a range of artwork templates available to download for regular and full bleed designs.

As each ink layer is printed individually, we require a separate digital file per colour (very similar to screen printing). Each file should be named with the ink colour you wish to use, for example ‘mediumblue.pdf’. Files should be saved in PDF format and set to A3 size (297 x 420mm) at 300dpi, in grayscale / RGB, with no embedded bleed or crop marks. We also require a full colour reference file so we know how you'd like your artwork to look.
It's much easier to set up individual artwork layers at the start of a project, as it’s difficult to separate out if you've already flattened an image. Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign layers are easy to keep track of and rename as you go. We personally love creating artwork with Procreate on the iPad, as this works in a similar way and artwork can be exported in layers.
You don’t need to add extra texture to your artwork, as the Riso’s natural ‘grain’ setting gives a soft, even finish. The printers also have a ‘screen’ setting which produces an even, dot-like halftone texture. We print 95% of jobs on the ‘grain’ setting, but let us know if you’d prefer to use ‘screen’. You can also set your own halftones and textures in your artwork, for more creative control.
Text should be flattened or outlined and set to 6pt or larger - vector files saved as PDFs are best for crisp results, compared to raster files. The Risograph reads levels of black and cuts stencils based on how opaque each layer is. For example, 100% black in your digital file will print at 100% ink colour and 50% black will print at 50% ink colour. Black should be set to HEX #00000 or 100% K, saved as grayscale or RGB format, as CMYK can make blacks appear ‘grey’ when saved.
Heavy Ink Coverage
Steer clear of ink overload; large patches of concentrated ink can lead to the paper jamming in the machine or getting stuck to the drum. For very large areas of colour, aim for an opacity of around 90% or less. Too much ink can also create uneven waves, ink pooling and imperfections due to the way heavily inked paper peels away from the drum. Swapping out a full colour background for coloured paper can achieve a better result.
Roller & pick-up marks
Rubber rollers handle the top 50mm or so of the paper, so keep ink lighter here to avoid jams and roller marks. A plastic needle guides the paper out of the printer, which can cause a line to appear if it drags through very heavy ink. Imperfections should be expected in multi-colour or double sided prints, although we do try to minimise where possible and may suggest altering artwork for a better result. For those pesky roller marks, a pencil eraser can remove them from clean paper.
Ink transfer & smudging
Paper is stacked when entering and leaving the Riso printer, therefore ink can transfer between prints. We recommend blotting paper (at an additional cost) for double-sided trimmed prints, as the pressure of the guillotine clamp will also cause ink transfer from print to print. Since Riso ink never truly dries (similar to a newspaper), handle prints with care to dodge fingerprints and smudging. Reducing the opacity of your layers will also help to avoid transfer marks and smudging.
Most artworks are sent to us in separate layers which are printed one at a time, much like screen printing. However, the Riso is capable of printing full colour artworks and photographs, using a faux-CMYK method which mimics the way digital images are produced.
There’s a great (free!) app called Spectrolite which we use to split full colour images into layers, which are then output as PDF files ready for Riso printing. It’s pretty straightforward to use and we have digital colour swatches of our ink palette available to download, which you can drop into the app. Otherwise, it’s easy to select the ink colours you wish to use and create your own palettes.
Combinations of 2, 3 or 4 ink colours can be used and prints have the same mis-registration and imperfections as regular Riso printing, producing offbeat and surprising results! Drop us an email if you’d like to chat about full colour printing along with a sample of your artwork or photograph, so we can advise more.

CMYK type printing with Risograph can give unexpected results, and prints will not perfectly match on-screen proofs. Be certain that Risograph is the right choice for your project before proceeding. If you’re wanting perfect alignment and exact colour matches for full colour artwork / photographs, Risograph is not recommended.
We offer a range of finishing options in addition to our Riso print service - contact online or email us directly for a quote. We can also outsource other finishing options to our list of contacts, arranging the process for you from start to finish.
Guillotine trimming
We can trim to any custom size within an A3 sheet. Standard sized prints (A4, A5, A6) can be ordered directly online, or we can send a bespoke quote and template for other dimensions.
Saddle stitch binding
Staple binding along a folded or flat spine for zines and publications. The maximum publication size for stapling depends on the page count and paper thickness.
Singer sewn / 3-hole binding
A really lovely option for zines and publications. A straight stitch is run along the spine using a vintage Singer machine, or thread is tied between 3 holes for a more handmade look. Almost any thread colour can be sourced and we can quote for this service from one of our contacts.
Coil binding
We stock black, white, clear, yellow, orange, pink and aqua plastic coils as standard and can order in custom colours for large orders. Although coils are plastic, they are manufactured in the UK per order (meaning no waste) and they can be reused or recycled with other plastics.
Perfect binding
Hot glue is used to fix loose pages inside a creased cover (most magazines are perfect bound). This allows for a much larger page count and the cover can also be laminated for a protective finish.
Creasing & folding
We can crease or fold leaflets, greeting cards, invitations or posters to any custom size.
Corner rounding / thumb cut
Adds a nice touch to postcards, business cards, invitations and packaging.
Lamination
Great for packaging and publication covers, to help avoid smudge marks and offer a protective seal.
Laser / die cutting
Precision custom shaped trimming for a range of creative projects - laser cutting is more suitable for thicker stocks and die cutting requires a metal stamp to be made, so is more suitable for larger runs.
Custom
We’ve been asked to work on a number of completely custom projects such as beer mats for a wedding reception, labels for pickle jars and perforated tickets for an event. Get in touch to chat about any bespoke requirements you have!

Artwork by Max Machen

Artwork by Jacqueline Colley

Artwork by Hannah Brown

We keep a selection of sustainable and recycled paper stocks at the studio.

Download our PDF print guide for more information about each one and the available weights. We can order in coloured or special papers too - download our coloured paper chart for reference.

Paper

Inks

We stock 35 spot colour inks (the largest palette in the UK!). HEX colour codes are listed below and in our PDF print guide. It’s impossible to exactly match printed inks to on-screen swatches, but they’re a useful approximation and are what we use to create digital proofs.

Download our digital colour swatches for Abode, Procreate and Spectrolite. Grab a swatch pack to see inks and paper stocks before ordering Riso prints.