Risograph printing is a distinctive process that uses layers of colored ink to produce vibrant and unique images much like silkscreen printing! Developed in Japan in 1984, it quickly became a great cheap option to make copies... until the xerox machine took over. After that, the Riso Duplicator quickly became relegated to church basements and school offices to quickly make black and white print outs, think of those terrible multiplication tables your teacher used to make you try to solve as many questions as you could in 60 seconds. Everything changed, though, zinesters started using the machines in the 90s to make protest fliers, pamphlets, and of course zines.


When this shift happened, the artists who were using the Riso's started using them to make comics. Once Riso hit the comic scene, thats where we start gaining some traction. Over the last 10 years comic artists have been bringing Riso more and more into the mainstream where artists, Illustrators, and even scientists have been playing with what these machines are capable and pushing the boundaries even further! Us artists just can't get enough of the hands on process and the signature Riso 'grain touch' texture.



Risograph Duplicators take in information in greyscale, the darker the color, the more ink is put down on the paper. This means that when learning to design for Riso printing, you kind of have to rewire your brain and think ink terms of greyscale and color theory. Basically, once you understand the methods of layering Riso colors correctly, you'll never want to stop! Because each layer of ink is added one at a time, slight misalignments and occasional roller marks are part of the charm of this method. These small imperfections are natural and contribute to the individuality of each print.




Thank you for appreciating the uniqueness of Risograph printing and I hope to see you in the studio soon!