Risograph Printing
- Risograph Printing
- Our colors
- Preparation of files
- Overlays
- Photographs and drawings
- Formats and margins
- Imperfections
- Types of paper
- Shaping and binding
- Printing details
Our workshop specializes in risograph printing, we print for artists, cultural centers, publishing houses, companies and individuals.
Halfway between photocopying and offset, Riso is a cold printing system from Japan.
Halfway between photocopying and offset, risography is a cold printing system from Japan.
The technique has long been used for mass copying in businesses. It is only for fifteen years that artists have been interested in this process for its direct tone printing qualities, its low production cost and its textured rendering.
The file [1] is transmitted to the machine, the visual is then perforated (the frame) on a stencil called master [2]. It then wraps around a metal cylinder [3].
The rotation of the cylinder makes it possible to propel the ink through the master to be applied to the paper [4]. Our A3 Machine (MZ 770 and MZ 970) contains two drums which allows two colors to be printed simultaneously. Our A2 machine prints one color at a time. The process becomes longer and can generate more traces. You can find more information about the riso printing community at stencil.wiki
One of the main points in printing is to prepare these files well to avoid any back and forth. We do our best to prevent any problems, however we are not responsible if we fail to notice any problems in your files.
It is necessary to prepare one file per color layer you want to print as well as a color preview.
FILE 1 & 2
yellow.pdf / fluopink.pdf
FILE 3 & 4
aqua.pdf / kellygreen.pdf
File type: PDF or TIFF in 300 or 600dpi. The name of the file must include that of the desired color (aqua.pdf, bright_red.tiff). It is important to specify the color well, we have several shades of blue, red, etc.
We need grayscale files per color channel (not RGB, CMYK or Multichannel). It's not about changing the color mode of your grayscale. if you want to print one layer of yellow, 100% yellow elements will be 100% black, 50% yellow elements will be 50% black)
Files should not include layers or effects, be sure to flatten each layer, this will allow for lighter files.
Check that you are using a real one (RGB: 0, 0, 0) and not the default black that can be found on Illustrator or InDesign.
There is no need to rasterize your image, automatic rasterization when creating the stencil. However, you can create your frame using software such as Photoshop, Vectoraster or Stochaster
The Riso machine prints one color at a time. The superposition of these colors creates a multitude of hues.
However, you have to be careful not to overlay too many inks at the risk that they are not well absorbed by the paper. You can simulate the layering of inks by applying a multiply effect to each of your layers.
fluopink.pdf + yellow.pdf + aqua.pdf
Inks made from soybean oil or rice starch do not contain a solution that dries, so they take longer to dry than with conventional inkjet printing. They are more or less opaque, metallic gold, gray, aqua and fluorescent green are the most covering colors.
Because of the shifts inherent in Riso, it is not recommended to overlay several colors on small texts or fine elements such as lines or contour lines.
The printing of photographs in Risograph is done through a "faux CMYK" where the classic layers (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) are replaced by equivalent Riso inks (aqua, fluorescent pink, yellow and black ). It is also possible to print images with only three colors (yellow, red and blue).
You can see many examples of printed photographs on the website of Éditions Rien Ne Va Plus founded by Stéphane Gallois , Oscar Ginter and Joséphine Topolanski
You can go further and separate the layers of your image yourself with software like Photoshop or Affinity
There are also specific color profiles that automatically separate an image into several color layers. Spectrolite by Anemone (Seattle) Colorlibrary (Switzerland), There There Now (United States), 2BChromie (France) or Risolve (United States) offer certain color profiles.
[1] Faux CMYK
Aqua + Fluo Pink + Yellow + Black
credits: Oscar Ginter
[2] Separating layers on Photoshop
Yellow + Medium Blue + Red + Violet
credits: Tanguy Ginter
[3] Tritone
Red + Blue + Yellow
credits: Aline Zalko
[1] The first example, the most 'traditional' way of translating a photograph or drawing into Risography is called 'Faux CMYK'. It consists of using the CMYK layers of an image by replacing the Magenta with Fluo Pink and the Cyan with Aqua. This process works even better using Colorlibrary 's 4 colors profile.
[2] To be as close as possible to the colors of photographer Tanguy Ginter's photography, we used a less conventional technique developed in the studio. It consists of using a black and white adjustment layer and a solid color layer (Screen mode) on the original image (Multiply). You will have to repeat this sequence of 3 layers as many times as the number of colors you wan to use.
[3] To separate the drawing of the artist Aline Zalko we used the free Spectrolite software. It allows you to automatically separate 2 to 4 color layers without any effort, however it requires verification on Photoshop or Affinity because the separation is never perfect. There is also a 3 colors profile at Colorlibrary (Bright Red, Yellow and Blue) which is widely used for photography printing by Éditions Rien Ne Va Plus .
The workshop has one A2 machine and two A3 machines (MZ 770 and MZ 970). It is not possible to print with lost edge, count 5mm of unprintable margin in the format.
If you want a full-bleed format, you will have to start with a 404mm by 578mm file for A2 or a 281mm by 404mm format for A3 for example with 3mm of bleed.
[1] Formats with bleed
[1] Formats with bleed
[3] Formats pour un livre imposé
Voici quelques fichiers types que vous pouvez télécharger en cliquant sur la format correspondant :
[Sans fond perdu]
↳ A3 (297x420mm)
↳ A4 (210x297mm)
↳ A5 (148,5x210mm)
↳ A6 (105x148,5mm)
↳ Cartes de visite (55x85mm)
[Avec fond perdu]
↳ A3- (277x400mm)
↳ A4 (190x277mm)
↳ A5 (128,5x190mm)
↳ A6 (85x128,5mm)
↳ Cartes de visite (55x85mm)
Imperfections are part of the charm of risograph printing: uneven texture, weft, traces, offsets. This is what gives its unique look. Do not expect an identical rendering to your digital file.
1.
If you don't want to have a mismatch between the outline color and the fill color, overlap the colors slightly on top of each other.
2.
When the impression cylinders print, centrifugal force pushes the ink through the stencil. It may happen that the ink at the front of the print is more uneven because the ink is deposited there more intensely.
3.
It is also possible that solid areas between 80% and 100% intensity are distributed unevenly on the edges of the print format.
4.
Marks may appear at the top of the page, especially for prints with more than two colors or when printing on the back. The roller that catches the paper can
Be sure to dry the prints well for at least three hours before transporting them and a day or two before handling them. Please let us know if you would like us to place blotters between each print to avoid ink transfer (recommended for cards printed on both sides).
Risography requires printing on uncoated and fairly absorbent paper.
We mainly print on Munken from Arctic Paper (FSC and PEFC certified) we have been working for 5 years with Procop and Torras Papel.
We stock Munken in A3 and A2 in 80g, 90g, 115g, 150g and 300g in Cream and Natural White as well as some Colorplan color paper references in 135g and 270g.
1.
The Munken Print White (80g, 90g, 115g, 150g) or the Munken Polar Rough (120g, 300g) are the two paper references with a natural white tint that we stock.
2.
The Munken Print Cream (80g, 90g, 115g) or the Munken Pure Rough (150g, 300g) are the two paper references with a cream shade that we stock.
3.
Please contact us directly for stock color references. We mainly work with Colorplan (135g and 270g) and Papago (80g, 120g and 160g)
4.
Metallic gold, fluorescent green, gray and sky blue are quite covering and can be printed on dark papers. We stock Dark paper in 90g and 260g.
If you want to print on your own paper, please indicate the reference or contact us directly (count approximately 15% more paper than the quantity provided) It is best to do a test beforehand. You can look at Meta Paper, Fedrigoni and Antalis
We have different machines for binding and finishing your projects (1. perfect binding, 2. saddle stitching, 3. Spiral, 4. Singer). We have a cutter that can cut a maximum of 52cm in depth and width. It is also possible to send your prints to a contractor or bookbinder.
1. Perfect Binding
Made for projects of at least 60 pages, the glued square back binding allows freer page layout. The book does not open completely flat.
2. Saddle stitch
The most accessible and quickest binding to make. it can bind up to 60 pages (based on a Munken 90g).
3. Spiral
It allows you to bind between twenty and a hundred pages, but it remains the longest and tedious. You can order the coils from Relicoil .
4. Singer
An alternative to stitch binding, singer stitching can bind between 20 and 72 pages. The inside thread may be different from the outside.
We stock Munken in A3 and A2 in 80g, 90g, 115g, 150g and 300g in Cream and Natural White as well as some Colorplan color paper references in 135g.
If you wish to print on your own paper, please indicate the reference or contact us directly (count approximately 15% more paper than the quantity provided)
The Riso remains a technique that is printed using a stencil, it is preferable not to make a visual that is too thin, especially if several colors or elements overlap. The same goes for the text.
We advise you not to go below 6pt and to avoid characters with thin hairlines. The recommended minimum thickness for a line is 0.3pt. The technique is however very suitable for transcribing colored pencil or pastel drawings.
1.
Printing light text on a dark background is not recommended. It is necessary to create a knockout slightly smaller than the text to avoid borders due to offsets.
2.
Printing dark text on a light background does not require knockout. Although the dark colors may see their hue change depending on the background color.
3.
For printing text directly on paper, if the color is light beware of reading problems.