Risograph

What the fuck is a Risograph?

Riso is a Japanese company that produces high speed duplicators and inks. A Risograph is an automatic duplicator machine that prints only in spot colors, one color at a time. 

Imagine a printing machine that blends two classical print methods; mimeograph and screen printing. It looks and works sort of (but not at all) like a xerox. Instead of toner it uses super vibrant, transparent, soy or rice oil based inks. A Riso machine can print on varying paper stocks; from newsprint to heavy French paper. You create a master image using the scanner, a laser burns a fabric master which then wraps around the ink drum and a pressure roller presses the un-coated paper against the drum, making an almost perfect transfer.

Since each color is printed as a separate image, the paper is ran multiple times through the machine, layering each color and creating beautiful gradients. These are truly beautiful and brilliantly designed machines.

Currently in stock I have an EZ 220U with black and an RP-3700 with black, red, green, blue, federal blue, aqua, and flat gold ink drums. Our RP machine is capable of printing on A3 (11×13) sized paper.

I want to work with you! Zines, posters, calendars, postcards, whatever! Shoot me your ideas, let’s talk and collaborate!