Risograph printing in small runs: zines, posters, postcards

I run a small risograph studio and print short runs for artists, small publishers, bands and anyone who wants a zine, a poster or a set of postcards that feels made by hand rather than churned out. Every job starts with the artwork: I help you split it into separate colour layers, one greyscale file per ink, and we pick a palette from the drums I actually have in stock. Two or three well-chosen inks overprinted on each other give you far more shades than you would expect, and I will show you swatches of real overlaps so you are not guessing.

Riso has its own character, and I think it is worth being honest about it up front. You get a soft grain in flat areas, slight variation from sheet to sheet and a small shift between layers, because each colour goes through the machine separately. I keep registration as tight as the process allows, but a hairline wobble is part of the look, not a defect. Before the run I print a proof on the chosen stock and you approve it: colour on a screen and colour on paper never match exactly, so the proof is what we sign off on, not the monitor. A few ground rules: I only print work you hold the rights to, so no borrowed illustrations, logos or photos without permission. Riso ink dries more slowly than offset ink, so a fresh run is laid out to rest and never stacked straight away.

What the job includes:
— preparing and checking artwork layer by layer;
— choosing a palette from available inks, with overprint swatches;
— paper advice: uncoated stocks that take riso ink well, weights for covers and inner pages;
— a test proof for approval before the main run;
— runs from 50 copies;
— zine assembly: folding, collating, saddle stitching or hand sewing;
— trimming, careful packing with interleaving sheets;
— usual turnaround 7 to 14 days after proof approval, depending on the number of layers and the size of the run.