The details

  • What's Risograph?

    A risograph printing press looks like a copy machine on the outside, but is a stencil printing machine that prints soy based ink through a paper stencil. These machines were created to bridge the gap between xerox printing and offset lithography, and excel at quickly creating colorful duplicates.

    What should I expect?

    We think Riso printing is a good fit for artists and designers who want a screen printed result at a lower price point. The machine is designed for high speed printing, so it's not the strongest option for tight registration and precision. Rather than fight this, we recommend embracing it and letting the process itself add an extra element to your work. We think you'll find, like us, that doing so can help your prints to stand out from the sea of digital printing out there.

    Here are some things to expect with our Risograph Printing:

    • Loose Registration. We print each color in your design in its own press pass. This makes proper color alignment between layers a bit like winning the lottery. Building your design with overlapping elements (trapping) can help to fight this drawback.
    • Tire/Roller Marks. The Riso uses friction to feed paper through the press. Because of this, ink can transfer to the rubber wheel and leave a pattern through the center of the print. You can avoid this with lighter ink coverage, but sometimes its best to accept it and erase marks later with a soft eraser.
    • Uneven Coverage. We're working with real ink here, and it has a few quirks. It's not uncommon for the ink density to vary a bit between areas of the print. And heavy areas of ink can lead to paper sticking to the inking drum. Because of all this, it's best to break up solid, flat areas of color with patterns.
    • Smudging. Riso ink has to stay wet through periods of storage, so it's formulated from an oil based medium. This means that it only dries through absorption into the paper, which is a very slow process. You should expect Riso ink to soil fingers and leave smudge marks if handled roughly.
    • Dead Pixels. Our main presses are GR series Risographs, which means they are from the 1990s. Some days it's amazing that they work at all. Our scanner has a slight dead pixel line that can show on flat areas of color. Most people do not pay it much attention, but as printers it draws our eye to it. One way to fight it is to design 'busier', patterned areas into your work.

  • Technical Details

    The Risograph is able to print paper up to 12" x 18" inches, but the maximum print area is only 10.5" x 16.5".

    We can print on a variety of uncoated papers, from 20# bond to 100# cover. Our favorite paper mill for art prints is French Paper, who produces a variety of color and tonal 100% recycled papers.

    Ink Colors

    The Risograph prints with standard ink colors. Here is our current color library:

    Black PMS BLACK U / #21201f
    Flat Gold PMS 1245 U / #96763c
    Brown PMS 7526 U / #795645
    Blue PMS 3005 U / #007dc2
    Hunter Green PMS 342 U / #416056
    Green PMS 354 U / #00a95c
    Yellow PMS YELLOW U / #ffdf0a
    Orange PMS ORANGE 021 U / #f36d38
    Bright Red PMS 032 U / #f15060
    Fluorescent Pink PMS 806 U / #f360a3

    More Information

Risograph Pricing

All pricing must be confirmed by Mystic Multiples via the quoting process. Pricing below does not include sales tax, custom paper stocks, or cutting fees. Art print cuts are included, and additional cuts are a $15 fee. To start a quote, please complete the form here. Thanks!

8.5" x 11" Press Sheet

8.5” x 11” 1 Color 2 Colors 3 Colors 4 Colors
25 prints $48 $78 $108 $137
50 prints $55 $88 $124 $159
100 prints $75 $100 $132 $166
250 prints $126 $179 $232 $286
500 prints $216 $299 $382 $466
1000 prints $330 $431 $532 $634

 

11" x 17" Press Sheet

11” x 17” 1 Color 2 Colors 3 Colors 4 Colors
25 prints $60 $90 $120 $149
50 prints $70 $100 $136 $171
100 prints $80 $120 $144 $178
250 prints $150 $203 $256 $310
500 prints $252 $335 $418 $502
1000 prints $390 $491 $592 $694

Let's make some prints!

  • Requesting a Quote

    Remember, we will need the following to put together a quote for you:

    • A short project description. What and why?
    • The number of colors to be printed, for instance two color art.
    • The final size of your art print.
    • The number of prints you want.
    • The due date of your project.
    • We'll ask you for files after the first emails.

    If you are unsure on any of the above, don't worry! We can talk you through the details. We want to make sure we get all the details right, and are on the same page with your project.

Quote Request