Risograph

Description

Risograph is a Japanese stencil-duplication printing technology, in production since 1986, that was originally designed for cheap school newsletters and has become, since roughly 2010, the dominant printing process for independent zine, art-book, and small-edition poster work in cities with strong independent-print scenes worldwide. The visual rules come from the machine. Risograph prints one ink at a time using soy-based fluorescent or pastel inks; registration between layers is loose, producing visible offsets; the inks themselves do not mix cleanly — overlaps produce a third color through screened halftone overlap, not blending; large solid color areas show grain and roller streaks; and the palette is limited to roughly 15 stock spot inks (fluorescent pink, federal blue, sunflower, teal, etc.). Use it for zines, gig posters, small-edition art prints, indie editorial illustration, graphic-novel pages, and any image that should feel hand-made and printed-not-screened. Limitations: not photoreal, never. Color reproduction is unpredictable. Generative models will sometimes give you generic textured illustration; specify "Risograph print, two-layer with visible misregistration, fluorescent pink and federal blue, halftone overlap, grainy ink texture on uncoated paper."