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_Printing Guide

 



Please make sure
You read these
guidelines before
ordering any
risograph prints or
design by us for
risograph printing
and understand Your
choice of project kind!


< about riso >


Risograph is like a hybrid between a photocopier and screen printing. The first step in Riso printing is to create a thermographic master screen, or stencil. Stencils are made from film or polyester resin bound to thin fibrous paper, the whole sheet being only a few microns thick. They can be created either by scaning image directly into the printer, or by using software like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign or Illustrator. To do this, you create a series of separate greyscale PDF files, one for each of the colours that are to feature in the final print. These are then sent via digital signals to the a thermal head within the duplicator, which burns perforations in the blank stencil. The master sheet has the image stencilled on, and paper is then fed into the machine to pass through the sheet and ink to create a print.

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Riso prints looks very tactile, flat colours which ‘pop’ off the page, Risograph works really well with layered graphics, text, illustrations and photographs. Almost anything can be Riso printed including posters, art prints, flyers, postcards, stationery, business cards, zines, packaging, menus, leaflets… Risograph doesn't produce 'perfect' print results and finished prints will look different to on-screen designs. Printing more than two colours will require more than one pass, and is best to assume that mis-registration will occur. 

Still riso printing doesn’t suit every job due to it’sunique results, so being open to the quirks of the machine is an important part of printing and designing. The best outputs are usually designed with the risoprocess in mind from the start, rather than reworking artwork afterwards.

As the riso isn’t perfect like a digital printer, your finished prints will have a different look and feel to what you see digitally on your computer screen. Riso soy inks have similar qualities to newspaper ink,and can smudge if handled a lot, and each print will differ slightly from one to another, with small imperfections in registration and ink coverage.

! here is some very important aspects which must be taken into the consideration while designing things for riso printing !


< paper >

 

Risograph prints exclusively on uncoated papers from 50 to 300 gsm such as Munken, Scandia, Cyclus Offset or Amber Graphic. Rough papers better absorb ink and graphics looks more vivid compared to calendered papers, so we suggest to use rough papers for nicer results.

Inappropriate paper for printing: 

 

  • Extremely thin paper (les than 46 gsm).

  • Chemically treated paper (such as thermal or carbon paper). 

  • Excessively wrinkled, curled, creased, or tom paper. 

  • Paper coated on one side or both sides. 

  • Deckle-edged paper. Art paper. 

  • Paper with sticky areas or holes.

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< colours >

 

We stock 7 colours:

  • Yellow

  • Fluorescent Orange

  • Bright Red

  • Medium Blue

  • Teal Green

  • Black HD

  • Metallic Gold

 

See colours

 

Unlike most methods of printing, Risograph spot colour inks do not conform to a Pantone standard (the provided Pantones are approximates). All inks are unique to the riso process and colours produced cannot be represented on the web or through digital print, especially fluorescent orange and metallic inks. Riso inks are not completely opaque, so colours can be layered over one another to produce new shades and interesting results as hand-printed and tactile finish. Unlike the other riso inks, Metallic Gold is opaque and prints great on black and dark paper (or on dark colours). Additionally, the inks are all slightly translucent so finished colour will vary depending on what paper you print on. 

< printing area >

 

The Risograph can’t print full bleed. There is border on A3 and A4 prints.

When creating designs, take above margins into consideration. 

 

  • A3 paper size = 297 × 420 mm

  • A3 printable area = 291 × 413 mm

 

  • A4 paper size = 297 × 210 mm

  • A4 printable area = 291 × 203 mm

 

 

It is not possible to cover the full printable area with 100% ink density as it causes paper jams or gets stuck in the drum. We recommend to set large areas of colour to an opacity of 80% or less. Instead of printing a full colour background, we recommend printing onto a coloured paper stock for a better result. When producing prints with multiple colours/heavy coverage, unwanted marks can occur by the feed tire, picking up ink from the previous print, and transferring it onto the next sheet of paper being fed. These marks can be easily erased with rubber.

 

< registration >

 

As each colour is printed one layer at a time, registration will never be 100% accurate. As registration is controlled manually, a tolerance of 1-3mm movement between layers should be allowed. Extend colour under line work for neater results, use trapping to avoid white spaces, and avoid small details that rely on registration to be 100%. Double-sided are very difficult to register between front and back, so these designs should never rely on perfect registration.

 

< files >

 

The artwork should be setup as separate greyscale PDF files, one for each colour layer, similar to the way artwork is prepared for screen printing.

 

Print file set-up: 

 

  1. Flattened PDF (no layers or transparencies). 

  2. The artwork should be set-up in greyscale (adjusting the values of K only in CMYK - the remaining CMY values should remain at 0), and saved as PDF files. Each layer of colour is a separate file. 

  3. Set the output resolution of your file to 300 DPI, and select CMYK as the Document Colour Mode. 

  4. We print on A3 but A3 printable area is 291 × 413 mm.

  5. Add bleed and crop marks if required, and a 10 mm blank border around the edge.

  6. If your artwork has two or more colours, you should expect there to be some mis-registration to take place, we will do manual adjustments on the machine to prevent mis-registration as much as possible. There will also be some unwanted marking when printing multiple colours caused when the paper is fed through the machine, but most of these marks can be removed with the simple use of a rubber. 

  7. No Photoshop (raster) type, make sure it is from InDesign / Illustrator or outlined (vector). Absolutely no effects in InDesign. No transparency. Avoid heavy inking and large areas of blockcolour. Block colour should be no more than 75% black. Please include a full-colour JPEG as a reference

 

Note, that all files are printed exactly as received and we cannot be held responsible for any mistakes, although we will flag any obvious errors if we spot them. Our studio time is charged at 25 Eu per hour for any file amendments required. Should any amendments need to be made once printing has started, costs incurred will be added to the total cost quoted on the job. You will be contacted should any artwork changes need to be made. There will be a charge per change of artwork to cover the material cost.

 

< terms and conditions >

 

Ordering prints and designs from KI-LAB means that you have read and accepted our

"Terms & Conditions".

 

  • All points of this print guide should be followed to achieve a good result. We cannot be held responsible for any mistakes within files. If amendments are required by us, studio time is charged at 25 Eu per hour. 

 

  • We must receive a colour proof in order to commence a print job. Once an order is confirmed by e-mail, we will commence the print job. Any cancellations after this point will incur partial material & labour charges. Any jobs which are completed by us but no longer required for any reason need to be paid for in full. We require a deposit for large orders. 

 

  • It is your responsibility to ensure that artwork is not unlawful or breaches any copyrights. 

 

  • We cannot be held responsible for deadlines which are not communicated to us at the time of ordering. 1 colour prints take 24 hrs. Add 24 hrs for each additional stencil, to calculate an approximate turnaround time. If you require a quick turnaround on a job, please contact us first. 

 

  • All work must be fully paid for before leaving the studio. We accept pre-payment by bank transfer or payment on collection by cash. A receipt of payment will be provided for all orders. We are not VAT registered. 

 

  • Risograph prints will not look exactly the same as digital designs and mis-registration, roller marks, pick-up marks and back of paper transfer should be expected. The prints will differ very slightly from one another.

 

  • Please contact us to arrange delivery of your items, we use a variety of courier services and will advise you on the most suitable option.

 

  • You are responsible for making sure that artwork that you send to print is accurate and appropriate for publication and printing. Do not submit anything you know to be unlawful or harms the rights of others. 

 

  • Please ensure that Risograph is the correct print medium for your job before ordering, as we can't be held responsible for unrealistic expectations of the finished result. Please contact us for a colour chart if you are unsure.