PLEASE
READ THE ENTIRE RISO GUIDE.
Riso at a Glance
Anatomy of Riso
Control Panel
Riso Ink
From Greyscale to Color
Paper
Making a Master from a Scan
Adding Riso Swatches to Photoshop
Riso Design Setup in Photoshop: Channels
Riso Design Setup in Photoshop: Layers
Printing from Photoshop
Spectrolite
Best Practices
The Risograph printer is similar to screen printing. The Risograph uses single colors to print designs from a master stencil. It uses wax paper to create a stencil called the master and uses soy based inks to print.
File is sent from
Computer or Scan Bed
Master is created for each color by burning a negative image onto a waxed sheet. The master is wrapped around the drum.
The ink is forced through the burned voids of the master. The paper is fed from the paper tray and runs flat against the drum while the drum rotates at a high speed to transfer the ink onto the paper.
1. Wake the Riso by pressing the Wake Up button.
2. Switch ink drum to the color you want.
3. Insert paper.
Switching Ink:
1. Open front door.
2. Press Blue Button.
3. Pull out drum by blue handle
4. Lift drum out by the 2 blue handles. Make sure to put the drum back in a case. The drum MUST be placed in a horizontal position on a stable surface.
5. Place new drum into the drum rails. Tip: You can line up the arrows on the rail and the drum to easily put it in.
6. Push drum back into printer until you hear a beep. Repeat for drum 2. Both drums must be pushed back in and beep for you to continue.
Black #000000
Bright RED #F15060
Yellow #FFE800
Purple #765BA7
Medium Blue #3255A4
Green #00A95C
Fluorescent
Pink #FF48B0
Orange #FF6C2F
Brown #925F52
Teal #00838A
Fluorescent
Orange #FF7477
White #FFFFFF
Currently we have 12 amazing vibrant riso inks. Riso ink is very slow to absorb into paper, therefore we recommend breaking up anything over two colors into two sessions over two separate days. Avoid putting spot colors at the head of the page to avoid paper jams. Do not use Pantones, use hex codes or percentages. Your file will not print correctly if you use pantones.
The Riso uses offset printing, a spot color or solid color is any color generated by an ink (pure or mixed). This is printed using a single run, whereas a process color is produced by printing a series of dots of different colors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_color
It is possible to make your files using color, but remember that simply converting them to grayscale may not work. If you convert a yellow to grayscale, it ends up looking like a light gray. If you take a color wheel and desaturate it, you will see that each color is a different value. If you want 100% of any color on the Risograph, you will need to use 100% black in your design to get that full color. In Photoshop you can create a color layer so you can see how it will turn out with that color. When you print you will print from greyscale.
The Riso can print 2 colors on one pass on 11x17 or 8.5x11 size.
To save paper and masters combine smaller projects on the same page. For full bleed designs add a 3/8’’ around your artwork.
1. Press paper button.
3. Adjust Edges
4. Press paper button until paper sensor touches
5. Make sure the paper weight toggle is set to heavy for heavy stock or light for lighter stock.
1. Press Home button.
2. Choose which drum or dual color.
3. Press Master Make.
4 Put your original on the glass.
5. Press start to make master 1. It will make the master and spit out proofs for only master 1. If someone else made a master on the second drum, it will also print (unless cleared)!
6. Place second original on glass.
7. Press start. The second master will be made Proofs of second and first master will come out.
1. Download the Riso Swatches from the DIC Website: https://www.sva.edu/tobeteterminedswatchdwonload.
2. Scroll down to the Illustration Overview section.
3. Click Swatches.
4. In Photoshop, Window --> Swatches
5. Click Save file. Click OK.
6. In Photoshop, Select Import Swatches. Select “DIC Riso Swatches.aco”
(Check your Desktop or Downloads Folder)
7. Select Open.
Now you have the DIC Riso ink color in your Swatches Panel!
1. Open Artwork or Photograph file in Photoshop
2. Image -> Mode -> RGB Color (3 color) or CMYK Color (4 color)
Make sure your image is flattened to one layer.
2. Select Channels
In the Panel Menu [four lines], select Split Channels.
3. Your file has been split into new tabs.
One for each color & the transparency. The color each file represents will be in its name.
Create a Letter or Tabloid canvas. We are now going to learn how to prep for designing in SPOT colors. If you set up your file this way, you can see how the colors will come out while having your colors separated in your layers.
1. Click “Create New Fill Layer & select Solid Color
2. Select the color you want from the Swatches Panel->Press ok.
3. Repeat Step 1 - 3 to create a new Fill Layer.
4. Select the two Fill Color Layers you just created in the Layers. Then In the Blending Mode menu select Screen.
5. Create Two groups, label them which Riso Colors you are using.
6. Select both groups. In Blending Mode menu select Multiply.
7. Select Group for color 1 and put it underneath the Fill layer corresponding color 1. Do the same for Color 2.
8. Click on the blank part of the Fill Layer and create a clipping mask. Repeat for other colors.
Now you are able to design your document while seeing how it will roughly look in the Riso Colors while designing in greyscale.
1. Make sure that the printer is awake by pressing the “Wake-Up” button.
2. On the control screen press dual color or single color.
3.Press master make.
4. Go to your computer.
5. Make sure the color layer you want to print is visible and all other layers hidden. The color fill must also be hidden so your image is greyscale. Do the same for the 2nd color.
Color 1
Color 2
Bright Red Pink
6. Go to File-->Print--> Color management-->Color Handling--> Printer Manages Colors.
7. Print Settings--> Set your paper size--> Layout--> Coloring.
8. Choose Mono-Color Print or Dual- Color print.
9. Enter which colors you are using: Make sure they correspond to which colors are in the printer. If the Fluorescent pink is where the first drum is then put it as color one. If green is in the second position put it as color two.
10. If the color is not available go to coloring--> Select ‘Print Color Entry’ add the color corresponding to the drum you are using.
11. In Coloring you can then make masters for both colors. Master Making--> Color 1 Only
12. Save-->Print. Your file is being sent over to the Riso. The Riso should be awake and logged in to continue. When you hear a beep the first master is ready to be made.
13. Make sure you are in the Color or Dual. Press Pause.
14. Select your file name then press output. The Riso will make the first master and spit out proof copies. If you are printing two colors the other drum may have a master already on it from a previous user. When you make your second master it will go away after a few prints. You might need to run more prints to remove the ink from the previous master.
15. Repeat for color 2 with your 2nd grayscale layer visible.
1. Open your file either by double clicking or dragging it onto spectrolite.
2. Go to Inks and select our 11 Riso colors and White.
3. Go to click
4. Choose inks you are using then press save.
5.Select desired palette.
6. Click then You will get a preview image and it will show the separations.
7. to pdf or png you can change the dimensions.
You also can choose different types of paper, create zines layouts, create ISBN barcodes, and separate your files in different ways. For additional information go to https://spectrolite.app/
1. Take your time.
2. Max. your paper size.
3. Minimum drying time is 1 hour.
4. Max paper weight is 300g.
5. Minimum paper weight is 90g.
6. Only use UNCOATED paper.
7. Image resolution 600dpi.
8. Minimum type size 6 pt.
9. Check your paper settings!
10. Neat paper stock, less jams.
11. Leave the Riso room cleaner than what it was when you came in.
SVA Links:
https://www.sva.edu/dic
Contact: Katie Silver
Ksilver1@sva.edu
Outside links: www.stencil.wiki
https://www.stencil.wiki/fairs
www.the-print-guide.blogspot.com/2009/05/halftone-screen-angles.html https://spectrolite.app/
As always if you get stuck Please ask DIC staff to help you when you need it. Please PLEASE PLEASE keep this shared space clean!! Since this is a sharezd creative space for design students we want to be able to keep it open, clean and working for the next designer working on the RISO. Make sure to have your file prepared BEFORE coming in to print.
