Please take a moment to read through this page carefully before booking a printing slot. Risograph printing has a few quirks, limitations, and preparation steps that will help you get the best results from the machine. Understanding how our printer, inks, paper and pricing work will make your session smoother.
Our printer
We have a RISO SF 5350EII, a single‑drum risograph machine. This means each colour is printed one at a time, and the ink drum is swapped for every new colour layer.
Studio equipment
Available for use during printing slots:
- RISO SF 5350EII single‑drum printer
- Inks: Bright Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, Green, Fluorescent Pink
- A3 & A4 70gsm copier paper
- A3 Context White 170gsm
- Manual A3 guillotine
- A3 light pad
- Long‑arm stapler
- A4 inkjet printer & scanner (EPSON XP‑7100)
Our ink colours
We have 6 colours: Blue, Fluorescent Pink, Yellow, Black, Green & Red
Blue
HEX: #0078BF
RGB: (0, 120, 191)
CMYK: (99, 22, 0, 1)
Fluorescent Pink
HEX: #FF48B0
RGB: (255, 72, 176)
CMYK: (0, 72, 31, 0)
Yellow
HEX: #FFE800
RGB: (255, 232, 0)
CMYK: (0, 9, 100, 0)
Black
HEX: #000000
RGB: (0, 0, 0)
CMYK: (0, 0, 0, 100)
Green
HEX: #00A95C
RGB: (0, 169, 92)
CMYK: (73, 0, 81, 0)
Bright Red
HEX: #F15060
RGB: (241, 80, 96)
CMYK: (0, 67, 60, 5)
Paper guide
The printer can print uncoated paper only, between 46–210gsm, up to A3 size.
Paper we stock
- A3 Context White 170gsm
- A3 & A4 70gsm white copier paper
Bringing your own paper
You’re welcome to bring your own uncoated paper within the weight range above. Coated or glossy paper can’t be used as it prevents ink absorption, causes smudging, and may jam the machine.
Best practice
It’s most economical to arrange your artwork onto A3 sheets (e.g., 2×A4 or 4×A5) and trim after printing.
Preparing your artwork
Riso works best when artwork is prepared with its limitations in mind.
Greyscale artwork
All artwork should be supplied in greyscale, as the risoprinter reads tonal values rather than colours and prints one ink at a time. A solid 100% black area will translate to 100% opacity of your chosen ink colour, while lighter grey tones will produce lighter tints.
Leaving a 1cm Margin
Make sure you leave a 1 cm bleed/border around your artwork, as Risograph printers can’t print full‑bleed. This ensures none of your artwork is cut off and helps the paper feed cleanly through the machine.
Avoid dense coverage
Large areas of dense ink coverage can oversaturate the paper and cause the stencil or sheet to stick inside the machine, which may lead to jams. Heavy coverage can also leave roller marks on your next colour passes.
To avoid this:
- Keep heavy areas to a max of 70% opacity
- Consider using thicker paper stock
- Or use coloured paper instead of trying to achieve a full‑bleed block of colour with ink
Expect variation
Riso is not a perfect digital match, colours differ from what you see on screen, and slight misalignments between layers are normal.