A Risograph is a beloved and kooky little duplicator—part copy machine, part screenprinter. It uses a stencil-based process to push ink onto paper, creating prints with vibrant color and texture.

The machine works with paper up to 11" × 17" and is happiest making editions of about 50–500 copies. To print, artwork is scanned from a digital or physical file and burned onto an ink drum, creating a stencil. As the paper passes through the machine, the drum spins and pushes ink through the stencil and onto the page. Each color gets its own drum and its own pass through the machine, building the final image layer by layer.

Riso printing is non-archival and far from precise. Layers often mis-register as they feed through the machine, the ink loves to smudge, and rollers in the machine leave their own little marks behind. These quirks are an endearing part of the process—rather than mistakes to be corrected, these elements are evidence of the machine at work.

My approach to printmaking embraces the humanistic imperfections that occur in the printmaking process.

I currently print on an MZ790, a two-color machine named Delores del Ruby.

Risograph inks are soy or rice based. They are semi-transparent and can be overlayed to create additional colors.

Each ink tube is housed in it’s own drum, and the number of drums a printer has determines their usable palette. I recommend projects utilize 1-3 inks, as too many layers can result in super smudgy prints.

I currently stock the following inks:

• Lake Blue

• Fluorescent Pink

• Sunflower

• Black

• Paprika Orange

• Bright Olive

While ordering special paper is always an option, I typically stock the following paper in-house:

• Basic: Blick Drafting Paper 70# Text (white)

• Fancy: French Whipped Cream #60 Cardstock (off-white)

• Fun: Multi-color or white construction paper