1. Print together or send your files?
Print together
Let’s print together! It’s exactly what it sounds like. You’re invited to come and print with me. I guide you through the process of making a RISO print and we discuss what paper to print on.This means it isn’t just a service where you drop off your files, and pick up your prints. But instead you’re involved all the way through the printing process, which means you know what happens when printing, and can witness the full print process.
Drop off your files, pick up your prints
While we prefer to print stuff together, it’s of course also possible to just send me your files, and pick up your prints later.When it’s your first time RISO printing with SO-RI, we’ll ask you to print together with us so you become familiar with the printing process. You can of course still say “no” to that.
The pricing is the same as printing together.
2. Book a printing appointment
When? And timing?
Usually I am available on:- Monday from 10AM to 05.30PM,
- Tuesday from 10AM to 03PM
- Thursday from 10AM to 05.30PM,
- Friday from 10AM to 03PM.
We are not printing during (Belgian) school holidays.
Are you printing a zine or a publication?
I would love to book a full day with you, so we can print it together. Send me a message to make an appointment.
Doubting about how much time you need to book in the Bookings tool?
- 30 minutes is perfect for getting some information, and a small talk.
- 1hr is perfect if you already have some experience with RISO printing and you have a rather small print assignment.
- 2hrs is perfect for a larger print assignment if you have some experience with RISO printing, or a small print assignment if you don’t have any experience with RISO printing.
If you’d like to print on any other date or time, feel free to send me a message or mail me at sori.printstudio@gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do.
We can even go for an evening print session or a weekend print session, if that’s your only option.
How long before I can get my prints?
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Please book an appointment well in advance, to make sure your print job gets done in time.
- Simple print jobs might be done the same day. Some print jobs might require some drying time before all ink layers get printed. Larger and more complex print jobs might require some more time, than initially planned.
Peak periods?
Please note that these months might be busier than usual, and I might be fully booked during these periods: November, December, May and June. So please book your appointment in advance.
Where?
The printing always takes place in our small printing studio. You can find us in Appelstraat 53, 2140 Borgerhout. This is also where we live, and work.Important note!
During the months of January and February 2025, we will temporarily work from a different address: ‘s-Herenstraat 45, 2140 Borgerhout. It’s just a 3 minute walk from where we usually work, so no worries if you get the address wrong.Booking tool
3. Pricing and calculator
Print pricing
This is just informative. A more direct and clear price can be calculated by using the two price calculators down below on this website.We now use three pricing categories:
students / regular / corporations & birth cards
€25,00 / €32,50 / €45,00 - start-up cost (once per printing session or once per zine project)
€6,50 / €7,50 / €10,00 - per master
€0,04 / €0,04 / €0,08 - per copy (regular ink)2
€0,06 / €0,06 / €0,12 - per copy (special ink)2
Paper pricing
This is just informative. The price of paper is already included in the price calculators. Please note that you can always bring your own paper.€0,00/sheet - your own paper
€0,10/sheet - steinbeis n.1 - 80g
€0,10/sheet - steinbeis n.3 - 80g
€0,15/sheet - biotop, off white - 80g
€0,25/sheet - biotop, off white - 100g
€0,20/sheet - biotop, off white - 120g
€0,25/sheet - biotop, off white - 160g
€0,40/sheet - biotop, off white - 250g
How to use our calculator
* The start-up fee is a cost you pay once per printing session (whether you print one A3 design or one hundred, you only pay the start-up fee once per printing session), or once per zine in the case of printing a zine.1 We have three different pricing brackets to choose from:
- Discount is for art students. Social, and leftist progressive organisations and movements can apply for an extra discount.
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Regular is for most people, and small local businesses.
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Corporate is for corporate jobs, this includes big businesses, but also graphic designers charging their clients. Also in this pricing brackets are birth announcement cards, wedding invitations and alike.
- Not sure about the bracket you are in? Send me a message or ask me in person before printing.
2 The difference between special and regular ink is noted in the “About RISO printing” chapter on this page, special colours are denoted by the
We quite a bit more for special inks, which is why they are more expensive for you as well.
3 Bringing your own paper is free, as it saves me the hassle of stocking paper, buying paper, choosing paper, etc. And as an extra plus: you get your own choice of paper. Please make sure that the paper is uncoated and heavier than 70gsm, but lighter than 230gsm and isn’t prone to losing fibers, isn’t too smooth, nor too textured.
Printing on your own paper is always at your own risk, and we can not guarantee that your paper will go through the machine perfectly, nor that your paper is perfectly compatible with RISO ink.
4 The page size refers to the size of a single page. It doesn’t refer to the spread size or the plate size. Please keep in mind that the RISO doesn’t print up to the border, so a full A4 sized zine won’t work. Give your pages a bit off space on the sides.
If your page size is smaller than A4, but larger than A5, always go for the bigger size in the calculator.
5 The number of pages should be:
The number of pages doesn’t include the cover.
It’s impossible to print a regular zine that isn’t a multiple of 4 pages, use the numbers above to optimize your usage of the A3 sized paper.
6 The minimum amount of copies is always 20. You can print less, but you will always pay for at least 20 copies. This is because making the Master, making sure the ink spreads well, etc. takes time, ink and paper. The RISO is made for multiples, please keep this in mind and minimize waste.
Pick your pricing bracket
A3 printing
Colours recto2
Special colours2 recto
Colours verso2
Special colours2 verso
Copies6
Zine printing
Colours2
Special colours2
Pages5
Copies6
Colours2 cover
Special colours2 cover
Can’t figure out the pricing calculator?
If you can’t figure out the pricing calculator, or you have some more complex question on the pricing for me, you can always send me an e-mail at sori.printstudio@gmail.comI am always happy to help you figure stuff out, whether that’s about the printing process, or the pricing, just shoot me a question!
4. About RISO printing
You also find some info about the ink colours we offer, and their approximate HEX-codes.
What is RISO?
RISO is a Japanese brand of duplicators and printers. When people talk about risographs, they usually refer to the duplicator series of printers. They are quick, easy and cheap to print from and perfect for mass printing.Origins
The RISO machine itself looks kind of dull, almost like a big old copier. And that is, because in some ways, it is.The RISO technology is actually a digital stencil machine. Stencil duplicators were the predecessor to modern copy machines.
The RISO was originally used in office environments, schools, churches, sporting clubs and political parties to quickly print multiple copies. Whether those were announcements, letters, pamphlets, or posters, the RISO did it all fast and at a low cost.
Later on, it was picked up by artists and creatives to print zines. To whom it was attractive due to its low cost and lo-fi charm and analogue look.
Eco-friendly
The ink in the RISO machine is made from the byproducts of rice farming. The machine itself doesn’t have a heating element to dry the ink, which makes it more energy efficient.Both of these aspects make the RISO technique a rather eco-friendly option for your print work.
Multiples
Because of the stencil-based nature of the RISO printing process, it is well suited to print multiples of the same print.The cost of the Master sheets would not really make sense to print a single copy of anything.
SO-RI suggests printing posters, flyers, zines and artist editions for the RISO technique to be an affordable and charming way to present your work or advertise your company, organisation or event.
Imperfections
RISO printing is known for its lo-fi charm, so be sure to expect a lot of small and large imperfections. Registration marks will not consistently line up. Smudge marks from handling the paper quite often appear. Roller marks from the machine and ink residue from other inked paper might be visible. Most smudges and ink spots can simply be rubbed away with a rubber gum, just make sure not to rub over any inked areas. Try to avoid large inked areas in your design to avoid a lot of smudges.If you’re not willing to deal with imperfections, smudges and misalignments, RISO printing might not be the thing for you.
Which paper can you use?
You can always bring your own paper stocks to me and check if it prints. There’s no guarantee that it will work and bringing your own paper is always at your own risk.Most papers work that are:
- uncoated
- not too textured and not too smooth
- preferably between 90gsm and 210gsm, sometimes you can be lucky between 70gsm and 230gsm
Papers in our stock
While we are always open for suggestions we try to stock several types of paper. Not all paper types on our website are always in stock, feel free to ask us about what we have in stock right now.You may find scans of some of our papers down below.
[coming soon]
Currently we are not stocking many different types of paper, but our paper offerings will be expanded in Q2 2025, after our studio has undergone its final renovations.
Colours
SO-RI has 18 colours to choose from. Please note that these are not your typical CMYK colours and that RISO requires a completely different mindset to work with.To figure out the workflow of prepping your files for graphical work, illustrations or photography, check out the “file prep” chapter on this page.
Hex codes
Use these hex codes in your favourite software to approximate the RISO ink colours. Don’t forget that screens can’t reproduce all colours accurately.Colours which are crossed out, are colours which are currently not working, or are being transitioned into another colour.
Fluorescent Pink | 蛍光ピンク
Bright Red | ブライトレッド
Fluorescent Orange | 蛍光オレンジ
Orange | オレンジ
Yellow | イエロー
Fluorescent Green | 蛍光グリーン
Green | グリーン
Hunter Green | ハンターグリーン
Teal | ティールグリーソ
Aqua | アクア
Blue | ブルー
Medium Blue | ミディアムブルー
Violet | ヴァイオレット
Purple | パープル
Burgundy | バーガンディーレッド
Light Grey | ライトグレー
Black | ブラック
Colour drums
To print a colour, you need an ink drum. Each colour is stored in its own drum, which is a piece of hardware, which holds an ink tube, a master stencil and eventually imprints an image onto your paper.Because each drum holds only one colour, and our machine prints with only two drums at a time, printing more than two colours requires you to change out the drums and send the paper through the machine multiple times.
Because the master stencil is stuck to the drum, each additional colour will require a freshly burned stencil.
5. Preparing your files
Before we start off: remember I am here to help you. Especially in your first couple of times printing with the RISO I will explain everything in detail. Don’t worry about asking too much questions, I am more than happy to help. I will assist you in preparing your files, explain everything in detail and I will even give advise on your choice of inks.
Some basics
Let’s start off with some basics. Remember that the machine:File types
I accept a variety of file types. You can deliver me:- clearly labeled black and white layers in 1 PSD file
- clearly named JPG, PNG or TIFF files
- clearly labeled PDF files (if each page is a different colour layer, please mention it clearly in the file name and in your e-mail).
- please note the name of the colour you would like to use into the filename. Please use the same name for the colour as we do on the website.
- InDesign packages, if you’re working on a zine.
- convert your layers into black and white. I prefer working with files in RGB. While it seems counter-intuitive, the workflow I am following usually gives the best results when you work in RGB, so please make sure your images are not in Greyscale, nor in CMYK.
- the RISO I am working with allegedly goes up to a resolution of 600dpi. For the best quality please make sure your files are set up for at least 300ppi in your preferred printing size.
- I do not work with unlabeled files, nor with Illustrator files.
Size
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Our RISO machine prints onto paper sized up to A3.
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Our RISO machine doesn’t print up to the edge of the paper, leave at least a 5mm white border on each edge of the paper. For cleaner results, leave a larger white border.
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Make sure your files are sized properly. We always print on A3 sized paper, using an A3 sized master. So place your design(s) on an A3 sized canvas.
- For zines, just make sure your page size is as you want it to be. We will set the rest up for your.
Want to bring your own paper, but it is only available in A4?
No worries, we can still print on that, but it’s the same cost as printing on A3.
Example
Down here you can find a wonderfully beautiful example of Juliane Noll’s Sunset print.The black and white images are what we sent to the RISO, the colour layers are the separate ink layers the RISO gave us.
The fourth image is all the inks combined into one image. Take note of how the colours mix when they overlap.
Graphic design & digital illustrations
For graphic design and digital illustrations it’s best to start off your design using seperate colour layers and converting them to black and white.You could also work with black and white layers and in Photoshop use a solid colour adjustment layer on the screen blend mode and each black and white layer on a multiply blend mode. This gives you a pretty clear preview of what to expect from the print (remember screens can’t properly show fluorescent colours).
Analog illustrations, paintings and photographs
RISO works perfectly for monochromatic images. Whether those are black and white photos, or illustrations, they will work fine. Just send me your black and white images and tell me which colour of ink to use. Sometimes you just can’t start off designing your illustrative work in seperate black and white layers. The same counts for colour photographs.
This is not a problem. Just use the Spectrolite app, it’s free, and designed for Mac OSx. And you can find it here: link
It makes seperating colours easy and intuitive.
[Thanks Anemone, Adam and Amelia, for developing this app!]
Appelstraat 53
2140 Borgerhout, Belgium