SO-RIRISO printing, and publishing studio

SO-RI is a small RISO print studio, operating from our garage in Borgerhout, Antwerp.

We are both a print studio and a publishing house.

Which means we offer print services for all your designs, zines, posters, and more. And we also publish a select amount of artist editions and occasionally sell a limited edition RISO art print.



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.

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.

Fluorescent Pink | 蛍光ピンク
#FF48B0
Bright Red | ブライトレッド
#F15060
Fluorescent Orange | 蛍光オレンジ
#FF7477
Orange | オレンジ
#FF6C2F
Yellow | イエロー
#FFE800
Fluorescent Green | 蛍光グリーン
#44D62C
Green | グリーン
#00A95C
Hunter Green | ハンターグリーン
#407060
Teal | ティールグリーソ
#00838A
Aqua | アクア
#5EC8E5
Blue | ブルー
#0078BF
Medium Blue | ミディアムブルー
#3255A4
Violet | ヴァイオレット
#9D7AD2
Purple | パープル
#765BA7
Burgundy | バーガンディーレッド
#914E72
Flat Gold | フラットゴールド
#BB8B41
Light Grey | ライトグレー
#88898A
Black | ブラック
#000000

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.

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.