What is a Risograph???

Risograph printing is a unique printing process that’s often described as a combination between screen-printing, offset lithography, and digital printing (think inkjet, or laser). The machines themselves look like your average copy machine, but are known as a “digital duplicators”. Risograph printing is a relatively new process, originating in the 1980s in Japan by the Riso Kagaku Corporation.

Each color you see in a print is printed separately, layer by layer, and is not bound to the colors within the CMYK gamut. This unique printing process allows for printing of vibrant spot colors such as fluorescents and metallics.

Risograph prints also utilize soy based inks, which are easy to recycle and are more environmentally friendly than inks in standardized commercial and fine art printing methods. Along with being environmentally friendly, Risograph printing is more cost-effective than other fine-art printing methods, which allows for artists at any stage in their career to give the process a shot!

Each risograph print is different, allowing for variations in texture and registrations that make each print its own unique piece of art.

Risograph printing is a truly unique and special process that we are so excited to share with our Hawai’i community!