Riso Colors That Actually Play Nice Together

After three years of test prints, these are the color pairs we keep coming back to on the risograph.

Our risograph is older than two of our volunteers. It has a pink drum, a blue drum, and a personality. On humid days it jams if you look at it wrong, so we keep the paper in a sealed box until the last minute.

The machine

• Let the drum warm up for ten minutes
• Fan the paper before loading
• Print the light color first
• Log density settings for every run

Toner copiers are more forgiving but less fun. We use them for text-heavy zines and proofs, and save the riso for covers and anything that needs color.

The machine has moods. Write them down.

Settings that work

Keep a log of every run: paper, drum, density, and what went wrong. After a year you will have a manual written specifically for your machine.

Everything in this post works just as well at a library copier or a corner copy shop. You don't need a studio, just a flat table and about an hour.

Print nights are pay-what-you-can. The jar covers toner and paper most months, and when it doesn't, we hold a swap and sell the duplicates from the lending shelf.

If you are reading this at the collective, the good scissors are in the drawer marked "do not take the good scissors". Please do not take the good scissors.