When you print with us you’ll pay for master stencils, impressions, and any studio paper you use. Our pricing differs depending on what machine you’re using:

SF 5130 PRICING:

Price per master stencil: $2.00

Price per impression per page: $0.20

MF 9450 PRICING:

Price per master stencil: $4.00

Price per impression per page: $0.30

*An impression is each time the paper goes through the Riso machine and a new layer, or impression, of ink is laid on the page. For example, 25 copies of a 2-color print would be 50 impressions.

*We encourage a print minimum of 25. The more you print, the more cost effective it is once you’ve made your master stencil.

Our printing prices do not include the paper you’re printing on.

We can not guarantee any specific paper being in stock at the time of your appointment, although we always aim to maintain a stock of white and cream card stocks as well as white copy paper in letter, legal, and ledger sizes for purchase. Our paper stocks range in price from $0.06-$0.20 per page depending on size, color, and weight.

You are welcome to bring your own paper, as long as it is appropriate for Riso printing and will require our approval at your appointment. The thinnest usable paper is 20 lb bond and the heaviest is 80 lb cover stock. Certain papers, like coated stock, compressed index card stock, and anything over 80 lb cover stock, could possibly jam or break Riso parts or not print properly and smear. If you have questions, feel free to email or call our studio.

You can print many different types of projects on Riso, from hand-drawn artwork to digital designs, and even photographs!

If you’re bringing in physical artwork, just remember that the Riso will only translate the color values and doesn’t pick up light tones and colors such as yellows or light blue.

If you’re working with digital media, make sure your art is set at 600 dpi (300 dpi is the minimum) and your artwork is separated by the color layers that you will be printing (all blue artwork on one layer, pink on another, etc). Any text should be set in vector, not raster, and at 8 pt or larger for legibility. Large and dense areas of color also do not print well as the ink gets heavy and smudges easily. If you have large, solid color areas in your artwork, please set the value to 70-90% instead of 100%. This will print at the same color density but with less ink layering.

We have two Riso Machines at RECC, both new models that support digital files sent via print drivers.

SF 5130

Single drum machine, print area up to 8.5” x 14”, 6 available colors:

Light Teal, Fluorescent Pink, Sunflower Yellow, Midnight, Fluorescent Orange, Flat gold

MF 9450

Two-drum machine, print area up to 11” x 17”, 7 available colors:

Blue, Fluorescent Pink, Yellow, Black, Orchid, Grass, Bright Red

Our SF5130 machine prints up to 8.5” x 14” (legal size) and anything smaller than that. Our MF 9450 machine prints up to 11” x 17” (ledger size) and anything smaller than that. Please allow for a minimum of 1/8” margins on all sides of your artwork.

While Riso can technically print down to about business card size (3.5” x 2”), we recommend not going smaller than 8.5” x 11” for any project as the master stencil costs the same no matter the size. To get smaller sizes, set up multiple of your image on a letter, legal, or ledger-sized sheet and cut after printing for better cost-effectiveness.

Riso is fast, but it still takes time to set up your artwork, print each layer, and troubleshoot. If you come in to print with all your files and artwork ready to go, still expect to only complete one or two multi-colored prints. The more layers of color you’re adding, the longer the process and the more troubleshooting. We recommend that if this is your first time solo printing to not begin with a lengthy and complex project. Bring something more simple consisting of only 2-3 colors, and be realistic with your expectations in that you will likely only get through a single project. But don’t worry, you can always book more time!

Please account for ink dry time in your printing plans. Riso ink does not dry fully for 24 hours, and we do enforce at least a 2-hour dry time for running heavily inked artwork back through the machine to reduce ink smearing