Riso press in the old drum works, Harrow Bend

Inkwell & Drum Riso Press

Two people, two drum printers and a shelf of soy ink. We print posters, zines and cards one colour at a time, and no two copies come out quite the same.

Make a posterPrice a run

Move across the print. Each ink sits on its own plate.

Fresh off the drum

Recent runs

Every print here started as a few black and white files, one for each ink. The halftone dots you see are made live in your browser, the same way the machine makes them. Hit remix to open any of them in the poster maker.

How riso works

A stencil, a drum and soy ink

  1. 1. Burn a masterThe machine scans one ink's worth of your art, and a thermal head burns thousands of tiny holes into a thin stencil.
  2. 2. Ink the drumThe stencil wraps around a drum full of ink. Paper runs under it at about two sheets a second, and ink pushes through the holes.
  3. 3. Swap drums, run it againEach drum holds one colour. For the next colour we swap drums, burn a new master and feed the same stack through again.
  4. 4. Let it wobbleEvery pass lands a hair off the last. That shift, the grain and the bright inks are the riso look, and the reason no two copies match.

The ink shelf

Fourteen inks, three drums

Riso inks are fixed colours, like paint from a tin. Pick a drum, then tap an ink: the whole page reprints in it, the poster maker included.

Load into

Screen colours are close, not exact. Fluorescent pink and orange glow on paper in a way no screen can show, so ask to see a swatch card before a big run.

Poster maker

Make a poster, then print it for real

Type, pick a layout and up to three inks. The preview runs every ink through its own halftone screen, set at a different angle, the way our drums do. Download the file and bring it in, or price the run below.

Downloads as A3 at 150 dpi (1754 by 2480 pixels), with the thin border riso always leaves.

Layout
Drums
Headline ink
Dot shape
Price this run

Price a run

What a run costs

Every colour needs its own master, so colours cost more than copies. The more copies you print, the cheaper each one gets. This is the same sum we do on the back of an envelope.

Colours
Size
Quote

Job ticket

IDR-0000

Total$0

Visit

Find the drum works

The studio

Unit 4, The Drum Works, 19 Calloway Lane, Harrow Bend. Round the back, past the loading bay, follow the pink arrows.

Pick-ups Tuesday to Friday, 10 to 5.

Open studio on Thursdays, 5 to 8. Bring a design on a stick, print it yourself on our machines, and pay for paper and ink.

What files do you need?

One black and white PDF per ink, at the size you want printed. Grey means lighter ink. If that sounds like a chore, send one full colour file and we split it for $15.

Can you match my brand colour exactly?

No. Riso inks come in fixed colours, like paint from a tin. We will show you the closest drum on paper before we print.

Why does my second copy look different?

Ink sits on top of the paper and each pass lands a little off the last. Most people end up liking that best.

How long does the ink take to dry?

Overnight for heavy coverage. We never stack fresh prints, so collect the next day.