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Learn to use the Riso machine one-one
We have "induction sessions" for people who want to learn to use the Riso machine one-one. Once you've been through an induction session, you'll be able to book time to print your own work (don't worry, we'll be there to help you), or come back and print with us again.
Book time on the Riso machine
We have an open-ish drop-in-ish studio, you can book time to drop-in and print stuff. If you've been through the induction you can use the machine yourself (and get a discount), alternatively, you can sit and chat while we print for/with you, or somewhere inbetween. You pay for materials used; see our Price Calculator for pricing.
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How much does printing cost?
We have a full Price Calculator for exact calculations, but it goes roughly like this.
Similar to screenprinting, most of the cost is in making the screen, each colour you use 'burns' a screen, and a screen costs £17.55 - this includes wiggle room for adjustments and mistakes, so don't worry there.
Meanwhile paper is around £0.18 to £0.30 per sheet, or a "corkage" fee of £0.05 per sheet if you bring your own (uncoated paper only please).
Ink is about £0.02 per colour per sheet.
Here's some ballpark figures.
- A single four-colour A3 print would be £70.20 + £0.30 + £0.08 = £70.58, which is, you know, a lot.
- However, 20 copies would be £70.20 + £6.00 + £1.60 = £77.80, or £3.89 per sheet.
- 100 four-colour A3 prints would be £70.20 + £30.00 + £8.00 = £108.20, £1.08 per sheet.
- 100 three-colour A3 prints would be £52.65 + £30.00 + £6.00 = £88.65, £0.88 per sheet.
- 100 two-colour A3 prints would be £35.10 + £30.00 + £4.00 = £69.10, £0.69 per sheet.
- 80 single colour A5 prints would be £17.55 + £6.00 + £0.40 = £23.95, or £0.30 per A5 print (four A5 prints per sheet).
We only print A3 so; A4 prints are printed 2-up on an A3 sheet, A5 prints (and A6 cards) are 4-up on A3, postcards are 8 per A3 sheet.
We've had a look round and it seems like artists are generally selling Riso prints for around;
- A3 for £25 - £35
- A4 for £15 - £25
- A5 for £10 - £15
Go use the 👉 Price Calculator 👈 to dial it in.
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Two sided printing, books and zines
We can print two sided, you don't pay twice for the paper, 100 sheets is 100 sheets no matter if you print on one side or two. We do suggest giving it 24 hours between printing the reverse side to reduce smudging.
Zines and Riso go hand-in-hand, but this is generally true for one or two colour prints.
If you said, "Hey, I want to do a four colour, 16 page, A5 zine" - I would say, "Well, that's 16 separate 'screens' you have to burn, which is £280.80 before ink and paper" - which is fine if you're going to sell 100 or 200, but for just 10 that's probably a bit much.
With careful planning (which you can chat with us about) you can probably make some smart design decisions to reduce the colours down - like printing one side with four colours, then the other sides with different pairs of colour, or a zine which is two colour on one side, and one colour on the other.
What I'm saying is, is once you get into the Riso and layout midset you can start to fully explore the medium while keeping your costs down 😁
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