Please read all of these details carefully! They are crucial when making design choices. However, we have a few InDesign templates for common formats that we are happy to share with you if we work together.
Printing Area
Our Riso can print 2 colors in one pass on DIN A3 paper and allows a maximum print area of : 289 x 409 mm.
The print margins of the Risograph are irregular, find the measurements on the graphic below.
Crop Marks & Bleed
Always add Crop Marks (within the printable area) unless your design is exactly A3 in size without bleed. We need them for printing and cutting accurately.
Bleed is printing that goes beyond the edge of where the paper will be trimmed later. You need to add bleed to your design if you want to have a full-bleed print or publication (aka no white margin). It needs to be within the printable area of the A3 and should be at least 4mm.
A3
Our risograph can print up to A3.
To spare masters and papers, impose your smaller formats multiple times on A3.
Resolution
Our Risograph has a resolution of 600 dpi. Use this resolution for your images. 300 dpi will also work but for thin lines we recommend 600dpi. If your files are exporting huge at 600dpi, you probably need to flatten the transparencies/effects.
Color Mode
Send us only images in Grayscale mode.
- No CMJN
- No RVB
- No MULTILAYER
- No BITMAP
- No Lab
- No effects in InDesign or Photoshop
- No transparency
Important!!! Especially effects and transparencies can cause problems with the printer’s software which will add a lot of trouble-shooting, file correction and ultimately additional costs.
Imposition
Four A3 sheets, folded in half and gathered together to make a 16-page A4 zine.
This shows an example of a Saddle stitched 16 pages booklet >A4.
Two A3 sheets, cut in half, folded in half and gathered together to make a 16-page A5 zine.
This shows an example of a Saddle stiched 16 pages booklet >A5.
Print Files
Printready Files are:
- A3 grayscale PDFs (600dpi if possible)
- One file per color
If you want a smaller format, lay it out in multiples on the A3. Don’t forget crop marks and 4mm bleed (for full bleed design)
Check the File-setup & Margins section, if you are not sure.
We can also produce print-ready files for you. We will charge an extra fee for that depending on the project.
Proof
Always send us a low resolution of the final image of your design with a superimposition of colors (pdf, jpeg or png). We need it as a reference and proof. We won’t start printing before we receive this file.