Changing the ink drum of a Riso S-3700 in a print studio. Photo Yoleeth, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Risograph printing
What it took directly
- statedThe Risograph took from RISO's original duplicating technology, launched as an all-new office printing system in 1980"RISO also developed the RISOGRAPH, an all-new printing system for the office based on original duplicating technology. It has continued to lead the field since its debut in 1980." RISO Kagaku Corporation, official company history ("Side Story")
- documentedThe American riso revival took from forgotten office machines in church basements, searched out by George Wietor"George became one of the first American artists to search those basements for forgotten Risograph printers." Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS "The Finest" (January 2026)
- documentedKnust's first stencil-printed zines took from an old stencil machine left at Jan Dirk de Wilde's squat in the mid-1980s"One unassuming day in the mid-1980s when 20-year-old Jan Dirk de Wilde was living in a squat in the Netherlands, the doorbell rang." Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS "The Finest" (January 2026), from her interview with Jan Dirk de Wilde
- statedGeorge Wietor's riso printing took from a book printed by Knust"The first book that made me think, oh my God, this is what Riso can do and what it is, that was Knust." George Wietor, to KPBS "The Finest" (January 2026)
- statedMickey Zacchilli's riso-printed comics took from Xander Marro's GR1770 at the Dirt Palace"Xander Marro (who had gotten a GR1770 because she had learned about riso printing at an artist residency in Belgium) was really nice and let me use hers" Mickey Zacchilli, interviewed by Frank Santoro, The Comics Journal ("Risograph Workbook 1", February 2017)
What it learned to do
- statedJan Dirk de Wilde learned from the Nijmegen squatters' newspaper"The squatters' newspaper from Nijmegen, that's where I learned the first things about printing." Jan Dirk de Wilde, to KPBS "The Finest" (January 2026)
- statedGeorge Wietor learned from the European riso presses he became a fan of"And once I started looking up and really becoming a fan of all of these European presses, I started looking for a machine of my own." George Wietor, to KPBS "The Finest" (January 2026)
- documentedMarc Fischer's Temporary Services and Half Letter Press learned from George Wietor of Issue Press"Fischer said he received valuable guidance from George Wietor of Issue Press, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who first started using risographs around 2009 or 2010." Nancy Zastudil, Hyperallergic (November 13, 2023), reporting Marc Fischer's account
- statedMickey Zacchilli's riso comics learned from photocopied zines with screen-printed covers"Before the risograph, I used to just photocopy zines and screenprint the covers, and I liked that people really liked the screenprinted covers. The risograph is basically a faster, easier screenprinting tool." Mickey Zacchilli, interviewed by Frank Santoro, The Comics Journal (February 2017)
The tradition it sits in
- statedThe Risograph comes from traditional stencil printing"A high-speed digital printer combining traditional stencil printing principles and the original RISO technology." RISO Kagaku Corporation, "What is RISO ART?"
- statedKnust and the riso art scene comes from punk and the do-it-yourself movement"Most of the squatters came from the activist background. I was more interested in the punk movement and the do-it-yourself movement." Jan Dirk de Wilde, to KPBS "The Finest" (January 2026)
- inferredAmerican riso printing comes from Europe's artist print studios, reached by at least two separate routes"she had learned about riso printing at an artist residency in Belgium" inferred — The Comics Journal has Xander Marro learning riso at an artist residency in Belgium; KPBS has George Wietor converted by a book from Knust in the Netherlands. Neither source links the two; the shared European origin is our reading
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedThe Risograph comes from an ink its founder invented so it could be produced in Japan"So the founder invented an ink that could be produced domestically and then eventually developed the Risograph machine, an advanced stencil printer to use that ink." Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS "The Finest" (January 2026)
- statedThe Risograph comes from the single mimeograph printing device Noboru Hayama started with on September 2, 1946"The history of RISO began with a single mimeograph printing device on the birthday of founder Noboru Hayama on September 2, 1946." RISO Kagaku Corporation, official company history ("Side Story")
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