Learn How to Get Risograph Textures: A Deep Dive into the Risograph Brush & Texture Kit

Learn How to Get Risograph Textures: A Deep Dive into the Risograph Brush & Texture Kit

Have you ever wanted to bring the unique qualities of Risograph printing to your artwork, but you don't have access to a Risograph printer? The trendy printmaking technique is here to stay, but not everyone has access to a print shop. That's where digital Risograph brushes come into play!

This week we'll be guiding you through how to bring an authentic Riso effect to your artwork.

In this tutorial, we're talking all about Risograph effects, including:

  • How to add a Risograph effect to your work.
  • How to customize your Risograph brushes.
  • How to use print defects.
  • So much more!

You'll have all the tips you need to make your artwork look like an authentic Risograph print.

So, let's get into it!

Watch Our Risograph tutorial Video

This week, we'll of course be using the Risograph Brush & Texture Kit. If you don't have this pack, it's going to be hard to recreate the Risograph texture without it. Use what you have or consider purchasing a pack after watching the video and seeing how it works.

First, What is Riso?

Risograph printing is the colloquial name for prints made by a printer created by the RISO company of Japan. A Riso printer cannot print in grayscale and converts gray areas to halftones during printing.

These machines were first built to be economical, able to reproduce thousands of copies quickly and for a fraction of the cost of other printers. Over time, though, the limitations that made Riso printers attractive for offices, schools, and churches quickly lost its appeal as bells and whistles became more affordable.

Eventually, the RISO company stopped producing these printers where they found an unlikely second life among artists and zinesters. The characteristic texture effect of Risograph prints combined with their color mixing capabilities allowed artists to make cheap, attractive prints.

Since then, they’ve only grown in popularity, becoming a commonplace printing technique for artists all over the world.

Now that we have that understanding, let’s jump into the different ways you can apply these effects.

For a deeper dive into the history of risography check out of this article on the history of risograph.

Understanding the Risograph Brush & Texture Kit

The Risograph Brush & Texture Kit is a digital tool designed to bring the unique aesthetic of Risograph printing to your digital work.

This kit was meticulously created in collaboration with Risograph printers and artists to ensure the most realistic brush pack on the market. It includes a complete spectrum of wet and dry Risograph brushes, true print defects, and authentic scans.

With this kit, you can achieve the distinctive look of Risograph printing in your digital designs, capturing the essence of the traditional process with every texture created.

Best of all, we've crafted the kit from the ground up for all your favorite software including Procreate, Photoshop, Illustrator, Affinity, and Clip Studio Paint.

Just like Real Riso

The Risograph Brush & Texture Kit is the most realistic set of Risograph brushes on the market. That's because they are scanned from real Risograph prints. Versatile and easy to use too!

Method One: Drawing On One Layer

A green hand holding a katana sword.

Method 01 has you painting all your Riso colors on the same layer.

The Risograph Brush & Texture Kit has a natural overlay effect that mimics how Risograph prints blend visually to create stunning color mixes. You can paint all on one layer for a fun, spontaneous approach to art-making while maintaining the Risograph effect.

Because these brushes “mix” and blend, keep your color palette small. Using too many colors on one illustration can make your work look chaotic and inauthentic.

Using a limited palette can help maintain the vibrant colors characteristic of Risograph art. Use no more than 3 or 4 colors and blend layer them over each other like you would watercolor or alcohol markers to make different color blends.

Method Two: Drawing on Multiple Layers

A hand gripping a sword with a layers panel on the side.

With Method 02 you use separate layers for each color.

Utilizing different layers, just like in any other form of digital art, helps keep things neat and organized. You also have the benefit of not ruining an entire illustration if you make a mistake or decide 4 hours into it that you want a different blue.

Create one layer for each color in your illustration and set the blend mode to Multiply. Your colors will still "blend" like they do working on all one layer, they'll just be separated to their own layer.

💡Top Tip: Want to change the color of a layer? Turn on Alpha Lock and fill the layer with the new color. Quick and easy!

Method Three: Applying the Riso Texture to Finished Work

Image of a digital art editing interface with layers and tools displayed.

You can apply a Riso texture to finished artwork using Method 03.

For times when you want to apply a Risograph effect to artwork that is already made or if you want to incorporate more techniques before Riso-fying this method has you covered. It is important to prepare a color-separated image and modify it to achieve a specific effect.

To utilize Method 03:

  1. Apply a Layer Mask to a layer.

  2. Fill the Layer Mask with black to conceal the artwork.

  3. Select your desired Risograph brush and change its blend mode to Normal.

  4. Set your brush’s color to White.

  5. Paint the Riso texture over the Layer Mask to reveal your artwork with the Riso texture.

  6. Repeat for each layer.

It may seem like a lot of steps, but you’ll find it is very fast and becomes intuitive in no time.

 

Putting it Together

Now that we've gone over the different ways to use the Risograph Brush & Texture Kit, let's break down the full process. We'll take you from start to finish, detailing each step so you can follow along.

Applying A paper Texture

A green alien wearing a mask and bandana, in a comic style with paper texture applied to half the image.

Applying a paper texture to your work will make it look more authentic.

Risograph printing is a physical media made of ink on paper, so it makes sense it would look best with a paper texture. You can use any paper texture you like or you can check out some of our premium paper textures.

To maximize authenticity, pick something that makes sense with the medium. You won't see Risograph prints on cardboard or waxy paper. Try cardstock, watercolor paper, or similar. Here are some great paper texture packs to that go great with our Risograph brushes.

 Remember the Risograph brushes are transparent and will blend with anything underneath it. When selecting a paper texture, test it with the colors you want to ensure they will work well.

 

Sketch and Ink

A ninja character with alien features, wearing a mask and holding a sword.

Plan out your artwork ahead of time and establish a key layer to color.

A sketch is your foundation for any artwork, but this is a good time to think about your colors as well. You could, like in this example art, establish a key layer to serve as a frame for your color layers. However you choose to go about it, this is the time to make sure your design is solid.

Take the opportunty to do quick color studies and mock-ups so you can identfy what works. This is also a good time to experiment with multiple colorways to establish mood, lighting, and balance.

💡Top Tip: Check out our tutorial all about color to get the basics before moving on to the next step.

Just like Real Riso

The Risograph Brush & Texture Kit is the most realistic set of Risograph brushes on the market. That's because they are scanned from real Risograph prints. Versatile and easy to use too!

Color and Fine Tuning

A green alien ninja wielding a sword, wearing a blue robe and headband.

The Reference Tool is a handy way to refer to source images when drawing.

Now is the fun part! The way you will color will differ depending on which method you've chosen. However you decide to go about it, here are some general guidelines to keep you on the path to success:

  • Use a maximum of 3-4 colors. Risograph textures are intended to blend just like watercolor or markers. Instead of using yellow, blue, and green, use just a yellow and a blue and "mix" them on your canvas to create green.
  • Make effective use of the different percentages. Again, think of the Riso brushes like watercolor where 10% texture is a very watered down color and 100% is full strength. This widens your color options and gives you room to create stunning gradients and other effects.
  • Use shader brushes for even more depth. There is already a lot of versatility in the regular brushes, but the shader brushes allow for even greater variation in tone to really bring your creation to life.

Print Defects and Print Misregistration

A green-skinned character with a sword and a mask. A brush menu with Riso print defect brushes to the right.

Print defects provide another level of authenticty to your design.

If you have ever used a Risograph machine before then you'll be familiar with its various quirks. Ink bleed, finger smudges, roller marks, and prin misalignment are all common.

The Risograph Brush & Texture Kit includes a collection of brushes created from real examples of print defects to bring an extra level of authenticity to your work. Just like with other types of distressing effects, less is more. Unless you want to make your work look like a total mess, it's not likely you'll see every single defect show up at once.

Here's a few tips:

  • Dark colors show smudges more, apply your print defects using those colors.
  • Roller marks usually show up at the bottom of the print. These happen when the grip that feeds the paper into the machine rolls through the wet ink, leaving a track of ink down the paper.
  • Place finger smudges where you'd naturally grip a piece of paper. Realistically they could show up anywhere, but there are most likely to appear from handling a wet print and then picking up another.

Another tip for authenticity is print misalignment. Because Risograph machines are quirky and can cause subtle to severe print offset that has to be corrected by hand.

Recreate this effect by doing the following:

  1. Select a color layer.
  2. Use the Move Tool to ove it slightly out of place.

Try not to overdo it or to misalign too many layers at once. Although it can happen in real life, you don't want to sacrifice legibilty.

Best Practices and Troubleshooting

When working with Risograph textures, it’s important to experiment and play around with different effects and techniques.

Don’t be afraid to try new things and make mistakes – they can often lead to interesting and unexpected results.

If you’re having trouble achieving the desired effect, try adjusting the settings in the Filter Gallery or experimenting with different Blending Modes.

Additionally, make sure to save your file regularly and work on a duplicate layer to avoid losing your work. This approach ensures you can freely experiment without the fear of making irreversible changes, allowing your creativity to flourish.

Bonus Tip

Settings panel with sliders for depth, brightness, and contrast adjustments.

Toggle off Offset Jitter to be able to work with multiple strokes.

The Risograph Brush & Texture Kit provides an automatic texture offset which mimics the way that Risograph textures are created on the master in real life. Because of this, though, you'll find that the textures overlap if you make multiple passes over your artwork.

This might not be ideal for every user, so here's how you can turn off this feature:

  1. Duplicate your brushes.
  2. Navigate to the Brush Settings menu, then Grain and toggle off Offset Jitter.
  3. Navigate to Rendering and set the Blend Mode to Normal.

You'll now be able to work using multiple strokes.

Final Thoughts

Risograph printing has become a world of its own, far surpassing the initial intent for it when it was first invented. Whether you have access to a machine or not, recreating the unique qualities of a Risograph print digitally is fun and exciting. And hopefully after having read this tutorial you'll find that it is also easy!

Here's a quick recap of tips that will set you up for success:

  • Use a paper texture.
  • Use no more than 3-4 colors at a time.
  • Use print defects and print misalignment thoughtfully.

We hope you'll have been inspired to create some Riso style artwork of your own.


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