Print Process beginner warmhandmadeimmediate

Risograph Duotone

Soy-ink drum printing in two spot colours that misregister slightly and overprint into a third.

What it does

The Riso is a stencil duplicator, not a press: each colour is a separate drum and separate pass, so registration drifts by a millimetre or two and that drift is the charm. Inks are soy-based, sit on the surface rather than soaking in, and rub off slightly. Fluorescent pink is the signature because it cannot be reproduced in CMYK. Where two inks overlap they multiply into a third colour, so a two-colour job carries three. Solid flat areas mottle; the process rewards halftone and hates heavy coverage.

The prompt

A risograph print of [Subject]. Exactly two ink drums, fluorescent pink and federal blue, overprinting into a deep violet where they cross. Visible one-to-two millimetre misregistration between layers, coarse 45-degree halftone in both channels, ink sitting on the surface with slight mottling in the solids and roller marks in the heavy areas. Cream 100gsm uncoated paper showing through everywhere.

Replace [Subject] with what you are shooting. Everything else is deliberate: the gear, stock and lighting are what push a generator towards this look.

Works well in

Midjourney, FLUX, Stable Diffusion

Pairs with

Coarse Halftone Two-Ink Discipline

The Prompt Atlas

Every prompt here is a starting point. The Prompt Atlas is the full system: hundreds of production-ready prompts organised by outcome, with the reasoning behind each one so you can adapt rather than copy.

See The Prompt Atlas

Back to the Graphic Design Prompt Library