01 / print
Poster & art runs
50 to 250 copies, two colors, any paper stock we stock. Gig posters, gallery editions, graduation gifts you actually mail.
risograph print studio · providence ri · est. 2017
Two inks. One drum. Zero patience for boring paper.
Splice Press is a two-drum risograph studio and zine library on the west side. We print posters, zines, and art editions in fluorescent pink, beans green, and any ink we can talk a supplier into. Misregistration included at no extra charge.
What we do
Small runs, loud paper
Risograph printing is stencil duplicating with a sense of humor. Each color passes through the drum separately, so every print is a small negotiation between us and the machine.
02 / publish
Zines & comics
Saddle stitch, coptic, or folded once and stapled with attitude. Bring a PDF or a shoebox of drawings, leave with a box.
03 / learn
Workshops & open studio
Thursday nights the doors stay open till 9. Bring paper, leave with prints and at least one new enemy (the paper jam lever).
From the library
New on the shelf
Moth Atlas Vol. 2
A field guide to the moths that land on the studio window. Hand-set titles, sprayed halftones.
$14in library
Cut Paper Quarterly
Eight artists, one drum each. Every copy's registration is a little different. That is the point.
$12in library
Night Shift Diner
Comics from the 2am shift at a diner that may not exist. Printed on reclaimed cover stock.
$10in library
The process
How a print happens here
You bring files or drawings
PDF, layered PSD, or a stack of paper. We check color separations together at the light table.
We burn a master
Each ink color gets its own drum. The machine scans or prints your art onto a master sheet and wraps it around the drum.
Color one runs
Drum one prints the whole edition. Ink wet, paper warm, the studio smells faintly of soybean oil.
Color two, by hand
The stack flips and feeds back through drum two. Registration is aligned by eye and a crank. Ours, not yours.
Dry, count, deliver
Riso ink dries by soaking in, so sheets rest overnight. We count, band, and box. You pick up or we ship.
The ink shelf, today
Ink stock rotates. Press R anywhere on this site to see what other mixes look like. Full shelf with temperaments: the ink library.
Thursday nights
Next workshops
5Thu
Nov
Nov
Riso 101: Two Colors, No Regrets
Evening session at the studio, all materials included.
12Thu
Nov
Nov
Zine Binding Night: Coptic + Saddle
Evening session at the studio, all materials included.
19Thu
Nov
Nov
Halftone Photography on the Drum
Evening session at the studio, all materials included.
Word of mouth
What people say at the counter
“They printed our wedding invitations in fluorescent pink and our aunts are still talking about it. Nine years of contact with the family, zero regrets.”
“The only print shop where the misregistration makes the piece better. I design differently now because of this place.”
“Our menus reprint quarterly and always arrive early, in season colors, with a note roasting our last special. Worth every cent.”
“I came for a tour and left with a membership and a small edition of nonsense. It was a Thursday. It is always a Thursday.”
“They printed 2,000 know-your-rights cards overnight for free during the worst week of that year. That tells you the whole story of this studio.”
“My kid's firefly census gets printed here every summer for free. The kids think the drum is magic. Honestly, they are not wrong.”
On the calendar, next six weeks
Thu Nov 5
Riso 101 workshop
6:30 pm · $45 · 3 seats left
6:30 pm · $45 · 3 seats left
Sat Nov 7
Zine table at the Armory market
10 am to 2 pm · free entry
10 am to 2 pm · free entry
Thu Nov 12
Binding night: coptic + saddle
6:30 pm · $35 · 6 seats
6:30 pm · $35 · 6 seats
Sat Nov 14
Open print demo at the library fair
11 am · we bring the small drum
11 am · we bring the small drum
Thu Nov 19
Halftone photography on the drum
6:30 pm · $55 · 2 seats left
6:30 pm · $55 · 2 seats left
Thu Nov 26
Closed for Thanksgiving
go eat, print next week
go eat, print next week
Fresh off the drum
Recent prints
214zines on the shelf
852runs on the ledger
96,400sheets printed
47members this fall
Got a thing that deserves better paper?
Bring it in. First consult is free and comes with at least one strong opinion about your color choices.