A shed, two drums and a guillotine

Noordkaap Press is Marijke and Tijn, a Riso MH9450, a second machine we keep for spare drums, and a paper guillotine from 1964 that is heavier than both of us together.

How a print is made

We draw in two layers, one per ink, and send each layer to the machine separately. The drum burns a stencil, rolls the ink through it and presses the sheet. Then the whole stack goes back in for the second colour, by hand, one sheet at a time.

Because the paper is fed twice, the two layers never land in exactly the same place. A hair of movement shows up as a halo at the edge of a shape, and where the inks sit on top of each other you get a third colour the machine was never loaded with. Those two accidents are the reason we print this way instead of sending files to an offset house.

What you get

• A3, 297 by 420 mm, with a 10 mm border for framing
• 220 gsm Munken Pure, uncoated, slightly warm white
• Edition of 75, signed and numbered on the back
• Flat in a rigid envelope, posted within three working days

Ink rub, a little misregistration and the odd roller mark are part of risograph printing. A print with none of that came off a laser printer.