Risograph vs Screenprint
リソグラフ / スクリーンプリント／シルクスクリーン
Both sit in Stencil Printing, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. Both are read here as technique. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Risograph
Keeps the per-color plates and their happy misregistration, giving each copy its own body heat.
Screenprint
Parts of a mesh screen are blocked and parts left open, and a squeegee forces ink through, printing hard contours and flat, strong color one layer at a time.
| Risograph | Screenprint | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1980s– / contemporary revival | 20th century– |
| Family | Stencil Printing | Stencil Printing |
| Kind | Technique | Technique |
| Cues | Misregistration / Spot-color inks / Halftone dots / Paper show-through | Hard contours / Flat color planes / Layer-by-layer overlap / Slight misregistration |
| Best used for | Handmade heat for zines and event notices · Memorable print with very few colors | Small runs of posters and shirts that need fluorescent or spot inks at full strength · Printing thick flat color onto cloth, wood or metal rather than paper |
| Type | Bold letters or homely serifs, separated by color plate | Avoid hairlines and tiny text, thickening letters until the mesh clears them |
| Composition | Large planes where overlap and slippage stay visible | Plan color count as screen count and let overlaps make a third color |
| Material | Two or three spot colors, coarse halftones, uncoated paper | Match mesh to ink and substrate, allowing time for drying and registration |
| Caution | Don't fake it with a noise filter. Design how the colors overlap first. | Do not fake it with a separation filter or treat misregistration and patchy ink as charm. Design screen count, print order, opacity, registration and substrate, because the hard edge is the real advantage. |