Riso Strip

Riso Strip is the accordion version of the DIY zine: eight tall panels in a two-colour risograph look that unfold into a strip and stand on a table at a fair, a gig or a degree show. It is for artists, photographers and small presses who want something to sell or hand out that is not the usual eight-page fold. The riso style gives warm paper, blue ink, a red accent and grain, with Space Grotesk for the title. The cover panel is a photo with the title and issue number. Then a tall full-bleed, three photos stacked, a photo with a text block for a statement or a story, two stacked, another full-bleed, a photo with a caption and date, and the back panel with a small photo and a colophon line. Convert photos to greyscale before uploading if you want the true two-colour effect; the blue ink tint does the rest and the red accent stays on the type and rules.

Tall panels suit portrait photography, architecture and anything shot on a phone. The text panel holds about seventy words. It prints on one side, so it runs happily on coloured copy paper at 120 to 160 gsm, which is the cheapest way to get a riso feel from an inkjet, and a stack of fifty is one afternoon. Two A4 sheets make eight panels taped at the join, or print on A3 and the whole strip is one sheet with no join at all. Score the folds against a ruler so the edges stay sharp. Eleven photos fill it.

Printing this accordion is forgiving because it prints on one side only, so the glossy or satin photo paper home inkjets do best on is exactly right; nothing has to line up on the back. Each A4 or Letter sheet gives four tall panels (A3 gives four bigger ones), and an 8-panel album is 2 strips joined with a strip of tape on the reverse. Use 160 to 200 gsm so it stands on a shelf, and score before folding on anything heavier or the ink cracks at the crease. Fold zig-zag, mountain then valley, using a ruler for the first crease. Print at 100%, not Fit to page, with borderless mode on if the printer offers it. The template uses 11 photos across 8 panels.