Image to Riso

Live preview

Real shader, real photo, running in your browser right now. Toggle the palette, paper, and frame to feel how each choice changes the print. Then open the playground, drop your own image, and build something with it.

How it works

1. You drop or pick an image — kept entirely in your browser, no upload, no server.
2. Every pixel is matched to the nearest color in your palette via RGB distance — that's the riso spot-color quantization.
3. A multi-scale paper-texture overlay sits on top — fine paper-fiber grain, mid-frequency ink-absorption patches, and broad tonal variation. The result reads as ink soaked into paper, not flat posterization.
4. Optional paper frame wraps the result in a print sheet with a visible unprinted border — pick from White, Cream, Ivory, or News.
5. Export to PNG at HD, 2K, 4K, or 8K. Aspect ratio stays true to your source. The frame setting carries through.

Features

• Bring your own palette — every stop in the controls panel becomes a spot ink. Start with 2 colors, add up to 6.
• Paper frame toggle — switch between print-on-paper and bare-image presentations live.
• Four curated paper stocks — White, Cream, Ivory, News. Tuned for the most common riso paper looks.
• Paper texture overlay— fiber, ink clusters, and tonal wash. The same recipe Riso Kit's gradient mode uses.
• Noise control — dial extra grain on top for an over-photocopied feel.
• Live preview — every adjustment renders in the WebGL2 canvas in real time.
• Hover-revealed actions — Change and Remove sit unobtrusively on the print sheet, surfacing only when you reach for them.
• PNG export with or without frame — aspect-true to your source image; not a fixed crop.

Tips for the best result

• Portraits — try 2 colors. The flat blocks of color become the riso poster look.
• Landscapes with wide tonal range — add a third or fourth color so the gradient transitions stay readable.
• Illustrations and graphics — 2-3 colors, flat backgrounds. Riso treatment makes them feel printed instead of vector.
• Tonal harmonies (sunsets, monochrome scenes) tend to read closer to traditional riso than high-saturation rainbow palettes.
• Crank the Noise slider for an extra roughed-up, photocopied feel — especially good with the News paper stock.

Why riso?

Risograph prints have a specific feel — ink that doesn't quite cover, paper texture showing through, edges that aren't perfectly clean. It's the inverse of digital slickness, and that's exactly why designers reach for it: the imperfections carry warmth and physicality that screens normally strip out.

The Image to Riso tool reproduces that aesthetic in the browser. Every pixel of your source becomes ink on paper — quantized to your spot colors, textured with paper grain. The result is a faithful simulation, not a filter on top.

Coming next

We're tracking a few specific upgrades:

• Misregistration — the classic riso color shift where each channel prints slightly offset from the others, producing colored halos at edges. Particularly striking on image mode.
• Custom paper colors — full hex picker on top of the curated stocks.
• Source-filename downloads — exports named after your input rather than a timestamp.