Clipping Layers for Riso Design

[aepasek]

Hi all, and thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I'm looking to make the switch from photoshop, where I've learned how to design digital files with riso printing in mind. The riso is an odd beast in that it only inputs greyscale values, and then prints in whatever cartridge of ink you load at the time. So, for example, in order to get a print with a circle of fully saturated yellow ink you need to send a file with that area of the print set to 100% black (even though the tonal value of that yellow result will inevitably be way way lighter).

To anticipate how things will print/blend, and to better move between greyscale values and colour, I've been taught to use clipping masks in photoshop. The way this works is to:

1) Group all the layers you want to print in a given colour, and to work these layers in only black/grey/white tones, set to multiply;

2) Add a layer on top of your greyscale group, with a paintbucket fill of the ink colour you want to print in. You set this layer to screen and convert it to a clipping mask. This nondesctructively tints the group below, so you can still send the individual groups of layers to the right ink, one ink colour at a time, in greyscale. And it ensures that multiple groups can interact and blend colours wherever they intersect.

I am having trouble finding an equivalent to this hack in Affinity, or some other way of achieving the same end. The biggest issue is that I can't get my groups to blend effectively. Another problem is that my colours are weirdly washed out.

Attached are some screenshots of what this looks like in either program. I very much appreciate your help!

[Ron P.]

Welcome to the forums,

Your color layer needs to be a child layer of the Pink Group. You can do this by dragging it down, ontop of the Pink Group, or in the Arrange Menu, select Move Inside.

https://affinity.help/photo/en-US.lproj/pages/LayerOperations/clipping.html

 

[firstdefence]

Making a fill layer a child of the group didn't work for me but nesting the fill layer under the object did...

I have groups because I was trying to get the fill layer to clip the colours to multiple shapes but it didn't work.

 

Riso example file.afphoto

[firstdefence]

When I created the riso file in Photoshop, exported as a PSD and imported into Affinity Photo I got this error message...

[aepasek]

Many many thanks @firstdefence! This is working really well.

[firstdefence]

2 hours ago, aepasek said:

Many many thanks @firstdefence! This is working really well.

Glad to help. 🙂

[aepasek]

As a quick update, I recorded a YouTube Tutorial with this approach:

Hope it's helpful to future riso printers and designers!

[firstdefence]

Wow that's a great gesture and much appreciated @aepasek

[thomaso]

A free colour separation software (mac only) for Risograph printing with 1 to 4 colours:
(note, for image or PDF separation you first need to create a ink palette)

https://spectrolite.app/how-to/