As already mentioned in the chapter on colour, using the correct colour information as full-tone colour fields (2 C: Colour palette, p. 50), colours can be simulated very well within Adobe InDesign or Illustrator. Additionally, it is important that the colours are set to Multiply in the Effects menu in order to best represent overprinting. These colour swatches should be used as early as possible, so individual layers or layout elements can be recoloured as quickly as possible in case the colours to be printed change due to the layout or a final artwork is desired. If the monochrome colouring of an image needs to be simulated in InDesign, it is best to save it as a greyscale TIF and place it in InDesign.

To colour an image with a spot colour, select it by double-clicking or clicking on it using the direct selection tool (the tool with the white arrow, keyboard shortcut A). Before the files are used for printing, however, they should be converted back to a black colour field (for example, the InDesign preset  [Black], the InDesign preset Register  Marks,  or the RISO spot colour: Black)  because otherwise, the risograph separates the colour and determines a greytone equivalent for the colour to be printed.