Step 3: Printing

The plates are then sent to press. If printing in only one color, each plate will require only one pass through the press. If printing more than one color, an additional pass will be required for each color. For example, if two colors are used, the paper is fed through the press twice.

In offset lithography printing press, the paper is fed through rolls that are exposed to the proper ink. If colored ink is necessary, either for text or for photographs, each of the four major colors is offset onto its own set of rollers.

Presses are either sheet-fed (single sheets of paper are fed through) or web-fed (huge rolls of paper are unwound and run through)