Press Check (printing)

Press Check (printing)

The printing press check is a step in the printing process. It takes place after a printing press is set up but before the print run is underway.

While errors should have been corrected during the Color Proofing and proofreading stages, the main purpose of a press check is to make sure that the color on press comes as close as possible to the color proof. Color proofs are valuable guides, but due to the inherent differences between color proofing techniques and printing itself, proofs will match the printed sheet with varying degrees of exactness.

Areas that are commonly evaluated at a press check are:

• Flesh tones or corporate logo match colors.
• Overall color balance across the sheet.
• Paper stock (checking for correct color, weight or texture).
• Content (looking for missing elements and confirming copy changes).
• Registration (checking sharpness, color overlapping, edges of images and screened type).
• Physical defects (checking for broken type, odd scratches, hickeys, spots or ghosting).