Count plates, ink, make-ready sheets and impressions for every offset run.

Offset printing rewards long runs and punishes careless set-up. Plates are imaged, the press is made ready, and a few hundred sheets are spent before the first good one comes off the delivery. On a short job that spoilage is most of the cost. On a long one it is still real money.

Offset printing software holds the plates, the sheets issued and returned, the ink and varnish used and the impressions counted on each press unit. It ties all of them to the job, so cost per thousand is calculated from what the press consumed, press unit by press unit, rather than from the figure in the estimate.

A job arrives as an approved proof, a sheet size and a run length. Prepress outputs plates for each colour and checks them against the proof. Stores issue press sheets with an allowance for make-ready and spoilage. The press crew hangs the plates, sets the ink keys and pulls sheets until the colour bar matches the approved proof, and only then does the run begin.

The operator logs impressions, sheets spoiled and the time lost to wash-ups and plate changes. A perfecting press prints both sides in one pass, while other work waits for the first side to dry before the second side or varnish. Counted stacks move to cutting and folding. Leftover paper is returned and counted. Ink tins are noted against the job.