An area of the lithographic press market which is experiencing growth is the perfector press. In this arrangement, a sheetfed press prints several colors on one side of the page and then turns the page over and prints one or more colors on the other side in a single pass through the press.

When compared with straight presses printing on both sides in two passes, a perfector decreases make ready time and reduces make ready wastes. One printer interviewed in this article reported a 37% reduction in make ready time from two to 1.25 hours.

Some sheetfed printers are experiencing good results using roll stock and a roll sheeter in order to generate a precise sheet length. This improves second-side registration without the waste associated with trimming each oversized sheet to the proper size. 

Author: Debora Toth
Source: Graphic Arts Monthly, August, 1999, p. 40-48.