rotary press (redirected from Rotary printing press)

rotary press

Printing press that prints on paper passing between a supporting cylinder and a cylinder containing the printing plates. In contrast, the flatbed press has a flat printing surface. The rotary press is used mainly in high-speed, web-fed operations in which the press takes paper from a roll, as in newspaper printing. Many of these large presses not only print as many as four colours but also cut and fold and bind in a cover, all in one continuous automatic process. Paper passes through some presses at nearly 20 mph (30 kph); large presses can print up to 60,000 copies of 128 standard-size pages in an hour. See also R. Hoe.

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rotary press [′rōd·ə·rē ′pres]

(graphic arts)

A press utilizing two cylinders, one of which supports the paper while the other one prints on it; large rotary presses are web-fed and accept continuous strips of paper from large rolls; this web of paper is not cut or trimmed until after it is printed.