The Printing Unit

The printing unit is where the plate is inked, the inked image is transferred to a blanket and applied to the substrate.

Generally each printing unit consists of three cylinders including plate, blanket and impression cylinders.

The cylinders must be brought together under pressure in order to transfer ink.

The line of contact of the cylinders is called the nip.

The Contact pressure is usually about 200 psi (1,380 kilopascals).