Definition: A web press prints on continuous rolls of paper or other substrates. Some web presses can print on both sides of the paper at the same time. It can consist of several connected units for printing different colors of ink and doing cutting, folding, and punching.
High-speed commercial web presses use wide rolls of paper for newspapers, books, etc. and use heat to set the ink (heat-set web). Small or cold-set web presses handle lower volume printing of forms, direct mail, and smaller publications with paper roll widths as little as 11 inches.
Newspaper presses can occupy several floors and contain multiple 4-color and single color printing units as well as a variety of folding sections to handle the different sections of the paper.
Also Known As: web-fed
Examples:
A web press is typically used for very high volume printing such as for magazines and newspapers. Web presses are much faster than most sheet-fed presses. Printing presses for flexographic printing, often used for packaging, are usually web presses.
