Gang Printing

Gang printing refers to printing more than one job on the same sheet of paper.

Instead of printing one brochure or 11x17 color sheet per plate and small sheet of paper for example, gang printing allows the press to run the largest sheet possible by placing multiple jobs together on the same plate and sheet.

Gang printing is commonly used by brochure, business card, and catalog sheet discount printers and internet printers now and has been a large aspect of reduced printing prices in modern times for such commodity items.

The advantage of gang printing is a great cost reduction due to reduced waste of plates, paper, reduced changeover time due to less plate changes, and the ability to utilizing the most economical sheet size.

The disadvantage of gang printing is that on-press adjustments cannot be made to maximize any specific job or adjust that job for press or stock variations after the plates have been made since there are multiple jobs per sheet. Depending on how jobs are ganged, this may have virtually no drawback in quality or a drawback small enough that most customers do not mind and choose this method for lower costs for commodity items such as postcards.