A professional who makes ready and operates web or sheet-fed offset printing press to print single and multicolor copy from lithographic plates. Responsibilities include:

• Examines job order to determine quantity to be printed, stock specifications, colors, and special printing instructions.
• Measures plate thickness and inserts packing sheets on plate cylinder to build up plate to printing height and installs and locks plate into position, using handtools, to achieve pressure required for printing.
• Washes plate to remove protective gum coating.
• Measures paper thickness and adjusts space between blanket and impression cylinders according to thickness of paper stock.
• Fills ink and dampening solution fountains and adjusts controls to regulate flow of ink and dampening solution to plate cylinder.
• Starts press, examines printed copy for ink density, position on paper, and registration, and makes adjustments to press throughout production run to maintain specific registration and color density.
• Removes and cleans plate and cylinders.
• May apply packing sheets to blanket cylinder to build up blanket thickness to diameter of plate cylinder.
• May load paper into feeder or install rolls of paper, make adjustments to feeder and delivery mechanisms, and unload printed material from delivery mechanism.
• May lead, give directions to, and monitor work of assistant press operator, offset; feeder; jogger; or roll tender.