Section 11 · Output & Production

Registration Marks

Definition

Small crosshair-and-circle targets printed outside the trim area, used to align each ink plate precisely on press. Every plate carries the mark in the same position; when they line up, the plates are in register.

Why it matters

Misregistration produces the color-fringed, slightly doubled look of a misaligned print job. The marks are how a press operator confirms alignment before running.

Example

In a four-color job, each of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black prints the same target; any offset between them is immediately visible.

Teaching note

Registration marks are irrelevant to most digital printing, where there are no separate plates. Including them is a lesson in press workflow rather than a requirement of the output — worth saying so, or students learn a rule without a reason.