Ever wonder what those funny little marks are on the side of your newspaper or magazine? The ones that look like a cross over a circle? They're called registration marks, and they help the press operator line up the printing plates on an offset printing press.

The marks appear on all of the plates(both process color and spot color) so the operator adjusts the alignment until the marks overlap exactly on the finished product.

Many times you'll see registration marks called printer's marks.

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