A method of controlling printing presses includes setting inking by determining setting values for at least one of pre-inking and ink metering, which encompass inking zone opening and ink stripe width, and transmitting the determined setting values to controls of the printing press. The method includes presetting the inking by setting values of earlier print jobs stored in the machine and, for optimizing the printing results, correcting for each print job and storing the corrected setting values for subsequent print jobs.