A printing unit for influencing lateral web spreading in particular in
rotary presses, which makes constant contact conditions possible across
the width in the rubber-rubber nip and improves the lateral-register
quality and the web run without using concave or convex blanket
cylinders, has a blanket cylinder and plate cylinders which can be set
against the former for printing on one or both sides of a web. The web
passes through between the blanket cylinders in a contact zone, it either
being possible to skew at least one of the blanket cylinders with respect
to the respective plate cylinder or it being possible to skew at least
one of the plate cylinders with respect to the respective blanket
cylinder, for producing a concave velocity profile on the web.