At least one of a transverse elongation and a longitudinal elongation of a printing material are compensated for. The printing material passes through serially arranged printing couples in a printing press. A component of the transverse elongation is compensated for after passage of the printing material through a first printing couple and before its entry into a second printing couple. This can be accomplished by the use of a framing controller. Alternatively, this transverse elongation can be compensated for by the displacement of at least one printing form which is situated on a subsequent printing couple. The printing form can be displaced transverse to a production direction of the printing material, relative to a reference mark on the printing material. An elongation of the printing material, which is known at the time of image generation on a printing form of a subsequent printing couple can be compensated for by proper configuration or positioning of the printed image on the printing form.