The Vault
Troubleshooting guide
Why does my offset print show ghosting — a faint repeat or shadow of an image inside solid areas?
Posted by the SuperPrinters team · 7/26/2026
A faint duplicate, shadow, or stencil of a heavy image element appears within a downstream solid or tint, often repeating at a spacing equal to the ink form-roller circumference. Most often caused by mechanical (ink-starvation) ghosting: a heavy-takeout element strips ink from the form rollers before they reach a large solid, so the solid prints starved where that element sits, among other possible causes — a full step-by-step diagnostic and fix follows below.
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