Abstract: An apparatus and method for automatically activating a paster or splicing mechanism in a printing press to connect web material from an expiring first roll to a new second roll, comprising a detector which detects a mark on the face of the web at the end of the expiring first roll and thereby activates the paster or splicing mechanism to connect the web from the expiring roll to the web of the new second roll. Because the detector acts instantly the press can continue to run during pasting or splicing and very little wasted web is left on the expired first core.