Abstract: A method for controlling the ink feed of a printing machine, especially an offset printing machine, for printing four-color half-tone combined prints. In selected test regions in an original and in the corresponding test regions in the printed sheet, the standard color values of the four-color overprint are determined. The infrared color density for the black printing ink is determined in the near infrared. The standard color values of the four-color overprint are converted by means of a linear transformation into standard color values corresponding to the combined print of only the three chromatic colors. The coefficients of the linear transformation are determined empirically as a function of the infrared color density of the black printing ink. From the standard color values of the three-color print, the effective surface coverage values of the three chromatic colors are determined via the modified Neugebauer equations.