Abstract: As ink is conveyed through the inking unit of a printing machine, a state of equilibrium occurs which ensures adequate inking of the printing plate during continuous printing. The equilibrium state includes different ink gradients for the respective printing zones superimposed on a uniform base level. In order to achieve the state of equilibrium rapidly and easily at the start of printing, an ink distribution is produced in the inking unit before printing closely matching the state of equilibrium for continuous printing. An accurately defined ink film distribution is initially fed to the inking unit rollers via the vibrator. Preferably, when the ink applicator rollers are thrown off of the plate cylinder and the sheet feed is off, a predetermined amount of ink is introduced to the inking unit. The vibrator is then shut off and the base level of ink is allowed to become uniformly distributed. Next the ink profile is set at the ink metering elements and the vibrator is turned on.