Built for printers who measure success in impressions per hour. 36,000 copies per hour, full 4 + 4 colour, and a purpose-built jaw & pin folder engineered around the Sonic 36's sustained throughput.
The Sonic 36 sits at the top of the Prakash textbook range. It is the press for publishers who have outgrown standard textbook machines — the publishers who run multi-shift production, who compete on delivery timelines, and who need every hour of every shift to count. Built at our Faridabad facility, shipped to printers who don't accept queueing.
Where the Superb is the proven workhorse for seasonal textbook houses, the Sonic 36 is the next tier — engineered for the higher utilisation, sustained throughput and quality expectations of high-volume textbook publishers, educational printers and commercial print houses.
Maximum mechanical speed of 36,000 copies per hour — which translates to a web speed of approximately 250 to 350 metres per minute depending on cut-off length. Not a peak number on a datasheet — the speed the press is engineered to hold through long production windows on textbook stocks from 38 to 80 GSM.
Every Sonic 36 mainframe, shaft, cylinder and bush is machined in our own factory on CNC, VMC, HMC and grinder equipment to micron-level tolerances. That precision is what holds register through a full production day — shift after shift, season after season.
The folder is what the Sonic 36 was built around. A purpose-engineered jaw & pin folding mechanism rated for the press's full throughput — the aggregate that turns sustained 36,000 cph into delivered product, fold after fold, shift after shift.
The Sonic 36's folder is not a generic 1:2 jaw type adapted to fit a fast press. It is a higher-tier jaw & pin folder engineered specifically for sustained 36,000 cph output — cleaner cuts, tighter folds, more reliable signature delivery at full speed.
The Sonic 36's speed advantage over standard textbook presses isn't a datasheet number. It's revenue capacity. Here's the math.
The Sonic 36 prints 6,000 more copies an hour than the workhorse Superb (36,000 vs 30,000). On the same operator, in the same shift, on the same floor space — that compounds across an operating year.
Numbers above are indicative based on press-room benchmark assumptions. Actual gains depend on job mix, run length, paper stock and shift pattern.
The Sonic 36 is offered exclusively in two premium trims. Gold for high-volume publishers who want motorised automation and PLC control. Platinum for the most ambitious press rooms — full camera-based auto-registration, spray dampening with chiller, auto splicer, remote diagnostic.
Standard features on every Sonic 36 press, regardless of trim. Built around stable colour register, easy plate handling and the kind of serviceability a high-utilisation press needs.
Slit-type lock-up with centre register pin for fast, accurate plate changes.
Tennon-type lock-up, 889 mm width standard (915 mm option). Narrow-gap worm & wheel available as an option.
Multi-roller inking train with lever-type ink keys and swing-down fountain for precise ink metering.
Brushmist dampening with variable-speed water pick-up roller for consistent ink/water balance through the run.
Sidelay and circumferential register adjustment without stopping the press.
Individual AC servo drives with electronic line shaft synchronisation — available as an option for press rooms needing frequent web-path, colour or edition changes.
The Sonic 36 is a modular press system comprising the reel stand, the printing tower and the folder. Each module is engineered for independent reliability while integrating into a single synchronised press line.
The Sonic 36 jaw & pin folder is configurable for broadsheet, tabloid and quarter-fold output — the three core formats that cover the majority of textbook, newspaper and commercial web work.
Single fold across the long axis. The standard broadsheet newspaper or textbook fold.
Half-size newspaper / compact textbook format. Folded both ways for tabloid finishing.
Folded into four sections for magazine and signature work. Cross-fold configuration.
Optional folder upgrades: Quarter-fold kit · second fold capability · automatic copy counter with preset batch stop · stitching / stapling heads.
Complete spec sheet for the Prakash Sonic 36 flagship textbook printing machine.
| Press & Format | |
| Press type | Web offset, single width |
| Standard configuration | SG 50 Auto Splicer + 4-High Tower + Sonic 36 Folder with quarter fold attachment |
| Printing speed | 16,000 – 36,000 copies per hour |
| Web speed | Approximately 250 – 350 m/min depending on cut-off length |
| Colour capability | 4 + 4 colour (both sides in a single pass) |
| Paper | |
| Paper width | 700 – 889 mm standard; 915 mm available as option |
| Paper weight (GSM) | 38 – 80 GSM (newsprint to book stock) |
| Plate width | 889 mm (35″) standard; 915 mm (36″) available as option |
| Cut-Off Sizes (4 available) | |
| Cut-off — Option 1 | 508 mm (20″) |
| Cut-off — Option 2 | 578 mm (22¾″) |
| Cut-off — Option 3 | 610 mm (24″) |
| Cut-off — Option 4 | 630 mm (24.8″) |
| Printing Unit (Tower) | |
| Tower configuration | 4-High (4 units stacked) — 1 tower in standard configuration |
| Plate cylinder | Single circumference, slit-type lock-up, centre register pin |
| Blanket cylinder | Single circumference, tennon-type lock-up (narrow-gap worm & wheel optional) |
| Inking system | Lever-type ink keys with swing-down fountain |
| Dampening (Gold) | Brushmist dampening |
| Dampening (Platinum) | Spray dampening with chiller |
| Register | On-the-run sidelay and circumferential adjustment |
| Folder | |
| Type | Jaw & pin folding mechanism |
| Folder speed | Up to 36,000 copies per hour |
| Quarter fold | Standard (included with the press) |
| Folds supported | Broadsheet, tabloid, quarter fold (magazine) |
| Delivery | Conveyor belt with fan-spread stacking |
| Counter | Automatic copy counter with preset batch stop |
| Unwind — SG 50 Auto Splicer (Standard) | |
| Type | SG 50 — fully shaftless flying splicer |
| Splice pattern | Straight-line paste; maximum 2-copy splice tail |
| Reel loading | Lifts new roll from the floor — no hydraulic trolleys |
| Brake | Pneumatic braking with automatic tension control |
| Tension feedback | Dancer roller feedback to closed-loop control |
| Control & Drive | |
| Drive | Mechanical shaft (standard); shaftless AC servo drive available as option |
| DC drive (Gold) | Analogue |
| DC drive (Platinum) | DC digital |
| PLC + touchscreen console | Standard on Platinum (optional on Gold) |
| Remote diagnostic | Standard on Platinum |
| Web break detection | Optional |
Sonic 36 is offered in Gold and Platinum trims. Dampening, drive and automation specifications vary by trim as noted above.
The Sonic 36 is at home wherever high-volume web printing is the daily reality — from textbook houses to mid-circulation newspapers to commercial web printers.
Publishers running multi-shift textbook production through peak academic seasons.
National educational publishing houses producing course books and reference titles.
NEET / JEE / UPSC / state-exam publishers with seasonal volume spikes.
Regional and mid-circulation newspaper houses needing reliable nightly throughput.
Weekly and monthly magazine houses with quarter-fold signature finishing.
Catalogues, directories, inserts and longer commercial web runs.
State and central textbook tender printing with strict seasonal deadlines.
Print houses serving export education and newspaper markets in Africa, ME, SE Asia.
Watch a Sonic 36 running textbook signatures at full 36,000 cph — from reel feed through the 4-High tower to jaw & pin folder delivery.
Tell us your cut-off, colour configuration, target output and preferred trim level. We'll come back with a configuration and quotation tailored to your press room — within 24 hours.