323120 Support Activities for Printing

Official definition

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in performing prepress and postpress services in support of printing activities. Prepress services may include such things as platemaking, typesetting, trade binding, and sample mounting. Postpress services include such things as book or paper bronzing, die cutting, edging, embossing, folding, gilding, gluing, and indexing.

Source: US Census Bureau, 2022 NAICS descriptions.

When to use a different code

Census classifies these close-sounding activities somewhere else. Businesses mainly engaged in:

• Engraving on metal are classified in U.S. Industry 332812, Metal Coating, Engraving (except Jewelry and Silverware), and Allied Services to Manufacturers.
• Manufacturing photosensitive plates for printing are classified in U.S. Industry 325992, Photographic Film, Paper, Plate, Chemical, and Copy Toner Manufacturing.
• Manufacturing blank plates (except photosensitive plates) for printing are classified in U.S. Industry 333248, All Other Industrial Machinery Manufacturing.
• Printing books or printing and binding books are classified in U.S. Industry 323117, Books Printing.

Source: US Census Bureau, 2022 NAICS cross-references.

Activities listed under 323120

The Census index assigns these 40 activities to this code. If your business matches one, this is your code.

• Almanac binding without printing
• Bookbinding shops
• Bookbinding without printing
• Color separation services, for the printing trade
• Dictionary binding without printing
• Electronic prepress services for the printing trade
• Electrotype plate preparation services
• Embossing plate preparation services
• Encyclopedia binding without printing
• Engraving printing plate, for the printing trade
• Fiction bookbinding without printing
• Flexographic plate preparation services
• Gold stamping books for the trade
• Gravure plate and cylinder preparation services
• Imagesetting services, prepress
• Letterpress plate preparation services
• Lithographic plate preparation services
• Nonfiction bookbinding without printing
• Offset plate preparation services
• Pamphlet binding without printing
• Photocomposition services, for the printing trade
• Photoengraving plate preparation services
• Phototypesetting services
• Postpress services (e.g., beveling, bronzing, folding, gluing, edging, foil stamping, gilding) on printed materials
• Prepress printing services (e.g., color separation, imagesetting, photocomposition, typesetting)
• Printing plate preparation services
• Printing postpress services (e.g., beveling, bronzing, folding, gluing, edging, foil stamping) to printed products (e.g., books, cards, paper)
• Printing prepress services (e.g., color separation, imagesetting, photocomposition, typesetting)
• Professional bookbinding without printing
• Rebinding books, magazines, or pamphlets
• Religious bookbinding without printing
• Repairing books
• Rotogravure printing plates and cylinders preparation services
• Samples mounting
• School textbooks binding without printing
• Screen for printing, preparation services
• Swatches and samples, mounting for the trade
• Technical manual paper (books) binding without printing
• Trade binding services
• Typesetting (i.e., computer controlled, hand, machine)

Source: US Census Bureau, 2022 NAICS index file.

SBA size standard for 323120

To count as a small business for SBA loans and federal contracts under NAICS 323120, your business (including affiliates) must not exceed 550 employees. Check your business.

Source: SBA table of size standards, effective March 17, 2023.

Closest UK SIC 2007 codes

There is no official one-to-one link between NAICS and UK SIC. These codes share the same international class (ISIC Rev. 4: 1812), so treat them as a starting point and check the definition.

• 18121Manufacture of printed labelsUK SIC
• 18129Printing n.e.c.UK SIC

Built from Census concordances 2022→2017 NAICS and 2017 NAICS→ISIC Rev. 4.