A method for positioning rotary components of a printing machine, particularly printing cylinders and application rollers, which machine has a main drive which is a decentralized drive and a plurality of printing units each driven by an individual drive motor connected to the main drive, and wherein positioning of the printing cylinders and application rollers is performed by an auxiliary drive during slow-down operation, or tipping operation or hand operation, the method comprising applying a portion of the initial breakaway torque required for the whole printing machine directly to individual motors of the assigned printing units, and producing the remaining portion of the torque, required for positioning of the printing cylinders and application rollers, by the auxiliary drive.