Method for controlling an inking unit of a printing press

A method for controlling an inking unit of a printing press having at least one ink metering element and a control unit, the method comprising the following steps:

• resetting the ink metering element from a first metered quantity of ink to a second metered quantity of ink for an intended level of inking to be achieved;
• setting the ink metering element to a temporary, third metered quantity of ink by the control unit, at least for one time interval, during a non-steady phase of the inking unit before reaching the intended level of inking;
• determining a value of a variable describing a measure of a distance of a present level of inking to the intended level of inking on a printing material and predefining a plurality of sets of values for the variable, into which the determined value of the variable can be grouped;
• and
• carrying out a temporary metering of the quantity of ink:
• at a first rate and/or during a first time period if the value of the variable lies in a first set of values covering states at a relatively large distance from the intended level of inking, and
• at a second rate, being different from the first rate, and/or in a second time period, being different from the first time period, if the value of the variable lies in a second set of values, being different from the first set of values and covering states at a relatively small distance from the intended level of inking;
• providing the first time period of a time interval for the temporary metering of a quantity of ink with a first length when the value of the variable lies in the first set of values;
• and
• providing the second time period of a time interval for the temporary metering of a quantity of ink with a second length being greater than the first length.