A printing plate cartridge for a press including a housing having an old printing compartment for holding a printing plate to be removed during a printing plate change and a new printing plate compartment for holding a printing plate to be mounted on a form cylinder of a press during a printing plate change. A printing plate to be mounted on the form cylinder is removable from the new printing plate compartment via a first opening for feeding to the form cylinder during a printing plate changing operation. A printing plate to be removed from the form cylinder is capable of being fed to the old printing plate compartment via the first opening during a printing plate changing operation.