Apparatus for guiding a printing head

A printing apparatus, in particular, a franking machine, includes a base, a printing-head mounting moveably connected thereto, and printing head displaceably connected to the mounting. The mounting moves, during printing, between first and second longitudinal positions in a given direction with respect to the base to effect a relative movement between the printing head and a printing medium. An offsetting device for printing images offset to one another transverse to the given direction is included and is configured to offset the printing head relative to the mounting from a first transverse position into at least one second transverse position spaced from the first transverse position in a direction transverse to the given direction. A holder for holding the printing head in at least one of the first and second transverse positions during printing is provided. The holder has at least first and second holding devices, each of which has at least one stop for limiting movement of the printing-head transverse to the given direction.