In multistage printing, incorrect registration can cause one printing phase to shift so that it no longer aligns precisely with the rest of the design. Shifted overprints are included in the same category.

Minor colour misregistration is almost normal on some stamp issues. On the Harvester–Parliament series, for example, small shifts of the denomination or central vignette are very common and usually carry no premium. From a philatelic point of view, it is generally only conspicuous colour misregistration visible to the naked eye that is considered significant, although even a shift of half a millimetre can sometimes alter the appearance of a stamp considerably.

For stamps on which colour misregistration is characteristic, catalogues and the Handbook of Hungarian Stamps indicate the premiums that different degrees of displacement may command. I also note these in the descriptions of the relevant stamp issues. Some characteristic forms of colour misregistration have even acquired individual names in catalogues.

Note: this printing variety may be described in Hungarian by several terms meaning shifted or misregistered print. In English philatelic terminology, “misregistration” or “colour misregistration” is usually the clearest term.