A delivery arrangement including a conveyor and take-off mechanism for delivering a series of printed sheets onto a pile in which nozzles are provided distributed along the width of a sheet, for directing a jet of air to the underside in a direction opposite the sheet movement. A guide plate spaced under the sheet and extending upstream from the nozzles serves to confine the jet. Formed on the surface of the guide plate are a plurality of upraised islands, spaced from one another over the area of the guide plate, the islands presenting plateau surfaces at approximately the same elevation above the guide plate. Consequently, when a sheet is sucked downwardly by the jet of air it engages the plateau surfaces in light frictional engagement to apply frictional drag to the body of the sheet. The source of pressurized air for the nozzles includes means for automatically varying the pressure, and hence the frictional drag, in accordance with the speed of the press. In a preferred embodiment the plateau surfaces, which are spaced both laterally and longitudinally of the guide plate, occupy less than half of the total area of the guide plate and at least a portion of the guide plate is formed with a gradual curvature in a direction downwardly away from the sheet.