Signatures arranged in overlapping fashion are typically delivered from a press at high speeds (at the order of 80,000 per hour) to be stacked in bundles of a predetermined precise quantity, bundled and shipped to desired locations. During the delivery of signatures to the counting and bundling facility, typically referred to as the "mailroom," an extraction capability is provided wherein one or two signatures may be removed from the continuous stream without otherwise affecting the delivery of signatures to the stacking and bundling equipment. Alternatively, a number of copies greater than 2 may be extracted or paster copies inserted within the stream may be removed at high speed without interrupting the normal delivery of signatures to the stacking and bundling equipment. The movable elements performing the extraction operation have extremely low mass and further have a capability of moving a distance of the order of 12 inches within 75 milliseconds in order to rapidly and effectively extract the desired copies without in any way affecting the delivery of the nonextracted signatures to the stacking and bundling equipment.