A device for transporting sheets within a printing machine in which the sheets are conveyed by gripper carriages which are articulated on endless chains driven by chain wheels. A transfer of the sheets between the gripper carriages and a sheet-guiding cylinder takes place in the region of the chain wheels. The chain wheels, around which the chains are guided do not have a continuous shaft, but are attached to the opposing ends of short stub shafts which are mounted rotatably in the frame side walls of the printing machine. Attached to the other ends of the stub shafts stubs are gear wheels which mesh with gear wheels attached to the two journals of the sheet-guiding cylinder in order to synchronize the chain wheels with the sheet-guiding cylinder. A feed and take-off transport device of this type operates in such a way that a freshly printed sheet or a sheet provided with varnish coating can be transferred to and/or removed from the sheet-guiding cylinder in a smear-free manner.