A sheet transport and registration apparatus comprising: a first and second plurality of rollers mounted to define a first plurality of roller pairs, each roller pair (26, 32) having at least one drive roller (28, 34) for contacting a surface of a sheet to be transported through a series of nips formed by the roller pairs, a registration plate for registering a side edge of the sheet, a drive mechanism for rotating the drive rollers to drive the sheet through the series of nips with a first drive force component in the transport direction and a second drive force component in a direction transverse to the transport direction for driving the transported sheet against the registration plate, a contact pressure control mechanism to set a contact pressure at each roller pair that is sufficiency high that the sheet is engaged by the nip to be driven in the transport direction, and in the transverse direction when the side edge of the sheet is not registered at the registration plate, and that is sufficiently low that the drive roller slides over the sheet when an edge of the sheet is registered at the registration plate, characterized in that a guide mechanism for guiding the sheet, the guide mechanism comprising a pair of parallel plates, (10,12) a first plurality of apertures in each of the plates, the apertures in the first plate aligned with respective apertures in the second plate, the first plurality of rollers mounted on one side of the parallel plates at the apertures for contacting a first surface of a sheet located in a guidance slot between the plates, and the second plurality of rollers mounted on the other side of the parallel plates at the apertures for contacting a reverse surface of the sheet, the plates being curved for turning a sheet on transportation thereof through a prescribed angle, and the drive rollers (28,34) mounted on the outside of the curve and the other rollers of the roller pairs (26, 32) mounted on the inside of the curve. a first and second plurality of rollers mounted to define a first plurality of roller pairs, each roller pair (26, 32) having at least one drive roller (28, 34) for contacting a surface of a sheet to be transported through a series of nips formed by the roller pairs, a registration plate for registering a side edge of the sheet, a drive mechanism for rotating the drive rollers to drive the sheet through the series of nips with a first drive force component in the transport direction and a second drive force component in a direction transverse to the transport direction for driving the transported sheet against the registration plate, a contact pressure control mechanism to set a contact pressure at each roller pair that is sufficiency high that the sheet is engaged by the nip to be driven in the transport direction, and in the transverse direction when the side edge of the sheet is not registered at the registration plate, and that is sufficiently low that the drive roller slides over the sheet when an edge of the sheet is registered at the registration plate, characterized in that a guide mechanism for guiding the sheet, the guide mechanism comprising a pair of parallel plates, (10,12) a first plurality of apertures in each of the plates, the apertures in the first plate aligned with respective apertures in the second plate, the first plurality of rollers mounted on one side of the parallel plates at the apertures for contacting a first surface of a sheet located in a guidance slot between the plates, and the second plurality of rollers mounted on the other side of the parallel plates at the apertures for contacting a reverse surface of the sheet, the plates being curved for turning a sheet on transportation thereof through a prescribed angle, and the drive rollers (28,34) mounted on the outside of the curve and the other rollers of the roller pairs (26, 32) mounted on the inside of the curve.