Publication presses are from six to eight feet wide while presses used for printing packaging rarely exceed five feet. The cylinders (image carrier) used in rotogravure printing can be from three inches in diameter by two inch wide to three feet in diameter by 20 feet wide. Today almost all gravure printing is done using engraved copper cylinders protected from wear by the application of a thin electroplate of chromium. Offset gravure presses are used for printing substrates with irregular surfaces or on films and plastics. Intaglio plate printing presses are used in certain specialty applications such as printing currency and in fine arts printing. They find limited use, primarily in Europe. Rotary sheet-fed gravure presses are used when high quality pictorial impressions are required. A number of other types of gravure presses are currently in use. Gravure, still also known as intaglio printing, makes use of the ability of ink to adhere to a slight scratch or depression on a polished metal plate.Ĭurrently, the dominant gravure printing process, referred to as rotogravure, employs web presses equipped with a cylindrical plates (image carrier). In early intaglio printing, illustrations were etched on metal, inked, and pressed on paper. The gravure process has its origins in the early seventeenth century when the intaglio printing process was developed to replace woodcuts in illustrating the best books of the time. Additionally, the gravure cylinder has a long service life and will yield a very large number of impressions without degradation. Additionally a single gravure cylinder will cost around $5000 versus around $15 for a lithographic plate. While a lithographic press will cost in the range of $100,000 the cost of gravure press will be in the range of $1 million. This is due, in part, to the cost of presses and components. is significantly lower than other printing processes. The number of gravure printing plants in the U.S. Gravure printing is characteristically used for long run, high quality printing producing a sharp, fine image. Typical gravure printed products include:
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