Gravure Printing By Ricky and Calum

History Invented in the Italian renaissance 1300s It wasn’t until photography was invented that gravure came into practical use. In 1940 Karl Klic and Samuel Fawcett refined the gravure printing process by reworking the mechanics into a rotary system. Because they couldn’t afford a patent for their new technology they sold their prints as the old hetogravure prints instead of rotogravure. It was a secret until someone from the company moved to America and publicized the process.

Intaglio Printing Press The Gravure Press is a form of Intaglio printing. This is where the print is engraved into a cylinder of copper. The engravings are tiny honeycomb shaped cells. The cylinder turns in a big bowl of ink called an ‘ink pan’

Intaglio Printing Press Cont. As the cylinder is rotated the excess ink is whipped off. A paper is fed through the engraved cylinder and an impression cylinder which presses the paper against the inked engraved cylinder.

The Process The gravure printing press is like a series of Intaglio press’ joined together using multiple colour. As the stock comes out of the black ink press it moves through an electric heater to dry it off, and then into the yellow ink press system. The process is repeated until it gets through all of CYMK to get the final result.`

The Result The end result from the Gravure is a high quality and accurate print has minimal errors capable of producing printed images which have a continuous tone effect

Advantages And Disadvantages Advantages - Highest quality possible in a print. - The printer can work for decades. - Each cylinder can make a large number of prints without degrading -The gravure cylinder can be created with analog or digital plating processes. -Gravure is the preferred method of producing magazines and catalogs Disadvantages - Expensive Price - $1 million USD for the printer and each cylinder costs $5000.

The Plates The Plates are large cylinder with minute honeycomb shaped pieces of copper. The copper pieces are placed an equal distance apart Below the copper is a thin wear-resistant layer which is un-engravable to ensure that it will only get into the copper. Each plate can make a large number of impressions without degrading.

Material used for the plates Copper, Chrome and Nickel Plating.Chrome and nickel departments produce the highest quality plating in the industry. Chrome is the hardest and best quality industrial chrome, insuring consistency, durability, and print quality. Can be reused for the same project.otherwise needs to be changed for each different print.

Gravure Stock Gravure has high bulk the paper is 30% thicker than SC paper which means you can choose a lower grammage compared to other products intended for gravure printing. Simply by optimizing the choice of paper you can cut both your production and distribution costs.

Gravure Stock Cont. Gravure paper contains coating pulp base paper from 23g to 80g with ink and special resin, and are durable against abrasion and stains, has a high flat surface strength, and endures temperature changes. The stock used can vary from plastic film to non-woven cloth, PVC, thin leather, paper, aluminum foil, cloth and various soft packages with excellent performance.

Environment There are several methods available to address pollution prevention and waste reduction in gravure printing environments. Each method should be evaluated for its practical application, both in cost and resource consumption. Shallower ink pans, improved doctor blade technology results in reduced ink usage. Vapor recovery systems can be one of the largest contributors to reducing pollution in solvent-based operations.

Environment Cont. These systems need to be matched to the specific environment and have been successfully carried out in many printing companies. In addition, alternative chemical solutions can significantly reduce pollution. Test runs and trial projects should be considered when searching for safe alternatives.Printers need to develop partnerships with each of their major raw material suppliers. Within these partnerships there needs to be a clear understanding of the printers needs matched with materials so a quality finished product is achieved. Suppliers have technical assistance available to their customers so an acceptable product can be manufactured with as little pollution and waste as possible.

Quality of Printing. The quality of printing is very high and reliable. It is very accurate with tone colour and detail. It is one of the best printer on the market today for printing in mass reels of work e.g Magazines flyers.

Costs of Printing. The cost of printing with the Gravure can be an expencive way of printing if you only have a selective prints to produce. To using the gravure to the best advantage. Print in mass so you get more for you money. If you compare the Gravure to another printer that works on similar process you would not expect to pay more. If you compare to different printing process the price may be cheaper but the quality of the print will decrease.

How relevant is the printer The Gravure is very important in today ’ s printing world. About 90% of magazine companies choose to print there magazines using the gravure process. It is one of the most efficient and effective way ’ s to print in a long reel and in mass. When printed in bulk the company pays less so you pay less for the end product.