Gravure, or rotogravure printing[printing?:printing cutting finishing solution] is the opposite of letterpress printing (and also flexography, discussed below. Instead of a raised image area, the gravure cylinder is engraved, etched with thousands of tiny cells where the image will print[print?:printing image graphic cutting solution]. The cylinder rotates in an ink bath, a doctor blade then scrapes of the excess ink, and the image is transferred to the substrate as it passes between the gravure cylinder and an impression cylinder. Gravure printing can deliver very high quality work, producing solid color, good coverage and clean multi-color process work which will not deteriorate over the course of the run. It is also excellent for applying fluorescent and metallic inks.
Most gravure presses in the carton[carton?:carton box sample cutting machine] industry are of the web-fed variety. They may have six or more printing stations, one or two of which may be able to print on the back of the sheet (a capability known as perfecting). At the delivery end of many of these types of printing presses is an integrated diecutting station, so both printing and cutting and creasing (“cutting and creasing” is one operation) are accomplished in one pass. Some gravure presses, however, may print roll-to-roll, requiring a separate diecutting press. Because of the expense of manufacturing each one-of-a-kind gravure cylinder, this method of printing is usually reserved for very long runs and repeat work.
