photogravure printing
Quick Summary
Photogravure is a photomechanical intaglio printing process where the image is formed by depressions on the printing plate's surface. This is the opposite of relief printing, where the image is raised. In photogravure, a copper cylinder is etched with tiny cells and dots of varying sizes and depths to create the image and its tonal gradations.12
The process involves inking the cylinder, then using a doctor blade to remove excess ink, leaving ink only in the depressions. Paper is pressed against the inked cylinder, absorbing ink from these cells to form the printed image. This method is excellent for reproducing photographs and continuous-tone images in large quantities, making it ideal for magazines, catalogs, and newspaper supplements. The process was developed in the 1820s by Joseph-Nicephore Niepce and later refined by Karl Klič.1234
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printingPhotosensitivity: Niepce (1820s)This marked the origins of photogravure and led to both the invention of photography (between 1829 and 1838) and the use of photographic processes for the printed reproduction of photographs.
Read MoreThis marked the origins of photogravure and led to both the invention of photography (between 1829 and 1838) and the use of photographic processes for the printed reproduction of photographs.
Read More- printingCold type
…to prepare printing plates by photogravure, cold type cannot be directly incorporated into photocomposition because of the intermediate operation.
Read More…to prepare printing plates by photogravure, cold type cannot be directly incorporated into photocomposition because of the intermediate operation.
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photoengravingGravure and rotogravure…who was instrumental in making photogravure a practical commercial process, in 1878 exposed a positive transparency over carbon tissue, a film that was made of coloured gelatin sensitized with potassium dichromate and backed by a sheet of paper. The exposed film was pressed down on a copper plate that was…
Read More…who was instrumental in making photogravure a practical commercial process, in 1878 exposed a positive transparency over carbon tissue, a film that was made of coloured gelatin sensitized with potassium dichromate and backed by a sheet of paper. The exposed film was pressed down on a copper plate that was…
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