Gravure painting process

Rotogravure is a type of intaglio printing process, in that it involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a copper cylinder because, like offset and flexography, it uses a rotary printing press. The vast majority of gravure presses print on reel of paper, rather than sheets of paper. Rotary gravure presses are the fastest and widest presses in operation, printing everything from narrow labels to 12-feet-wide rolls of vinyl tiles. Additional operations can be in-line with a gravure press, such as saddle stitching facilities for magazine/brochure work.

The rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and corrugated (cardboard) product packaging.

In the latter quarter of the 19th century, the method of image photo transfer onto carbon tissue enclosed with light-sensitive gelatin was discovered and was the beginning of rotogravure.