Rotogravure

Once a staple of newspaper photo features, the rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and corrugated (cardboard) and other product packaging.

Henry Fox Talbot mentions in 1852 the use of a textile in the photographic process to create half-tones in the printing plate.

[1]: 128 Irving Berlin's song "Easter Parade" specifically refers to this type of supplements in the lines "the photographers will snap us, and you'll find that you're in the rotogravure."

And the song "Hooray for Hollywood" contains the line "…armed with photos from local rotos" referring to young actresses hoping to make it in the movie industry.

While the press is in operation, the engraved cylinder is partially immersed in the ink tray, filling the recessed cells.

Next, the substrate gets sandwiched between the impression roller and the gravure cylinder: this is where the ink gets transferred from the recessed cells to the web.

Typical uses include long-run magazines in excess of 1 million copies, mail order catalogs, consumer packaging, Sunday newspaper ad inserts, wallpaper and laminates for furniture where quality and consistency are desired.

The vast majority of gravure presses print on rolls (also known as webs) of paper or other substrates, rather than sheets.

For maximum efficiency, gravure presses operate at high speeds producing large diameter, wide rolls.

Additional operations may be in line with a gravure press, such as saddle stitching facilities for magazine or brochure work.