A Method of Computing Gravure Cell Volume Using a Standard Measurement Scale

The ink evaporation process during the press run, popularly known as “ink mist”, is a problem in the gravure printing process because of high press speeds on modern gravure presses, especially when printing on extensible substrates. Printers and gravure press operators believe that the total amount of the ink contained in the cells that make up the gravure image fails to transfer from the cylinder to the substrate, and some part of the ink in the cell contributes to ink mist. Numerous studies on ink mileage have been carried out in the recent past, but the results may be inconclusive because there is no single recognized way to determine the volume of gravure cells on a given cylinder. Thus there is no published method measure of gravure cell volume. This is difficult to track because variations in the way that cell volume is measured contribute to some confusion as to the accuracy of the cell volume amounts. The present measurement systems in use employ different scales of measurement, which adds confusion to understanding cell volume in a way that promotes meaningful industry communication practices.