The present invention provides a silicone composition for use in a printing plate, the composition including at least: a SiH group-containing compound; a compound represented by the following general formula (I); a compound represented by the following general formula (II); and/or a compound represented by the following general formula (III); wherein Ds in the compound represented by the general formula (I), Gs in the compound represented by the general formula (II) and Js in the compound represented by the general formula (III) each represents an acetoxy group or a dialkyloximino group: A-Si-(D).sub.3 (I) (wherein in the general formula (I), A represents a non-hydrolyzable functional group capable of undergoing a hydrosilylation reaction with a SiH group); E-Si-(G).sub.3 (II) (wherein in the general formula (II), E represents a non-hydrolyzable functional group incapable of undergoing a hydrosilylation reaction with a SiH group); and Si-(J).sub.4 (III). An object of the present invention is to provide a silicone composition for use in a printing plate, for obtaining a planographic printing plate precursor or a planographic printing plate which includes a silicone rubber layer having an excellent adhesion to an underlying layer despite being a fast-curing silicone rubber layer, and which has an excellent ink repellency and scratch resistance.

Provided are a printing plate, a method for manufacturing a printing plate, and a printing method that allow for high-resolution printing and efficient use of printing ink. The printing plate has an image area and a non-image area. The image area is formed by a layer containing silicone rubber. The non-image area is formed by a layer containing a fluorine compound on a surface of the layer containing silicone rubber. The height difference between a surface of the image area and a surface of the non-image area is 100 nm or less. The method for manufacturing a printing plate has the steps of subjecting a region of a surface of a layer containing silicone rubber to chemical treatment or physical treatment to form hydroxyl groups, the region being a region that becomes a non-image area; and binding a fluorine compound to the region, having the hydroxyl groups formed thereon, of the surface of the layer containing silicone rubber to form a non-image area. The printing method has an ink-applying step of applying a printing ink to an image area and a transfer step of transferring the printing ink from the image area to a substrate.

A lithographic ink which has a highly sensitive curability for active energy beam simultaneously with a high washability with water, and which also has excellent resistance to surface staining in the printing and high water resistance of the cured film is provided. Also provided are a varnish for such lithographic ink and a method for producing printed material. The lithographic ink comprises (a) a pigment and (b) a resin having an ethylenically unsaturated group and a hydrophilic group, and it has a highly sensitive curability for active energy beam simultaneously with a high washability with water, and also, excellent resistance to surface staining in the printing and high water resistance of the cured film.

A lithographic ink which has a highly sensitive curability for active energy beam simultaneously with a high washability with water, and which also has excellent resistance to surface staining in the printing and high water resistance of the cured film is provided. Also provided are a varnish for such lithographic ink and a method for producing printed material. The lithographic ink comprises (a) a pigment and (b) a resin having an ethylenically unsaturated group and a hydrophilic group, and it has a highly sensitive curability for active energy beam simultaneously with a high washability with water, and also, excellent resistance to surface staining in the printing and high water resistance of the cured film.

Dry, ablation-type, nitrocellulose-containing lithographic printing members include dual adjacent imaging layers, both including an absorber and at least one containing a binder (which may include or consist essentially of a melamine resin). The absorber of the nitrocellulose-containing layer is a pigment and this layer contains no absorbing dye, while the absorber of the other imaging layer includes or consists essentially of a dye.

Provided are an offset printing plate, an offset printing apparatus, and an offset printing method, which are capable of printing a high-definition image by waterless offset printing.

The offset printing plate comprises: a cylindrical plate base material; a silicon resin layer formed on the cylindrical plate base material; and a resist pattern part formed on the silicon resin layer, in which the silicon resin layer serves as a non-printing area, and the resist pattern part serves as a printing area. The silicon resin layer is preferably formed on the cylindrical plate base material seamlessly.

Functionality is disclosed herein for producing articles with multiple color inks. A method of decorating, printing, or otherwise producing articles with multiple color inks includes continuously refilling an ink reservoir with multiple color inks in a sequential manner, and continuously applying the multiple color inks from the ink reservoir onto articles of manufacture to create decorated articles of manufacture

Functionality is disclosed herein for producing articles with multiple color inks. A method of decorating, printing, or otherwise producing articles with multiple color inks includes continuously refilling an ink reservoir with multiple color inks in a sequential manner, and continuously applying the multiple color inks from the ink reservoir onto articles of manufacture to create decorated articles of manufacture

A method of manufacturing an image element array includes: providing a production tool having a surface pattern of ink-receptive elements spaced by areas which are not, the ink-receptive elements defining the array image elements; applying a multi-coloured first image formed of a inks to only the ink-receptive elements; and transferring only the portions of the multi-coloured first image corresponding to the image elements from the production tool to a substrate. An image element array is formed on the substrate. The production tool surface pattern is configured such that when viewing and image element arrays overlap, each viewing element within an image element array first region directs light from a respective image element or from a respective gap. The viewing angle in the first region directs light from either the array or the gaps.

A method of manufacturing an image element array includes: providing a production tool having a surface pattern of ink-receptive elements spaced by areas which are not, the ink-receptive elements defining the array image elements; applying a multi-coloured first image formed of a inks to only the ink-receptive elements; and transferring only the portions of the multi-coloured first image corresponding to the image elements from the production tool to a substrate. An image element array is formed on the substrate. The production tool surface pattern is configured such that when viewing and image element arrays overlap, each viewing element within an image element array first region directs light from a respective image element or from a respective gap. The viewing angle in the first region directs light from either the array or the gaps.