A laser-engravable pad printing plate comprising at least (a) a metal support, (b) an adhesion layer, (c) a laser-engravable recording layer having a layer thickness of 20 ?m to 200 ?m, (d) a cover film,
characterized in that the laser-engravable recording layer (c) comprises (c1) 40 to 95 wt % of a polyvinyl alcohol, (c2) 5 to 50 wt % of an IR absorber, (c3) 0 to 30 wt % of an inorganic filler, (c4) 0 to 20 wt % of a crosslinker, and (c5) 0 to 10 wt % of further additives.

An intermediate rotogravure product has a cylindrical case onto which a circumferential copper layer extends, the circumferential copper layer having a characteristic surface roughness Rz and porosity. A copper engraving layer is on the circumferential copper layer. A method for engraving into adds a copper engraving layer, followed by engraving a predetermined pattern. A rotogravure cylinder product and method add a copper engraving layer on the circumferential copper layer that can be engraved in accordance with a predefined pattern and protected with a protection layer.

An intermediate rotogravure product has a cylindrical case onto which a circumferential copper layer extends, the circumferential copper layer having a characteristic surface roughness Rz and porosity. A copper engraving layer is on the circumferential copper layer. A method for engraving into adds a copper engraving layer, followed by engraving a predetermined pattern. A rotogravure cylinder product and method add a copper engraving layer on the circumferential copper layer that can be engraved in accordance with a predefined pattern and protected with a protection layer.

A lithographic printing sleeve for mounting on a cylinder in a printing press is provided. The lithographic printing sleeve includes a tubular base layer for contacting and surrounding an outer circumference of the cylinder, a permanent tubular hydrophilic layer on an outer surface of the tubular base layer and a temporary hydrophobic layer on an outer surface of the tubular hydrophilic layer. A variable cutoff printing press is also provided.

Provided are a gravure cylinder, which has satisfactory wear resistance as the gravure cylinder and includes a surface reinforcing coating layer having wear resistance equal to or more than that of chromium plating using hexavalent chromium, a method of manufacturing the gravure cylinder, and a method of manufacturing a printed matter using the gravure cylinder. The gravure cylinder includes: a plate base material; a recess layer, which is formed on a surface of the plate base material and includes a large number of recesses formed on the surface; and a surface reinforcing coating layer configured to cover the recess layer with chromium nitride or carbon nitride, in which the surface reinforcing coating layer is formed by reactive sputtering.

Provided are a gravure cylinder, which has satisfactory wear resistance as the gravure cylinder and includes a surface reinforcing coating layer having wear resistance equal to or more than that of chromium plating using hexavalent chromium, a method of manufacturing the gravure cylinder, and a method of manufacturing a printed matter using the gravure cylinder. The gravure cylinder includes: a plate base material; a recess layer, which is formed on a surface of the plate base material and includes a large number of recesses formed on the surface; and a surface reinforcing coating layer configured to cover the recess layer with chromium nitride or carbon nitride, in which the surface reinforcing coating layer is formed by reactive sputtering.

A method for manufacturing rotogravure cylinders with a cylinder base made of aluminum. The method involves the coating of the cylinder surface with high velocity spraying, the copper plating in an appropriate solution, the engraving of the cylinder, and the hardening of the cylinder by chromium plating. The spraying process is accomplished by High-Velocity Air-Fuel or High-Velocity Oxygen-Fuel thermal spraying which leads to less surface porosity, better adhesion of the copper substrate and better dimensional accuracy.

A method for manufacturing rotogravure cylinders with a cylinder base made of aluminum. The method involves the coating of the cylinder surface with high velocity spraying, the copper plating in an appropriate solution, the engraving of the cylinder, and the hardening of the cylinder by chromium plating. The spraying process is accomplished by High-Velocity Air-Fuel or High-Velocity Oxygen-Fuel thermal spraying which leads to less surface porosity, better adhesion of the copper substrate and better dimensional accuracy.

A method of forming printing sleeve for mounting on a cylinder in a printing press is provided. The method includes providing a permanent hydrophilic tubular layer on a tubular base; selectively providing a first temporary hydrophobic layer on the hydrophilic tubular layer to form a first imaged printing sleeve, the temporary hydrophobic layer forming a first image; printing, by the first imaged printing sleeve, a first print job including the first image on a substrate; and removing the first temporary hydrophobic layer from the permanent hydrophilic layer such that the permanent hydrophilic layer remains intact on the tubular base. A lithographic printing sleeve for a printing press is also provided.

A gravure printing roll that enables printing of fine dots with a size close to that of cells and enables printing on a print subject, such as a printing substrate, without changing the appearance of the print subject. The gravure printing roll includes: a gravure printing roll body; and cells formed in a peripheral surface of the gravure printing roll body. Each of the cells has an opening with a ratio between a dimension in a circumferential direction of the gravure printing roll body and a dimension in an axial center direction of the gravure printing roll body (dimension in the circumferential direction/dimension in the axial center direction) being 1.15 to 7, and have an opening area of 3900 m.sup.2 or smaller.