photogravure

9.9

A printing method that uses a photo on a metal plate to make very detailed prints

noun
/ˌfoʊtəˈɡrævjʊr/

Archaic

: fotograbado

Many historical books feature photogravures that capture detailed illustrations.
copperplate photogravure

Examples

In fact, Curtis saw the publication of twenty volumes of illustrated text and twenty more portfolios of large-size photogravure plates.

Academic text (2004)
The artist used a photogravure to create stunning images for the exhibition.
After careful preparation, the printer finally produced a beautiful photogravure of the landscape.

Synonyms

photographic print

vsphotogravure

Specialized

1 3.1

A picture on paper made from a camera or digital file

uses a metal plate to print from a photographic image rather than paper development

gravure

vsphotogravure

Specialized

1 9.9

A printing method using a metal plate cut to make rich, detailed pictures

uses a photographic image to create the plate rather than carving it

heliogravure

vsphotogravure

Specialized

9.9

An art print made by copying a photograph onto a metal plate and printing it

is the same process expressed with a different name

How High-Quality

photogravure

Archaic

9.9

collotype

Archaic

9.9

letterpress

Archaic

3 7.2

lithograph

Specialized

6 6.7

offset printing

Specialized

1 4.9

Surface Forms

photogravure singular

photogravures plural

Morphology

photogravure = gravure (semi-transparent) = photo + gravure

The word is built from the combining form photo- plus gravure, but the full technical meaning is specialized and only partly predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The word photogravure comes from photo- meaning 'light' and gravure from a word meaning 'to engrave', like in engrave. So a photogravure is a 'light engraving' — a print made by using light to put a photo on a metal plate and then engraving that plate to make very detailed prints.