System for and method of manufacturing gravure printing plates

A short linear cell array laser drilling system for use in manufacture of gravure printing plates without etching or the use of hazardous chemicals, comprising:

• a picosecond laser and frequency doubling crystal emitting a beam along an optical path;
• a diffractive optical element in the optical path an operable to split the beam into a plurality of sub-beams that allow drilling of a linear series of cells on a gravure cylinder blank;
• a scan lens in the optical path and operable to determine spot sizes of the sub-beams upon gravure cylinder blank 120;
• a beam expander in the optical path and operable to increases a size of the beam by a given number of times, such that the beam is rendered big enough to cover several periods of the diffractive optical element, thereby allowing the diffractive optical element to function correctly as a beam splitter, and such that sub-beams are big enough to match a pupil size of the scan lens;
• and
• light valves in the optical path and individually opened and closed by a control algorithm resident on a central computer to enable a pattern of cells to be cut on the gravure cylinder blank such that a printed image can be produced.