A printing defect of gravure printing characterized by a screen-like pattern appearing in solid portions of the printed image, caused by inconsistent ink flow from the cells of the cylinder. Decreasing the ink's viscosity with the addition of solvent will help alleviate the problem. Screening also occurs in multi-color gravure printing as successive inks can redissolve the first-down ink, which then interferes with the second-down ink, which in turn impedes the flow of ink from the cylinder. Increasing the speed at which the first ink dries is one way of alleviating the problem, as is ensuring that all the inks in the system are compatible with each other.
The term screening is also used in flexographic printing as an alternate term for a defect called mechanical pinholing. See Mechanical Pinholing.
In prepress and photography, the term screening is used to refer to the act of converting a continuous-tone image into a halftone, or to produce any other kind of screen tint.