a printing plate suitable for retaining ink in an imagewise fashion on a main surface thereof defines an array of pixel - sized cavities . each cavity has associated therewith a quantity of a light - induced shape - memory polymer . when a cavity is exposed with energy , such as from an imaging laser , the quantity of polymer changes shape and / or position , thereby allowing a relatively greater quantity of ink to be retained in the cavity . the printing plate is then inked , to from a transferable image . the apparatus as a whole enables a gravure - like printing plate to be repeatedly imaged using digital image data .