In photogravure, the surface of the copper printing cylinder is etched with a regular screen of tiny cells of varying depth that hold the printing ink.

The printing cylinder is inked and a doctor blade removes the excess ink from its surface while leaving ink in the recessed cells. The impression cylinder then presses the paper firmly against the printing surface, allowing the paper to pick up the ink from these cells.

Under a microscope, photogravure stamps show a regular pattern of equally sized screen cells. Because the cells vary in depth, they hold different quantities of ink and therefore produce different tonal values. Unlike line engraving, the reverse of the paper is not normally visibly indented because the cells are so small. Under oblique light and magnification, the tiny deposits of ink may appear slightly raised above the paper surface.

Hungary’s first photogravure stamp issue was the 1932 Saint Elizabeth series, designed by Sándor Légrády. Early issues were generally printed in a single colour, but later multicolour production developed, including stamps printed in four or five colours and even highly complex reproductions of paintings using many colour separations.