1905 – 1959: The Years of Expansion

Both Agfa and Gevaert rapidly expand. Their capital has grown enormously and they establish branches all over the world. Many new products are introduced to meet the needs of different quickly modernising industries, such as repro films and plates, X-ray materials and motion picture film with sound.

In 1909, the capital reaches one million BEF. Gevaert invests in research for the production of plates and roll films. During World War I, a number of German chemical companies, including Agfa and Bayer, establish 'a community of interest'. After the War, Gevaert expands and modernises. At that moment, it already has branches in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, London, Moscow, Barcelona, Rome, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Copenhagen.

A new name: 'Gevaert Photo Producten N.V.'

The success of Gevaert can not be stopped. In 1920, the group is renamed 'Gevaert Photo Producten N.V.'. While the starting capital in the early years of Gevaert was still moderate, it has now grown to 15 million Belgian francs (375,000 Euro). New products include the Agfa repro films and plates and the collotype film. In 1929, Gevaert Photoproducten starts producing X-ray materials and motion picture film with sound.

From art to industry

In 1932, Gevaert already has ten different ortho and panchromatic contone plates for gravure, linework and halftone work. A year later, it develops pigment paper for gravure and Litholine ortho film for halftone and linework.

In 1935, Lieven Gevaert dies.

In 1936, Gevaert Photoproducten starts making blind 'contrast' contone films. At that time, the company also introduces triacetate film, the first safety ground layer that also has the features of the very flammable nitro celluloid ground layer. In 1939, the DTR technology is simultaneously discovered in Agfa's and Gevaert's R&D labs. In 1949, Gevaert starts producing colour film on an industrial scale and introduces the Gevacopy papers. Gevacolor motion pictures were very successful. That same year, the company Hoechst/Kalle, which would be acquired by Agfa-Gevaert in 1996, develops the first presensitised offset printing plate.

This period is characterized by the standardisation and automation of photomechanical reproduction methods, the breakthrough of photographic typesetting and the rise of scanners, all increasing productivity. There is a switch from the glass plate to the dimensionally stable polyester base. Colour and tone correction methods improve.

In the nineteen fifties, Gevaert introduces the Copyrapid offset plates, as well as the Gevacopy aluminium offset plates: metal printing plates that have to be processed in contact with negative paper.