Definitions for "Hickeys"
Hickeys are foreign matter which sticks to plates, blankets, or rollers, and shows up as a black spot with a white halo in the printed image. Hickeys are generally caused by matter in the ink or paper adhering to the plate or blanket.
In offset printing, spots or imperfections in the printing due to dirt on press, dust or paper particles, etc.
Spots or imperfections in the printing process caused by dirt on the press, dried ink skin, paper particles from recycled papers, etc. At BOPI, "hickey-pickers" are installed on our equipment to help minimize hickey problems. On our 6-color MAN Roland presses, we use the delta-dampening system virtually eliminating hickeys.