To transfer a necessary amount of ink to a material to be printed by surely filling a predetermined amount of ink into concave portions in a gravure printing machine.

Ink 3 supplied from an ink-supplying means 9 to a peripheral surface of a gravure plate cylinder 1 is filled into concave portions 1a by a doctor blade 2 at point A, and transferred onto a material 8 to be printed at point B. The amount of the ink 3 filled into the concave portions 1a is measured by a laser displacement gage 6, and the doctor blade 2 is heated by a heater 5 if the amount filled is short. The viscosity of the ink to be filled into the concave portions 1a is temporarily lowered since the temperature of the ink 3 becomes high by this heating. Thereby, the ink 3 is easy to be filled into the concave portions 1a by the doctor blade 2 so that the predetermined amount of the ink is filled into the concave portion 1a.