Security printing
Encyclopedia
Security printing is the field of the printing
industry that deals with the printing of items such as banknote
s, passport
s, tamper-evident
label
s, product authentication
, stock certificate
s, postage stamp
s and identity cards. The main goal of security printing is to prevent forgery
, tampering, or counterfeit
ing.
A number of technical methods are used in the security printing industry.
, almost always from cotton fibres for strength and durability, in some cases linen or speciality coloured or forensic fibres are added to give the paper added individuality and protect against counterfeiting. Some countries including Romania
, Mexico
, New Zealand
, Israel
, Singapore
and Australia
produce banknotes made from polymer
, in order to improve wear and tear, and permit the inclusion of a small transparent window a few millimeters in size as a security feature that is very difficult to reproduce using common counterfeiting techniques.
is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears lighter or darker than surrounding paper when viewed with a light from behind the paper, due to paper density variations. A watermark is made by impressing a water coated metal stamp or dandy roll onto the paper during manufacturing. Watermarks were first introduced in Bologna, Italy in 1282; as well as their use in security printing, they have also been used by papermakers to identify their product. Watermarks can also be made on polymer currency, for example, Australia has its coat of arms watermarked on all its plastic bills.
is a printing technique in which the image is incised into a surface. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used, and the incisions are created by etching
or engraving
the image, but one may also use mezzotint
. In printing, the surface is covered in ink, and then rubbed vigorously with tarlatan cloth or newspaper to remove the ink from the surface, leaving it in the incisions. A damp piece of paper is placed on top, and the plate and paper are run through a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink to the paper.
The very sharp printing obtained from the intaglio process is hard to imitate by other means. Intaglio also allows for the creation of latent images which are only visible when the document is viewed at a very shallow angle.
is an ornamental pattern formed of two or more curved bands that interlace to repeat a circular design. They are made with a geometric lathe
.
as the signature line.
are inks containing pearlescent pigments that change color when viewed at a different angle. The color of the ink does not actually change, but the angle of the light to the viewer's eye changes and thus creates the change in color. A number of types are available, including green to purple, gold to green and green to lilac.
One is a thin aluminum coated and partly demetalized polyester film thread with microprinting which is embedded in the security paper as banknote or passport paper.
The other kind of security thread is the single or multicolor sewing thread made from cotton or synthetic fibers, mostly UV fluorescent, for the bookbinding of passport booklets.
(MICR) technology is also used to greatly reduce errors in automated (or computerized) reading.
Some people believe that the magnetic ink was intended as a fraud prevention concept, yet the original intent was to have a non-optical technology so that writing on the cheque, like signatures, would not interfere with reading. The main magnetic fonts (E13-B and CMC7) are downloadable for a small fee and in addition magnetic toner is available for many printers. Some higher resolution toners have sufficient magnetic properties for magnetic reading to be successful without special toner.
s are not difficult to forge, but make legitimate documents easier to track and audit.
.
light or other unusual lighting. These show up as words, patterns or pictures and may be visible or invisible under normal lighting. This feature is also incorporated into many banknotes and other documents - e.g. Northern Ireland NHS prescriptions show a picture of local '8th wonder' the Giant's Causeway in UV light. Some producers include multi-frequency fluorescence, such that different elements fluoresce under specific frequencies of light.
in Atlanta.
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
industry that deals with the printing of items such as banknote
Banknote
A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...
s, passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s, tamper-evident
Tamper-evident
Tamper-evident describes a device or process that makes unauthorized access to the protected object easily detected. Seals, markings or other techniques may be tamper indicating.-Tampering:...
label
Label
A label is a piece of paper, polymer, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or article, on which is printed a legend, information concerning the product, addresses, etc. A label may also be printed directly on the container or article....
s, product authentication
Authentication
Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...
, stock certificate
Stock certificate
In corporate law, a stock certificate is a legal document that certifies ownership of a specific number of stock shares in a corporation...
s, postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s and identity cards. The main goal of security printing is to prevent forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
, tampering, or counterfeit
Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...
ing.
A number of technical methods are used in the security printing industry.
Special paper
Most banknotes are made of heavy paperPaper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, almost always from cotton fibres for strength and durability, in some cases linen or speciality coloured or forensic fibres are added to give the paper added individuality and protect against counterfeiting. Some countries including Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
produce banknotes made from polymer
Polymer banknote
Polymer banknotes were developed by the Reserve Bank of Australia , Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and The University of Melbourne and were first issued as currency in Australia in 1988. These banknotes are made from the polymer biaxially-oriented polypropylene ...
, in order to improve wear and tear, and permit the inclusion of a small transparent window a few millimeters in size as a security feature that is very difficult to reproduce using common counterfeiting techniques.
Watermarks
A watermarkWatermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...
is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears lighter or darker than surrounding paper when viewed with a light from behind the paper, due to paper density variations. A watermark is made by impressing a water coated metal stamp or dandy roll onto the paper during manufacturing. Watermarks were first introduced in Bologna, Italy in 1282; as well as their use in security printing, they have also been used by papermakers to identify their product. Watermarks can also be made on polymer currency, for example, Australia has its coat of arms watermarked on all its plastic bills.
Intaglio printing
IntaglioIntaglio (printmaking)
Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or...
is a printing technique in which the image is incised into a surface. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used, and the incisions are created by etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
or engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
the image, but one may also use mezzotint
Mezzotint
Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple...
. In printing, the surface is covered in ink, and then rubbed vigorously with tarlatan cloth or newspaper to remove the ink from the surface, leaving it in the incisions. A damp piece of paper is placed on top, and the plate and paper are run through a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink to the paper.
The very sharp printing obtained from the intaglio process is hard to imitate by other means. Intaglio also allows for the creation of latent images which are only visible when the document is viewed at a very shallow angle.
Geometric lathe work
A guillochéGuilloché
Guilloché is a decorative engraving technique in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern or design is mechanically engraved into an underlying material with fine detail...
is an ornamental pattern formed of two or more curved bands that interlace to repeat a circular design. They are made with a geometric lathe
Geometric lathe
A geometric lathe was used for making ornamental patterns on the plates used in printing bank notes and postage stamps. It is sometimes called a Guilloché lathe. It was developed early in the nineteenth century when efforts were introduced to combat forgery, and is an adaptation of an ornamental...
.
Microprinting
This involves the use of extremely small text, and is most often used on currency and bank checks. The text is generally small enough to be indiscernible to the naked eye. Cheques, for example, use microprintMicroprinting
Microprinting is one of many anti-counterfeiting techniques used most often on currency and bank checks, as well as various other items of value. Microprinting involves printing very small text, usually too small to read with the naked eye, onto the note or item. Microprint is frequently hidden in...
as the signature line.
Optically Variable Color-changing inks
Color changing inksOptically Variable Ink
Optically variable ink is an anti-counterfeiting measure used on many major modern banknotes.The ink displays two distinct colors depending on the angle the bill is viewed at. The United States fifty-dollar bill, for example, uses color shifting ink for the numeral 50 so that it displays copper at...
are inks containing pearlescent pigments that change color when viewed at a different angle. The color of the ink does not actually change, but the angle of the light to the viewer's eye changes and thus creates the change in color. A number of types are available, including green to purple, gold to green and green to lilac.
Holograms
A hologram may be embedded either via hot-stamping foil, wherein an extremely thin layer of only a few microns of depth is bonded into the paper or a plastic substrate by means of a hot-melt adhesive (called a size coat) and heat from a metal die, or it may be directly embossed as holographic paper, or onto the laminate of a card itself.Security threads
There are two kinds of security threads.One is a thin aluminum coated and partly demetalized polyester film thread with microprinting which is embedded in the security paper as banknote or passport paper.
The other kind of security thread is the single or multicolor sewing thread made from cotton or synthetic fibers, mostly UV fluorescent, for the bookbinding of passport booklets.
Magnetic ink
Because of the speed with which they can be read by computer systems, magnetic ink character recognition is used extensively in banking, primarily for personal checks. The ink used in Magnetic Ink Character RecognitionMagnetic ink character recognition
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology used primarily by the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques and makes up the routing number and account number at the bottom of a check. The technology allows computers to read information off...
(MICR) technology is also used to greatly reduce errors in automated (or computerized) reading.
Some people believe that the magnetic ink was intended as a fraud prevention concept, yet the original intent was to have a non-optical technology so that writing on the cheque, like signatures, would not interfere with reading. The main magnetic fonts (E13-B and CMC7) are downloadable for a small fee and in addition magnetic toner is available for many printers. Some higher resolution toners have sufficient magnetic properties for magnetic reading to be successful without special toner.
Serial numbers
Serial numberSerial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
s are not difficult to forge, but make legitimate documents easier to track and audit.
Anti-copying marks
In the late twentieth century advances in computer and photocopy technology made it possible for people without sophisticated training to easily copy currency. In an attempt to prevent this, banks have sought to add filtering features to the software and hardware available to the public that senses features of currency, and then locks out the reproduction of any material with these marks. One known example of such a system is the EURion constellationEURion constellation
The EURion constellation is a pattern of symbols found on a number of banknote designs worldwide since about 1996. It is added to help software detect the presence of a banknote in a digital image. Such software can then block the user from reproducing banknotes to prevent counterfeiting using...
.
Copy-evident paper
Many secure documents have the feature which causes a photocopy of the document to appear obviously different from the original. For example, when photocopied, most checks will display the word "VOID" (or the equivalent in another language) on the copy, even though it is absent from the original.Fluorescent dyes
Fluorescent dyes are dyes which fluoresce under ultravioletUltraviolet
Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
light or other unusual lighting. These show up as words, patterns or pictures and may be visible or invisible under normal lighting. This feature is also incorporated into many banknotes and other documents - e.g. Northern Ireland NHS prescriptions show a picture of local '8th wonder' the Giant's Causeway in UV light. Some producers include multi-frequency fluorescence, such that different elements fluoresce under specific frequencies of light.
Registration of features on both sides
Banknotes are typically printed with fine alignment between the printing on each side of the note. This allows the note to be examined for this feature, and provides opportunities to unambiguously align other features of the note to the printing. Again, this is difficult to imitate accurately enough in most print shops.Electronic devices
With the advent of RFID, it is possible to insert extremely small RF-active devices into the printed product. A documented example is the "Breeze" http://www.breezecard.com electronic card system used to control fare collection for MARTAMetropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...
in Atlanta.
Thermochromatic ink
Security ink with a normal "trigger" temperature of 88 degrees F, which will either disappear or change colors when the ink is rubbed, usually by the fingertips.Latent Images
Pressure sensitive or hot stamped labels characterized with a normal (gray or colored) appearance. When viewed via a special filter (such as a polarizer) an additional, normally latent, image appears.See also
- Active packagingActive packagingThe terms active packaging, intelligent packaging, and smart packaging refer to packaging systems used with foods, pharmaceuticals, and several other types of products. They help extend shelf life, monitor freshness, display information on quality, improve safety, and improve convenience.The...
- AuthenticationAuthenticationAuthentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...
- GemaltoGemaltoGemalto is an international digital security company, providing secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens in addition to software applications and managed services. The company was formed in June 2006 by the combination of two companies Axalto and Gemplus International...
- Package pilferagePackage pilferagePilferage is the theft of part of the contents of a package. It may also include theft of the contents but leaving the package, perhaps resealed with bogus contents. Small packages can be pilfered from a larger package such as a shipping container...
- Tamper-evidentTamper-evidentTamper-evident describes a device or process that makes unauthorized access to the protected object easily detected. Seals, markings or other techniques may be tamper indicating.-Tampering:...
- Tamper resistanceTamper resistanceTamper resistance is resistance to tampering by either the normal users of a product, package, or system or others with physical access to it. There are many reasons for employing tamper resistance....
External links
- Security Printing Conference by Pira International
- Delina Security Design (www.eradinamika.co.id)
- Security Printing and Design software (www.guard-soft.com)
- The council of the EU: Glossary of Security Documents, Security Features and other related technical terms