Modern Business demand security printing on secure paper
The modern business world is a competitive one with your competitors seeking to gain an advantage and increase their share of the market at your expense. Add to this the increasing awareness and demands for privacy and data protection from your customers, then the need for security printing processes and secure paper become even more acute!
Every company or organization has specific needs for security printing – employment records, customer files, check books, promotional material, official letters, payslips; the list is endless. However, one thing all businesses and organizations have in common is the need to preserve their and their customer's security and privacy. This is where security printing processes on secure paper are invaluable.
What is security printing?
Security printing is a branch of the printing industry that deals with the production of sensitive printed materials such as bank notes, passports and identity cards, postage stamps, tamper proof documents and documentation and more. Security printing aims to prevent tampering with or duplication of sensitive materials.
Many security printing techniques exist and, as in all areas dealing with security, so the field of security printing is one that is constantly developing and providing new challenges for companies providing security printing services on secure paper.
Security printing techniques
Security printing can involve the use of special secure paper, special security printing processes or a combination of the two.
Watermarks are a security printingtechnique that also uses secure paper. It involves the inclusion of a unique design or image into the paper at the time of its manufacture. This image is almost invisible to the naked eye and cannot be reproduced by the normal photocopying process.
Ultra violet and invisible inks are another weapon in the arsenal of security printingtechniques effective against counterfeiting, copying and forgery. During the security printingprocess, text, images or specific designs are printed on secure paperusing special inks. The images will only be visible on the original paperso a copy, when viewed under special lighting or exposed to certain chemicals, will not display the hidden images.
Copy-evident paperis another form of security printing and secure paper where, as with watermarks, ultraviolet and invisible inks, a hidden design is printed on the paper. When this type of secure paper is used, the hidden design appears in the copied document. One example uses secure paperon bank checks that have the word "VOID" invisibly printed that only appears when the check is photocopied.
Another security printing technique is micro printing. Microscopic text is printed on the secure paper that is invisible to the naked eye or appears as a design element. This text isn't reproduced on a copied document as the photocopier can't reproduce the "small print".
Many other security printing techniques are available. These include the use of clear, plastic windows in documents, the inclusion of holographic images that cannot be reproduced, and specialized inks that change color when viewed from an angle or change color if an attempt is made to erase them. One especially interesting development in the area of security printing is the use of Radio Frequency Identification Devices – tiny electronic devices that are printed onto the paper and contain digital information that cannot be duplicated. This is a relatively new development in the security printing field but one that has tremendous potential.
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