Hologram security features

Modern age sees the scientific and technical progress reach the point where any person can afford any computer and office equipment allowing to duplicate any document, label, package etc. ensuring more or less passable quality. With the purpose to ensure effective protection of the above-mentioned objects graphic designers are constantly working on new ways and means of security. However, an increasing majority of interested persons resort to using the most efficient way to ensure security of their documents and goods – which is the use of holograms.

Why’s that?

The answer is quite simple: hologram is probably the only type of images that cannot possibly be reproduced by any copying or printing devices, nor with the help of scanning of documents, labels, tags and packages.

This is exactly the most important security feature of holograms.

Moreover, while creating a hologram developers and designers use some additional security elements that ensure impossibility of its replicating by other hologram manufacturers. These elements provide the Customer with an excellent toolkit for performing visual control of genuineness of holograms applied for various documents and goods.

These elements are:

-Kinetic movement effect;

-True color;

-Moire effect;

-Micron texts;

-Guilloche grids;

-Hidden images;

-Individual numbers;

-Laser demetalization;

Let’s review these elements in more detail.

Kinetic movement effect

Vertical and horizontal parallax implies either rotation (with the light beams forming a ‘whirlpool’ around the center of hologram) or blinking effect (background flickering or reverse blinking of Guilloche images in the center of hologram). Holograms with various kinetic movement effects are also called stereograms and kinegrams. A great number of kinetic holograms samples are presented in the Photo Catalogue section.

True color

True color technique implies assigning the hologram a certain combination of colors which become visible from different viewing angle. This technique is used for imaging flag color or other colorful pictures from a certain viewing angle. Hologram reflects all colors of the rainbow spectrum but only from a certain viewing angle. The coded part of the hologram represents the exactly assigned combination of colors, for example, the blue and the yellow colors of the Ukrainian National Flag or colors of other countries’ flags.

Moire effect

A moire pattern is an interference pattern created when two sets of overlapping stripes are placed together at an angle to each other. The simplest example of a moire pattern is overlaying of two sets of equally distant parallel stripes (lines) at a small angle. Applying a slight change to the angle of rotation of one of the sets results in significant change in spaces between the moire pattern elements. Moire pattern are detectable by means of special diffraction films (grids) which help the Customer easily monitor the genuineness of his holograms. Since without the use of diffraction films moire patterns are seen just as a chaotic set of obscure lines, holograms with applied moire effect are also known as latent holograms.

Micron texts

Micron text is a text printed into a hologram the font size of which is less than 0.1 mm. Such text is usually invisible to naked eye and reveals only while using magnified glass or a microscope. Micron texts can be represented as either a positive or a negative image.

Guilloche grids

Guilloche pattern is created by means of a complex interference of thin lines. Such pattern can serve as a background, it can be embedded into any element of an image or imposed upon any part of a hologram. Guilloche grids are widely used by graphic designers while manufacturing banknotes and high-security documents. The hologram logo of Gammagrafik Ltd. has a background with a Guilloche pattern in the lower sector of it located under the semicircle containing the company’s name.

Hidden images

Hidden images are special marks invisible to naked eye and undetectable by means of a microscope. Such images can be seen only with the help of special devices applying a reflected laser beam. Gammagrafik research and production company offers to its Customers hidden image holograms to go with specially designed control devices for laser visualization of this type of images. This helps the Customer easily monitor the genuineness of his holograms.

Individual numbers

Holograms may have an individual number which is printed on it by means of a thermotransfer printer or engraved by a laser beam (demetalization of reflection metalized layer) or ink with the help of an ink drop printer. The use of individual numbers is another security feature a hologram can offer. Gammagrafik research and production company can offer you holograms with any of the said types of numeration.

Laser demetalization

Reflection metalized layer is removed from certain areas of a hologram. Such hologram contains transparent areas and lettering (or numeration).

Conclusion:

• No hologram can possibly be reproduced with the help of a copying device or a scanner;

• The set of the above-mentioned security features and elements whose combinations are applied while developing and manufacturing holograms make them unique and complicates considerably the possibility of their replication;

• The uniqueness of a hologram is inherent in the very process of holographic recording. Each hologram has its own pattern like a fingerprint by means of which an expert can not only detect a fraud but also name the forger.

Each hologram has its own pattern like a fingerprint by means of which an expert can not only detect a fraud but also name the forger.