PrintingNews.com

The cost-saving benefit together with improved anti-counterfeiting capability will appeal to manufacturers of documents like passports, identity cards and drivers’ licenses, where resistance to counterfeiting is vital. There is already considerable interest in Holofuse, particularly as optical features can be incorporated into the hologram at the time of origination and more security layers in the form of tagants and yes can be added if required.

Another interesting PC development comes from Optaglio with its OVmesh, a perforated metallic holographic patch which is embedded in the laminated PC card. OVmesh patches are metal and do not deteriorate under heat and pressure, retaining a high degree of brightness and clarity over a long period. A key feature is the pitch of the mesh can be tuned to provide variable transparency over the area of the hologram, so that part of the hologram can appear fully metallized for improved verification of the overt and covert security features. Other areas can be transparent over personal data such as the photograph.

During the lamination process, the PC melts and flows through the perforations in the mesh to allow complete bonding between the layers, making it more resistant to delamination when compared to standard embedded holograms. Individual patches can be serial numbered by laser engraving to provide an audit trail of each holographic image, data page or card during the production process and in the finished product. The product is compliant ICAO and EU requirements on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by members countries, and is already in production for use in the new electronic passport being produced in Europe.

It’s certain that there are some exciting new developments out there to reaffirm holography’s pre-eminent position as an effective, added value solution for putting eye-catching, hard to copy images onto brands without relying on the application of a label—providing an extremely cost-effective anti-counterfeiting solution in the process.

Philip Hudson is the chairman of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association. Hudson was a founding member of the IHMA back in 1993 and its second chairman. For more information, visit www.ihma.org.