The first seals appeared hundreds (according to some sources - thousands) years ago.
Unfortunately, no one can say the exact time of their occurrence, unfortunately, but it is obvious that their appearance was directly related to the rapidly developing trade and the development of the social management system.
The rapidly increasing number of financial transactions required reliable means to verify the authenticity of documents or products. Seals and stamps quickly found their application among merchants, government officials, nobility and other people whose work was associated with any kind of paper.
Of course, now no one uses seals made of clay, wood and other exotic materials, however, the essence remains the same - to this day, seals are widely used to confirm the authenticity of documents and conduct financial transactions.
In this regard, the ability to make seals is often the "key to all doors", allowing you to do much more than the average person can do.
In vector graphics, the image is a jumble of graphs of mathematical functions, due to which, when enlarged, vector graphics do not give jaggies and the curved line remains a curve.
Vector graphics are also used when working with plotters, cutters, laser engravers, milling machines and many other equipment.
Without going into unnecessary theory, I will say that to work on this manual, you need skills in working in vector graphics. Even if you are a wonderful master of the same Photoshop, it will not work for our purposes.
The most popular vector graphics editor is Corel Draw. It is easy to learn, but it also has a number of disadvantages.
For example, due to the peculiarities of this program, it often happens that previous versions of the program do not open files saved in subsequent ones.
Drawing the layout and saving it in Corel Draw 12th version is considered a good form.
It is also important to remember that it is better to save any work you have done in two versions: as a working layout (with the ability to edit) and in the form of curves.
The latter means that all fonts will cease to be fonts and will become a combination of curved lines, which will avoid errors, for example, when working with a file on different computers, one of which may not have the required font. Also, many types of equipment do not work with anything other than curved lines and they simply cannot see the fonts, and the figured image of the same letters is easy.
If suddenly you do not want to learn all this at all, you can find a freelancer who will draw the layout for you. But, nevertheless, I would not advise doing this for a number of reasons.
Firstly, you should not once again jeopardize your anonymity, and secondly, you should not trust the quality of workmanship to someone else. This is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.
Rendering seals by imprint
For a general introduction to working with text in Corel, I would advise you to read the lesson
It shows the basic techniques that allow you to understand exactly how the work with the arrangement of the text around the circle is done.
More detailed lessons.
Seals and stamps
This manual will consider the manufacture of seals using photopolymer technology, as the easiest to learn.
In addition to photopolymer technology, which has a number of disadvantages, there are also a number of other methods for making seals.
Laser engraving on rubber
This technology is burning a print pattern with a laser using a laser engraver on a layer of special rubber. The main advantage of this technology is the ability to create the thinnest lines in the print design, used, for example, in security elements.
The set of equipment required to start the production of seals using a similar method at its cost starts from $ 10,000 and more. It is also important to consider that placing the engraver at home will be a rather bad idea, since it needs a strong hood to work and the smell when working from it is not the most pleasant.
Learn more about what laser engraving is
Flash technology (ink-filled rubber prints)
Such seals are quite convenient to use. They do not need a stamp pad, thanks to the oil-soaked print work surface.
The principle of the technology is based on selective baking of the pores of thermosensitive microporous rubber. The quality of the stamps is quite high, there is also the possibility of using several colors in printing, but the distance between the colors, and, accordingly, between the rings and inscriptions, on the seal should be at least 2-3mm.
The quality of such seals is on a par with laser engraving, but the cost of purchasing equipment for their production will be significantly lower.
Typically, equipment for flash prints costs customers from $ 800 to $ 1000.
Flash printing technology
Photopolymer manufacturing technology
This type of seal is made from a liquid polymer that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light.
The advantage of this technology is inexpensive equipment, good quality seals, simplicity and excellent production speed.
The downside is the fact that it is rather difficult to make a print with complex security elements from photopolymer, which, however, is not always true. With experience comes the realization of many tricks that make it possible to achieve practically the same quality of cliches as on stamps made by the method of laser engraving.
Also, the disadvantage is that alcohol-based stamp inks are not suitable for photopolymer stamps, since alcohol corrodes the cliché. If you need to "age" the cliché, then in this case it is enough to wipe the surface of the cliché with a napkin or a rag soaked in alcohol. To enhance the result, this operation can be performed many times.
Degrees of protection used in seals and stamps
Since further in the manual we will consider the manufacture of seals from impressions, it will not be superfluous to mention what means are used in order to make such a forgery more difficult.
Immediately, I note that the methods below are not found everywhere and are, rather, an exception to the rule, since the culture of document protection in the countries of the former USSR is practically not developed. In addition, not all protection methods are equally useful and effective when used.
The most common method of protecting a print from counterfeiting is replacing one or more characters in the print with similar letters from another font (typeface), which makes it difficult to render the layout.
Fighting this is quite simple: you need to take a closer look at what is on the seal. Pay special attention to the letters C, M, L, E and K - as a rule, they are the easiest example to notice the difference between one typeface and another.
It is also important to remember that the style of the Cyrillic letter K in correctly composed fonts differs from the style of the Latin letter K. The same rule applies to many other letters, depending on the font.
Substitutions of this kind are quite common, so take a closer look at the small details of the copied letters: the presence or absence of serifs, specific thickenings or curvature of the lines may indicate a discrepancy between the selected typeface and the one on the print. If the discrepancy appears in one or two characters, you will have to select the font separately for them.
Often there is the use of curly edging in seals, which, in addition to a purely decorative function, also, in theory, can be a fairly reliable protective element.
Fortunately, most of these curly edging are conventional stamping. In the Bonus folder, you can find examples of such curly borders that will save you the trouble of re-drawing these security elements from scratch.
Another type of curly edging is unique edging. Their difference from ordinary curly templates lies, first of all, in the fact that the original, which is sent to print, is in a single copy from the designer who created it. Fortunately, such edging is rare and if the designer who drew such edging did not try once again, then the edging can be copied quite simply: you only need to draw the element that makes up the edging, after which it can be easily copied with a rotation relative to the geometric center of the print by N degrees. N = (360 / Number of repeating elements in the border).
Often there are seals with specially made defects in them, such as a thread-like groove in one or more elements, or the absence thereof. The visibility of the artificiality of these defects depends on the professionalism of the designer who draws the original print, but I would advise you to take a closer look at the seals containing not typical defects in their print.
If possible, the absence or presence of defects should be taken into account when making an impression, and one should not overlook stand-alone points, groups of points, or supposedly foreign elements. It is quite possible that this is a protective element.
Guilloche nets are a very beautiful and, at the same time, sometimes effective method of printing protection.
The thin line pattern allows you to create a background that, at times, can be really difficult to copy properly.
Again, like many other degrees of protection, there are very often public meshes that you can copy by simply picking up a similar mesh from your own collection. And examples of such grids, of course, are in the "bonus" folder.
An allegedly effective method of protection is also a raster field. In the example below, this area is under the coat of arms and the symbols "* 7 *".
This element is a mandatory method of protection in seals with the coat of arms of the Russian Federation.
This is a small space filled with small dots, which, in theory, should serve as proof that the print was made using laser engraving. Fortunately, official seals, as a rule, are found in government agencies, where they are used very actively, as a result of which the raster field turns into a continuous obscenity.
This method can be easily duplicated with the help of photopolymer technology, either by choosing a raster mesh from the set attached in the Bonus folder, or by filling in a section of the same shape with a gray color with a saturation of 30-40%, depending on the desired result and features used equipment.
An important role in the uniqueness of the print is made by defects that appear on its print during operation. Over time, straight lines break, small cliché elements come off the substrate, and the print itself slightly changes its size, from being perfectly round to becoming somewhat ellipsoidal.
For photopolymer stamps, as mentioned above, the estimated service life before noticeable deformation begins is approximately 3,000 prints.
For rubber stamps, the lifespan is approximately 10,000 prints.
An intermediate position is occupied by prints made of ink-filled rubber (flash prints). They can leave about 5000-7000 impressions before defects appear.
When copying a print, it is worth paying great attention to how believable it looks. Typically, seals that must be used frequently are not particularly attractive.
For example, remember the quality of the impressions on sick leaves from clinics.
If the print you want to copy belongs to a frequently used print, then perhaps the best solution in this case would be to wipe the photopolymer cliché with a napkin moistened with alcohol. Even ordinary vodka does this well. Alcohol, destroying the structure of the polymer, will allow you to get an impression in a couple of minutes, which will pass for an old, tattered seal. In addition, it will hide many of the inconsistencies that may arise during the copying process.
Particular attention should be paid to this method of cliché stagnation when copying stamps containing a raster field (for example, stamp stamps).
And, finally, the saddest thing: a group of security elements, which basically contain raster dots, is what makes every person engaged in a fake sad. These protection methods include "texture" protection, the MOIRIGHT family of security elements and other protection methods, which are based on unevenly distributed small dots that create the illusion of halftone transitions or have a kind of latent image that appears when a special key is applied to the print. , which is a semblance of a diffraction grating.
As a rule, such seals are extremely rare, but their copying is practically impossible. Oddly enough, but this is one of the few protective elements for which manufacturers always ask a lot of money, and in doing so, it actually works.
In theory, an imprint of such a seal could be copied, but this would require manual rendering of each of the many dots that make up the seal imprint.
Fortunately, such methods of protection are practically not found due to their high cost.
Another group of security elements that are found only in the price lists of seal manufacturers include security methods based on the application of invisible ultraviolet marks that appear on paper when its surface is illuminated with a UV lamp with the required frequency.
In practice, such seals are practically not found due to the lack of convenience in verifying their authenticity.
It is important to remember that asterisks (an asterisk is the correct name for the * symbol, popularly referred to as an "asterisk"), it is customary to use the Bodoni font. It is highly likely that if there is an asterisk in the print, then it is inserted from this particular typeface.
Equipment
How to choose, where to buy and how much it costs.
First, you need to understand exactly what equipment we will use in the manufacturing process of all the above manipulations.
We will need
Computer . Anyone will do, even a relatively weak one. By default, it is assumed that you have it.
Black and white laser printer. Even if you are the lucky owner of the most wonderful inkjet in the world, unfortunately, it will not fit. To save money, you can buy a laser printer (used) on Avito or any other bulletin board. It will cost around $ 100. For this money, you can even find a new one. For our purposes, almost any will do. You should not fanatically save on all this, but also waste money. You can also take it, practically without looking, in any computer hardware store.
Exposure camera. It is a suitcase with ultraviolet lamps mounted in it. It costs, along with consumables, somewhere around $ 200. You should not take expensive models for $ 300 or more - they are needed by large firms that make hundreds of prints a day. A simple entry-level model is a good place to start.
When buying, pay attention to the following parameters of the exposure camera:
Illumination area. Usually indicated in mm. Determines the performance of the exposure camera and the maximum stamp size. Except for very specific tasks, such as the manufacture of magnesium cliches for hot stamping, most likely, this parameter will not play a special role. Pay attention to the area only if you plan to make prints in large quantities (from 20 pieces per day or more).
Power and number of lamps. Again, only affects performance. If you need to make 20-30 prints a day, it makes sense to think about buying a productive model. Otherwise, this is not such an important parameter. Take what your budget allows.
The presence of a timer. This is already very, very important. I would advise taking a model with a timer that will automatically turn off the lamps after a certain time. This will prevent a large number of rejects and will allow you to set the parameters suitable for your equipment and consumables in a couple of experiments and get the same quality every time.
For beginners, I would recommend the Soligor E-45 exposure camera. Relatively low price, good performance, inexpensive lamps, large illumination field - the best solution in its price category. With this model, according to my observations, almost a quarter of print shops work. Exposure cameras are sold in specialized stores freely and without presentation of documents.
When buying, do not hesitate to ask everything that interests you - the sellers will tell you everything, this is their job. As a last resort, say that you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to start making stamps. The total cost of the equipment, as a rule, does not exceed $ 350.
From consumables you will need:
- photopolymer resin (I would recommend buying a Colop VX55);
- clear film / substrate (I would recommend Lomond clear film);
- matte film for negative output (kimoto is probably the best choice);
- border tape (brand does not matter).
Technological process of making a seal
In this manual, we will look at the process of making prints based on photopolymer technology.
Initially, you need to draw a print layout in Corel Draw and then convert it to negative. In this case, the whitespace elements will be black, and those parts that should be printed will remain unpainted. You need to print the negative on a special matte film. I would recommend, as mentioned above, using matte film for removing Kimoto negatives - it is not expensive and can be found in almost any specialty store.
Next, the negative, printed on a matte film, is treated with toner.
Toner is a special substance that increases the optical density of those areas that have been painted over. That is, the black color becomes even blacker and more opaque, which makes it possible to more reliably trap the light rays coming from the lamps of the exposure camera. The use of toner will significantly improve the quality of future prints.
After processing with toner, the negative is pasted around the perimeter with border tape. This is a strip of foamed rubber, vaguely reminiscent of the material for insulating windows.
This stage is necessary to create a recess around the negative, into which the photopolymer resin will be poured in the future.
Photopolymer is poured into the resulting depression. It is very important to pour it carefully, as the slightest air bubble can spoil the future print, forcing the light to scatter where it is completely unnecessary. It is quite convenient to get rid of air bubbles either with a syringe (without a needle) or by "picking out" them with the help of a sharp edge of a piece of substrate, which you will later cover with a cliché.
Further, the future print is covered with a substrate - a transparent film, on which the future cliche will stick. I would advise using a substrate from Lomond, as mentioned above. Again, it is sold almost everywhere and is not at all expensive: a pack of 50 sheets will cost you about 400 rubles, and it will be enough for more than one hundred stamps.
After all these manipulations, the cliché is covered with sheets of glass (also called an exposure cassette) and sent to the exposure chamber. It is important to note that you first need to light up the print from the side of the substrate and only then light up from the side of the cliché. This is the most common mistake that leads to a lot of defects.
I would advise you to select the exposure time of each side yourself, since it is individual and depends both on the model of the exposure camera used and on the brand of the photopolymer used.
After exposure of both sides, the substrate with the cliché adhered to it and the remains of the photopolymer is washed with hot running water using a dishwashing detergent. Their brand does not play a role at all - "lady-loving", in this case, would be an ideal choice.
Let me clarify that, after exposure, the matte film with the negative printed on it, in fact, is of no value to us and, in the interests of safety, can be burned. The materials burn perfectly, and then it will not be possible to restore them.
After rinsing the cliché, it must be placed under a thin layer of water (1-1.5 cm) and put back into the exposure chamber, but already for 5 minutes or a little more. This will allow the photopolymer to finally harden and acquire all the necessary properties.
Some individuals advise using ultrasonic baths to wash the clichés, but personally I think this is overkill. Despite the fact that they really allow you to wash the seal containing very thin elements without deforming them, the washing of the seals in such trays takes a long time. And they cost about $ 150.
The process of producing photopolymer stamps is described in great detail on YouTube for requests for "printing from photopolymer" and others like them.
Subtleties of counterfeiting security elements
Since photopolymer technology does not allow achieving the quality that can be achieved, for example, when using laser engraving, there are a number of tricks that allow you to make a very similar print: an increase in the exposure time of the substrate will lead to a decrease in the height of the cliché relief, which, in turn, will reduce curvature of lines when affixing a seal.
Thus, you can create fairly thin lines that will not "walk". You can also try and increase the exposure time of the cliché - this will make the print more uniform and, with the correct exposure time of the substrate, will make it possible to apply very thin and high-quality lines to the paper.
We get access to expensive equipment without buying it
Unfortunately, some seals cannot be made without a laser engraver or a flash system. Here, small salons dealing with small-scale production of seals will come to our aid.
A very good option justifies itself, in which you introduce yourself as a private craftsman engaged in the manufacture of seals and, they say, they constantly order these on rubber from you, but you do not have the equipment. For your part, you can offer the salon systematic orders, and they, in turn, will give you a discount (sometimes a significant one). For all questions about documents, feel free to say that everything was shown to you and the production was legal.
Quite often, with the proper ability to speak, they will do everything to you. There is also a simple option in the form of a "chocolate" for an employee. Show up in a salon more often, talk to the staff, and then contact directly with a request to make a seal for you. The bulk of the people who work there are students who are not distinguished by special money.
A thousand rubles will easily help you meet the employee and, even if you are not lucky, then from the second or third attempt you will certainly get any print.
And the most extreme case is to get a part-time job in a company that does something similar. The turnover there is terrible, documents are not looked at everywhere, but access to equipment is often available 24/7.
Use only your consumable if you do something. And it will not be so noticeable and much better quality, because companies do not save on anything.
Student tickets
The student card is a cover on which the form is located.
The form without fail contains:
- the seal of the university (affixed every year of study when transferring to the next course);
- information about the date of enrollment in the university;
- surname, name, patronymic of the student;
- student ID number.
Having in hand a scan of a student's one, from which we will make a copy, we need to create a vector layout of his letterhead. Just copy all the letters that are applied to it typographically (as a rule, they use the Arial font, do not waste time on selection) and draw all the lines that will be there. As a rule, such forms are extremely simple and are rendered in just 5 minutes.
Likewise with seals - each of them will need to be duplicated. How to do this is described above.
Student card shreds can be purchased at any print kiosk.
They cost no more than 50 rubles apiece and sell them without any questions. If you need a large amount, search on Google for small wholesale sales of student ticket forms in your city. They are sold freely, no one will ask you for documents.
Next, you need to replace the form that is already glued into the purchased crust with the one that needs to be forged. To do this, simply sprinkle water from a spray bottle on the purchased form, and then, using a model knife, gently pull on the paper.
As a result, the paper will come off almost completely from the crust.
Let the crust dry after a similar procedure, and then glue the form you need on top. If you are limited in time, you can use at least a glue stick, but the best fixation is provided by silicate stationery glue (liquid glass). You can print the form itself on anything - any white office paper will do.
After gluing, fill in the fields. Affix the stamps, sign for the rector with a random squiggle, paste a photo in the appropriate field and put a stamp.
Of course, for security reasons, you should not make a student card of some famous university. Not that it was too difficult - just people are more likely to remember the appearance of a student at Moscow State University, and not some shovel-building institute.
We get samples of student cards
The easiest way to get a scan of your student ID is to search for VKontakte documents. People often send each other a variety of documents, and often name the files that are uploaded there accordingly.
We go to the “documents” tab and enter the queries we are interested in in the upper field: student, student, student ID, etc.
As a result, in a few minutes you can find several student cards with stamps and other necessary information.
A very good option for finding a student card for the university we need is, again, vkontakte. Searching by group will certainly give you a group of any university, where students exchange information about their studies and more. Try to write in such a group: “Guys, if anyone has a scanner and a few minutes of free time, write in a personal message. From me 200 rubles to the phone! "
As a rule, you don't have to wait long for freeloaders. Tell them the legend that you need to buy the program *** for work, otherwise the checks are coming soon, and the program is just with discounts for students. But they need a student to confirm, and you were expelled a long time ago.
In general, the legend can be anything - the main thing is that it fits a specific person. Do not be too zealous, it is much easier to take the number of freeloaders who applied than the quality of the legend.
The most important thing is that with all this, you can get scans of the desired university, which will indicate the student number. ticket. Having his name, surname and patronymic of the student, you can create a ticket, which, when checked, will give out the full compliance of the information with reality.
Medical certificates
A medical certificate is a sheet of paper that is specific to the touch with a form originally printed on it, stamps and an inscription, which is left by the doctor. We have already written about the manufacture of seals above, there should be no problems with drawing the form either (unless, of course, you went through the video tutorials that were presented at the very beginning of the article).
The main question is where to find such paper that would look like yellowed sheets of paper on which the most certificates are printed in clinics. Here we come to the rescue "IPK" Ulyanovsk House of Printing ", engaged in the release of absolutely wonderful paper called" Consumer paper unlined newsprint ".
It is sold in almost any major stationery store, so there are hardly any serious problems with the acquisition.
To make a medical certificate, print the original certificate form on a sheet of such paper, fill it in with the appropriate inscriptions and your certificate is ready. Without a corresponding request to the clinic, it will hardly be possible to determine that it is forged.
Sale of products
Since this manual dealt with seals, medical certificates and student IDs, I will be based on the availability of these products.
It is clear that, having the appropriate seals, you can make many other documents that might be of interest to buyers.
So, one of the simplest options is to look for opportunities for small wholesale sale of honey. references for students. Since the cost of one certificate is minimal for you (one sheet and a text printed on a laser printer), it is quite possible to distribute many free samples.
Find the groups of various universities that I have already mentioned and leave a simple message there: If someone has problems with physical education, write to the PM.
As a rule, if you do this at the end of the semester (in December or May), then the number of people who want to get rid of the suddenly hanging "tail" is very large. Offer to make a certificate, as an example, place a bookmark with a form filled with text, such as "an example of a medical certificate from Imyarek Imyarekovich."
It makes sense to make the price tag so that the order of 20-30 certificates is significantly more profitable than the order of 1 or 2 pieces. As a rule, this motivates 1 out of 10-15 people to buy a small batch in order to make money on resale later. After the purchase, inform the person of the contacts of all those who were also interested in buying single copies and ... it's done!
You now have your own drop, which is known by n-th number of people. Drop is his own person in the student environment, and not a strange person from VKontakte.
Word of mouth will do its job, and soon, if your drop is not quite a fool, the demand for its services will be very stable.
Among other things, this method can also be applied at the beginning of the academic year, when many students do not have a closed session and they need to renew their student card to pay for discounted travel passes. At this time, the demand for students and prints is growing at times, which makes work in this area very profitable.
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