Basically, there are two types of card protection - protection from mechanical influences, and protection of cards from counterfeiting. Mechanical methods of protecting cards increase the life of the card, and protection against counterfeiting is designed to eliminate the possibility of the appearance of counterfeit clone cards.
There are only two ways to protect cards from mechanical influences. This is card lamination and card varnishing. Laminated cards are covered with a special high-strength transparent film - laminate, which perfectly protects the image printed on the card. It is best to use matte film when laminating cards, since, unlike glossy film, it eliminates the possibility of light reflections interfering with the visual perception of information printed on the card. Matte film coating looks more respectable, and is usually required for laminating business cards and expensive promotional items. Lamination increases the service life of the card, reducing the possibility of mechanical damage to the image printed on the card, and increases abrasion resistance. Since card lamination prolongs the life of cards, using this method of protection becomes financially justifiable. When varnishing, cards are coated with a special protective UV-curable varnish. But this method of protection is significantly inferior to lamination. And for example, such technology is not used in printers for printing cards, again unlike lamination.
When protecting cards from counterfeiting, methods are used to quickly identify counterfeit cards, for example, visual inspection by the security service of plastic cards presented as passes, and more detailed methods of protecting cards from qualified counterfeiting. Let's start with the fact that the image itself on the card should be as individual as possible. The use of graphic primitives in the manufacture of plastic cards significantly reduces the degree of their protection against counterfeiting. But you shouldn’t overload the cards with fancy graphics, as this can have a negative impact on the security controllers. If a diverse spot of color constantly flashes before your eyes, ripples may occur in your eyes.
Another option for protecting cards from counterfeiting is the application of protective graphic images, which provides additional protection at the visual level. There are real holograms and pseudo-holograms. If we take the classic definition of a hologram, then it is a photograph of an interference pattern that contains information about the intensity and phase of light reflected by an object. When the hologram is illuminated at the correct angle by a sufficiently coherent source, it reconstructs a wave that is identical in amplitude and phase to the wave reflected from the object captured in the hologram. As a result, you can observe a three-dimensional image of the object. Simply put, on the card where the hologram is applied, we see a purely individual color three-dimensional image, which is difficult to copy using publicly available methods. Typically, a hologram is applied to a card in the following way: a laminating tape with a hologram already inserted is used. As for the financial side of the issue, the price here is determined by the following factors:
The use of a pseudo-holographic image is a special moiré pattern applied over the entire surface of the card in the form of a translucent fixed text or graphic image that appears at a certain angle. The pattern is obtained by changing the temperature regime in individual areas of the map. Accordingly, this method of protection is significantly cheaper in price.
Also, one of the ways to protect cards is to apply various defects to the card in the form of lines of different thicknesses, a unique font, or shifted letters. Guilloche elements are a background pattern of mutually intersecting thin curved lines applied to part of the map or the entire surface. These lines can be multi-colored. It is difficult to reproduce a guilloche composition because it is very difficult to scan, as it rarely contains periodically repeating elements and can occupy large amounts of memory, making it difficult for the computer to operate.
As an option, you can also consider a method of protection using a UV image printed on the card. Accordingly, it is impossible to see it without special equipment. Usually the company logo is applied.
Another way to protect cards is to use a microfont. This is the drawing of a continuous line, the size of which allows it to be read with a magnifying glass. Application of microfont is possible only with the help of professional printing equipment. The standard microfont height is 250 microns.
(c) https://card-online.ru/articles
There are only two ways to protect cards from mechanical influences. This is card lamination and card varnishing. Laminated cards are covered with a special high-strength transparent film - laminate, which perfectly protects the image printed on the card. It is best to use matte film when laminating cards, since, unlike glossy film, it eliminates the possibility of light reflections interfering with the visual perception of information printed on the card. Matte film coating looks more respectable, and is usually required for laminating business cards and expensive promotional items. Lamination increases the service life of the card, reducing the possibility of mechanical damage to the image printed on the card, and increases abrasion resistance. Since card lamination prolongs the life of cards, using this method of protection becomes financially justifiable. When varnishing, cards are coated with a special protective UV-curable varnish. But this method of protection is significantly inferior to lamination. And for example, such technology is not used in printers for printing cards, again unlike lamination.
When protecting cards from counterfeiting, methods are used to quickly identify counterfeit cards, for example, visual inspection by the security service of plastic cards presented as passes, and more detailed methods of protecting cards from qualified counterfeiting. Let's start with the fact that the image itself on the card should be as individual as possible. The use of graphic primitives in the manufacture of plastic cards significantly reduces the degree of their protection against counterfeiting. But you shouldn’t overload the cards with fancy graphics, as this can have a negative impact on the security controllers. If a diverse spot of color constantly flashes before your eyes, ripples may occur in your eyes.
Another option for protecting cards from counterfeiting is the application of protective graphic images, which provides additional protection at the visual level. There are real holograms and pseudo-holograms. If we take the classic definition of a hologram, then it is a photograph of an interference pattern that contains information about the intensity and phase of light reflected by an object. When the hologram is illuminated at the correct angle by a sufficiently coherent source, it reconstructs a wave that is identical in amplitude and phase to the wave reflected from the object captured in the hologram. As a result, you can observe a three-dimensional image of the object. Simply put, on the card where the hologram is applied, we see a purely individual color three-dimensional image, which is difficult to copy using publicly available methods. Typically, a hologram is applied to a card in the following way: a laminating tape with a hologram already inserted is used. As for the financial side of the issue, the price here is determined by the following factors:
- original hologram or personalization of a standard one
- holograms
- circulation size
- product size
- the material from which the product is made
- numbering (if necessary)
The use of a pseudo-holographic image is a special moiré pattern applied over the entire surface of the card in the form of a translucent fixed text or graphic image that appears at a certain angle. The pattern is obtained by changing the temperature regime in individual areas of the map. Accordingly, this method of protection is significantly cheaper in price.
Also, one of the ways to protect cards is to apply various defects to the card in the form of lines of different thicknesses, a unique font, or shifted letters. Guilloche elements are a background pattern of mutually intersecting thin curved lines applied to part of the map or the entire surface. These lines can be multi-colored. It is difficult to reproduce a guilloche composition because it is very difficult to scan, as it rarely contains periodically repeating elements and can occupy large amounts of memory, making it difficult for the computer to operate.
As an option, you can also consider a method of protection using a UV image printed on the card. Accordingly, it is impossible to see it without special equipment. Usually the company logo is applied.
Another way to protect cards is to use a microfont. This is the drawing of a continuous line, the size of which allows it to be read with a magnifying glass. Application of microfont is possible only with the help of professional printing equipment. The standard microfont height is 250 microns.
(c) https://card-online.ru/articles
