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Xerox creates infrared text technology
Xerox Corp. said Thursday it will introduce a new, inexpensive technology to help thwart counterfeiters.
The
new technology allows customers to print pages with variable text
visible only under infrared light. Xerox says the technology could be
used to authenticate tickets, coupons, certificates, license and other
identification papers that have been profitable to forge.The specialty
imaging font is printed with ordinary toner and can be produced on
standard Xerox digital systems using regular paper.If a document with
the special font is copied or altered, the text becomes distorted and
illegible under infrared light.Xerox Technology Tricks Counterfeiters
October
2007 Xerox introduced a new security technology that prints variable
text that can’t be read under normal light, but can be read when
exposed to infrared light. The technology can be used to authenticate
tickets, coupons, certificates, licenses, identification papers and
other high-value documents.InfraredMark Specialty Imaging Font does not
require special ink, but is printed with ordinary toner, the “dry ink”
that forms xerographic images. It can be produced on standard Xerox
digital systems using standard papers. In addition, if the document is
copied or altered, the infrared text will become substantially
distorted under infrared light and therefore illegible.InfraredMark
technology complements the company’s existing specialty imaging
effects, such as MicroText marks and Glossmark® text, which provide a
cost-effective way to make documents more secure. Developed by
scientists in the Xerox Innovation Group, this research aligns with
Xerox’s goal of developing smarter documents to make information-based
work easier, more efficient and more effective.According to
Raja Bala, a principal scientist in the Xerox Research Center Webster
(N.Y.) and a co-inventor of the process, protecting sensitive documents
from unauthorized duplication or alteration is an ongoing challenge.
Traditional security printing is costly and reserved for documents of
very high value, such as passports, and/or very long run lengths, such
as currency. However, digital printing and specialty imaging effects
make security printing easy and affordable for run lengths of one to
many.The new technology takes advantage of the way Xerox’s xerographic
color systems work. Every color is made by mixing toner of four hues:
cyan, magenta, yellow and black, known by the initials CMYK.”There are
multiple ways to mix these toners to create a single color, like teal
blue. But since each of the individual toner colors reacts differently
to infrared (IR) light, some combinations are detectable under infrared
light and others are not,” Bala said. “Xerox uses that effect to create
infrared text that is invisible to the human eye, but visible to an
infrared camera.””Another way to describe the process,” Bala continued,
“is that we can develop a pair of cyan, magenta, yellow and black toner
mixtures, one with very little infrared absorption and the other with a
lot of infrared absorption. They will appear very similar to the eye
under normal light, but very different under IR light. If one CMYK
mixture is used as the background, and the other mixture as the text,
then the result is a text message that is invisible or at least
illegible under normal light, and easily detectable under IR light.”The
new technology is incorporated in Xerox’s FreeFlow Variable Information
Suite 6.0, which was announced in September. The software streamlines
the process of producing customized documents, and its specialty fonts
can be used to help thwart counterfeiting. With variable printing,
these security features can be personalized for each document, making
it easier to authenticate and reducing the incentive for forgery.Xerox
researchers have worked for a number of years to develop authentication
technologies that help make documents more secure. In addition to the
InfraredMark technology, specialty imaging technologies include
MicroText, which prints text smaller than 1 point size; Glossmark text,
which prints text visible when the paper is tilted; FluorescentMark,
which prints text visible only under ultraviolet light; and Correlation
Mark text, which prints text visible only when a “key” overlay is
superimposed.”These specialty imaging technologies offer new,
inexpensive ways for our customers to produce fraud-sensitive
applications such as security badges, tickets, coupons, invitations,
and more through multiple, individualized, linked and layered options,”
said Deborah Cantabene, vice president, workflow marketing, Xerox
Corporation.
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