Security Inks

A wide variety of security inks are available to use in conjunction with good security design to authenticate your document. It is important to understand what you are trying to achieve when selecting the right security inks.

If your primary concern is detecting attempts to fraudulently alter your document, then we will always recommend the use of one or more tamper evident inks.

If your main objective is authenticating a document, then an instant verification ink is advisable.

In reality the majority of documents that we produce will use a combination of both types of security ink, alongside other security features.

Tamper Evident Inks

Solvent Sensitive Inks
Solvent sensitive inks are most commonly used in cheque printing, and are designed to detect an attempt to fraudulently alter a document by smudging and fluorescing when subjected to specific solvents commonly used by fraudsters.

Aqua Fugitive Inks
Aqua Fugitive inks are used in conjunction with solvent sensitive inks in cheque printing, and are designed to smudge when anybody attempts to remove ink using water.

Combined Solvent Sensitive Aqua Fugitive
As the name implies, this security ink is a combination of the above two inks, and performs both functions

Adhesion Promotion Varnish
This ink is only visible when viewed using an ultra violet light source. It promotes toner adhesion to the base paper, but also changes colour if a fraudster attempts to remove the toner by rubbing.

Instant Verification Inks

Invisible UV Ink
Designs printed in invisible UV ink are only visible under a UV lamp and are used to authenticate a document. Under UV light the ink can fluoresce in a choice of colours depending on the ink chosen. We recommend that invisible UV inks are used in conjunction with a security background design to provide another level of protection.

Thermochromic Ink
Thermochromic inks (or heat reactive inks) react to change colour or disappear when subjected to heat, and are ideal for providing instant verification for documents such as cheques, vouchers or certificates. They are available in a range of colours, and can be formulated to react at different temperatures for use in hotter climates.

Coin Reactive Ink
These inks become visible only when rubbed with a coin to reveal a hidden message, such as ‘VALID’. They can be particularly useful when documents are required to be validated in the field, where access to ultra violet lamps is limited.