What is it?
Guilloches are intricately interwoven patterns of fine lines often found on banknotes.
How do you detect it?
Guilloches are assessed by close visual inspection: mechanical copies lose the fine-line structure of the original.
How does it work?
A guilloche is a graphical design element built using a combination of thin, fine lines which are superimposed in such a way that the final result is visually pleasing and informative. Guilloche printing requires high-resolution printing equipment and spot colors.
What do we think about this technology?
This is one of the oldest industrial security printing technologies. Real guilloche is supposed to be printed in intaglio, which is expensive and uses printing hardware that is difficult to access, since it is traditionally restricted to high-security documents. Cheap guilloche can also be printed in offset lithography; however, it is then quite easy to duplicate. Moreover, it is intrinsically very visible. Nevertheless, the offset version costs basically nothing and is essentially useful to give a security look, for instance for security documents or tickets. If the security look of the guilloche is desirable, then an interesting approach is to combine it with our Cryptoglyph® technology. Since Cryptoglyph® is invisible, it provides a way to fool counterfeiters tempted to counterfeit the guilloche.
Field of application
Banknotes, certificates, gift vouchers, tickets, visas, packaging and labels.
