Fluorescence is playing an increasingly important role in the printing industry, especially when it comes to special effects and security applications. By using fluorescent colours and materials, printed products can not only stand out visually, but also offer additional functions such as counterfeit protection. But what exactly is fluorescence and how is it used in the printing industry?
What is fluorescence?
Fluorescence is the property of certain substances to glow when exposed to UV light or other high-energy light sources. These substances absorb the light and emit it again in a different, usually visible wavelength. In the printing industry, special fluorescent pigments or colours are used to achieve this effect.
Areas of application in the printing industry
- Advertising technology and design: Fluorescent colours are often used in advertising technology to make posters, flyers and other printed matter particularly eye-catching. These colours glow under UV light and therefore attract more attention.
- Posters and banners: Fluorescent colours ensure better visibility, especially at night or in dark surroundings.
- Packaging: Brand manufacturers use fluorescent elements to emphasise their products on the shelf.
- Security printing: One of the most important applications of fluorescence is security printing. Here, fluorescent colours are used to make documents, banknotes or ID cards forgery-proof.
- Banknotes and ID documents: Under UV light, special fluorescent markings become visible that are difficult to reproduce.
- Tickets and certificates: Fluorescence is used to check the authenticity of tickets and certificates.
- Industry and technology: Fluorescent colours are also used in industrial applications, for example for marking or identifying products.
- Product labelling: In manufacturing, fluorescent markings can help to identify products at various stages of production.
Technical aspects
- Printing process: Fluorescent inks can be used in a variety of printing methods, including offset printing, screen printing and digital printing. Each method has its own advantages and challenges when it comes to handling the special inks.
- Offset printing: Fluorescent inks are used here in a similar way to conventional printing inks, but special care must be taken when cleaning and maintaining the printing machines.
- Screen printing: This method is particularly suitable for thicker layers of paint and brighter colours.
- Colour management: Colour management for fluorescent colours is challenging, as these colours can appear differently under normal lighting conditions than under UV light. An accurate colour profile and a good understanding of the lighting conditions are crucial here.
Fluorescence offers a wide range of possibilities in the printing industry, from eye-catching advertising materials to security-related applications. Through the targeted use of fluorescent colours, printed products can not only stand out visually, but also offer additional security features. Those who master the technical challenges and use fluorescence skilfully can take their print products to a new level – and that is exactly what the modern printing industry is all about.
More articles related to this topic:
Fogra60 proofs for metal decor printing available
“Digital First” often means “Colour Problems Second!”
Whether it’s a large global corporation or a small company, the following often applies to designs or redesigns today: we develop everything for digital first.
Proofs with Digimarc EAN codes and verification
Digimarc is a digital watermark that can be used to embed information in images, videos or other media. Digimarc watermarks are invisible to the human eye, but remain recognisable to special software or devices. Digimarc is becoming increasingly popular in the packaging sector in particular, as this technology allows the digits of the EAN barcode and more to be applied invisibly to all areas of the packaging. Digimarc and EAN barcode at the supermarket checkout When scanning at the checkout, the checkout staff do not have to search for the … read more
New iPhone colour measuring devices: xade nano+ in test
A new generation of colour measuring devices is entering the market: in contrast to the classic measuring devices, which are available as a fully encapsulated system either as a colourimeter or as a spectrophotometer, and then supply the data to a computer via an interface or app or display it directly, the new generation of colour measuring devices consist only of lighting and software, with the optics of a modern iPhone from Apple being used as the sensor. Until now, there have been two categories of measuring devices on the … read more
New feature: Orders & individual items can now be reordered with a single click
From now on, it’s much easier and faster: in the Proof Shop, you can call up and reorder entire orders or individual proofs directly from your order history. This saves you from having to re-enter every detail and gives you the assurance that all settings will be exactly the same as last time. With just a few clicks, your proofs are reordered – reliably, easily and in no time at all. What exactly is new? You can find your order history in your customer account. There are two new options … read more
Precise proofing of tonal values of spot colours
In recent weeks, there have been lengthy discussions on the Fogra digital printing mailing list as to whether a research project should be launched to define standardised tonal value gradations for spot colours. What is this all about? In the field of CMYK and seven-colour printing, the definition of clear, printable and proofable standards is well established and has been tried and tested in practice. If the paper or paper class is known and defined, a measuring standard such as M0/M1/M2 has been established and the content of optical brighteners … read more
We passed the first proof certification for the 7C proof under FOGRA55
A few days ago Proof GmbH was the first company to be certified for proofing for the new 7C exchange colour space FOGRA55. Fogra has developed characterisation data for extended multicolour printing with the printing colours CMYKOGV – i.e. cyan, magenta, yellow, black (contrast), orange, green and violet – FOGRA55 as part of a research project over the past few years. The characterisation data and the ICC profile Ref-ECG-CMYKOGV_FOGRA55_TAC300.icc have been published on the Fogra website in recent weeks. We have now carried out the certification via GMG ColorProof, as … read more
Incorrect grayscale display in Adobe Photoshop and InDesign
Adobe products are ideal for image retouching and layout and handle RGB and CMYK colour profiles very well. However, when editing and retouching grayscale images, for example for a black-and-white photo book, the experience is quite different. Suddenly, images look completely different in InDesign than they do in Photoshop, and even when exporting the image to PDF, greyscale images are suddenly treated differently. This article explains where the problems lie with black-and-white images and greyscale profiles in InDesign and Photoshop layouts, and how you can work in a more ‘colour-accurate’ … read more
Proof.de is featured twice in the “Fogra Aktuell” magazine
In the current issue of Fogra News “Fogra Aktuell” Proof GmbH is involved in two places. Firstly, a summary of the Fogra report on our first FOGRA55 certification for seven-colour printing with extended colour space in CMYKOGV appeared. You can also find more information on our FOGRA55 certification on the Fogra website: https://fogra.org/en/press-releases/fogracert-erste-cpc-zertifizierung-fuer-fogra55-cmykogv-330 and on proofing.de: And secondly, there was a report on the completion of the research project for textile digital printing, FOGRA58, in which we were allowed to investigate and test the proof capability of the new textile … read more
New edition of ISOCoatedV2 in M1 in sight?
Even almost 9 years after the introduction of the successor colour space PSOCoatedV3, ISOCoatedV2 / FOGRA39 is still the most widespread colour space in Europe. We at Proof GmbH count around 200 jobs from time to time for the German Printing and Media Industries Federation, among others. In the last count, proofs in ISOCoatedV2 accounted for around 68% of all proof jobs at our company. This is a clear sign of the continued widespread use of the colour space. ISOCoatedV2: From the classic colour space to the beacon of the … read more