Content:
In this article, you will learn how to find hidden images (pictures, photos) on an Android device using a file manager, as well as a computer running Mac OS X or Windows.
Steps
1 Using a file manager
- 1 Open the Play Store app on your Android device. It is located in the list of installed applications, and its icon looks like a bag with the Google Play logo.
- 2 Click on the Google Play search bar.
- 3 Enter amaze. There are many file managers that function almost identically. The Amaze file manager is reviewed here.
- 4 Click Amaze File Manager.
- 5 Click Install.
- 6 Click Open. The Amaze icon can be found in the list of installed applications.
- 7 Click Allow. This will allow Amaze to access files in the device's memory.
- 8 Click OK to view a short tutorial on how to use the application.
- 9 Press the ☰ button. You will find it in the top left corner of the screen.
- 10 Click Settings. This option is located at the bottom of the menu.
- 11 Enable the Show hidden files and folders option.
- 12 Press ← to return to the Amaze home screen.
- 13 Open your images folder. Typically, images are stored in the "DCIM", "Pictures" and "Download" folders.
- 14
Find hidden files. The names of such files are preceded by a dot. For example, if you rename the "Pictures" folder to ".Pictures", it will become a hidden folder. If there are hidden files and folders stored in the device's memory, they will appear on the screen.
- Android hides system files, so remember that most hidden files are related to the operating system.
- If there is a .nomedia file in a folder, it prevents media files stored in that folder from being displayed in the Gallery app and similar apps.
2 Using a computer running Mac OS X
- 1 Open a web browser on your computer. To connect your Android device to your computer and view hidden files, you will need Android File Transfer.
- 2 Open.
- 3 Click Download Now.
- 4 Click on the downloaded file androidfiletransfer.dmg. It will appear in the list of downloaded files.
- 5 Drag Android File Transfer to the Applications folder. This is how you install this program.
- 8 Click USB.
- 10 View the files stored in the Android device's memory on your computer monitor. If the Android File Transfer program window does not open, launch it from the Applications folder.
- 11 Find images stored on your Android device. Now you can view any files and folders, including hidden ones. Typically, images are stored in the "DCIM", "Pictures" and "Download" folders. But if someone deliberately hid the picture, it could be anywhere.
3 Using a Windows computer
- 1 Connect your Android device to your computer using a USB cable.
- 2 Swipe down from top to bottom of your device screen.
- 3 Click USB.
- 4 Click File Transfer or MTP.
- 5 Open the Start menu on your computer. You will find it in the lower left corner of the screen.
- 6 Click Computer or click the file folder icon. Windows Explorer will open.
- 7 Click This PC to open a list of connected drives. In some cases, this step can be skipped (depending on the version of Windows).
- 8 Double-click the Android device icon. You will find it under "Devices and drives" or "Removable drives". The icon may be labeled with the device model name.
- 9 Double-click Internal Memory. If your device has an SD card, click MicroSD.
- 10 Click Search internal memory. This line will appear in the upper right corner of the Explorer window.
- 11
Enter *jpg in the search bar. This way you will find all JPG files that are stored in the device memory. (JPG is the most common image file format.) All JPG files will appear on the screen, even if they are marked hidden or have a period in front of their name.
- Also enter *png in the search bar to find all PNG files. (PNG is another popular graphics format.)
- 12 Right-click the file in the search results. This will help you locate the file, which means you can find more images.
- 13 Click File Location. This will open the folder containing the file you clicked in the search results.
Psychologism- this is a way (method) of depicting the mental life of a character in a work; recreation and depiction of a person’s inner life in a work of art. IN journalism psychologism- this is a method of understanding personality in accordance with the “algorithms” of science and at the same time an aesthetic principle for depicting character, which involves the use of a system of artistic means.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
To touch to the subtle mental organization of the personality, the journalist must understand the subjective world of the hero, understand his state of mind, look into his sensory-emotional sphere. Only in this case is it possible to identify the spiritual origins of a particular person’s behavior.
To write a full essay, a journalist needs to tune in to the “wave” of his hero’s emotions and thoughts. This mood encourages a special tone of writing: lyricism and confessionalism. In this sense, the essay is one of the most intimate genres of journalism. However, a complete and voluminous disclosure of a person’s inner world, as, for example, is done in a literary work, is impossible in an essay.
The process of self-disclosure, self-analysis of the hero can be described in an essay through monologue or dialogue . In both cases we will be dealing with various manifestations of his self-awareness.
A) The hero in the monologue completely immersed in himself: he sees and hears only himself; expresses only his own point of view on things; his consciousness does not come into contact with other consciousnesses. Therefore, the hero’s world, as a rule, appears to readers one-sidedly. But this is a process of internal self-disclosure of a person and a kind of introspection, confession. Hto more fully convey the range of human feelings, journalists use “hidden” methods of psychological characterization of the hero. As a rule, they include author's reactions, remarks, comments etc., i.e. everything that can indirectly characterize a person’s internal psychological state. For this, the external manifestations of the hero of the work are also used.
B) Things are different Vdialogue. In the process of dialogue, subjects of communication not only share useful information, but can also reason, argue, debate about a specific subject of discussion, thereby revealing not only the features of their thinking, but also views, ideas, ideas, etc. In dialogue, both the author and the hero of the work act as independent subjects of communication. They are free to express their opinions, points of view and assessments. They can take different positions on certain issues and freely express their ideological views. In addition, the author can recreate in the work the socio-psychological atmosphere that arose during the dialogue, thereby adding new touches to the psychological characteristics of the character of the essay.
One of the ways to penetrate into the inner world of a person is analysis of the motivational sphere. In this case, various personality traits are studied; the degree to which a person is aware of his own actions; level of psychological maturity of the individual; dynamics of the motivational structure of the individual depending on the circumstances, situation and temporary state of mind; reaction to socially obligatory, declared and promoted goals, values, norms of behavior, lifestyle, etc. Analysis of the motivational sphere is correlated with ideals (an ideal is the dominant image of what is desired), attitudes, beliefs, values, interests and desires of an individual. When analyzing the motives of a person’s behavior, it is important to identify not only dominant motives, correlated, for example, with the goals of human activity, but also hidden ones, which are revealed in extreme conditions.
Essayist, analyzing a personality from the point of view of its ideological positions, can trace the stages of the formation of human beliefs, describe the transformations that occur in the mind of an individual when choosing this or that idea, and finally, show those external influences that play a decisive role in the ideological position of the individual.
Translated from Greek “character”- this is “minting”, “sign”. In the process of life, a person acquires various characterological traits that become his distinctive properties. In an essay, the character of the human personality can be presented in all its diversity. This is achieved not only by highlighting some individual traits or aspects of character, as is done, for example, in science, but by showing a person in all his internal and external relationships with the social environment. From the analysis of individual human actions or actions, a journalist can approach their synthesis in the character of the individual.
Distinguish three basic forms of psychological representation, to which all specific techniques for reproducing the inner world of literary heroes come down to:
- direct (open psychologism) - conveys the inner life of the character “from the inside” with the help of the hero’s psychological introspection (remember Pechorin, who analyzes the smallest movements of his soul). Means of open psychologism- internal monologue, dialogue, letters, confession, diaries, dreams, visions, improperly direct speech, “stream of consciousness” as the ultimate form of internal monologue, “dialectics of the soul.”
- indirect(hidden psychologism) - aimed at depicting the hero’s inner world “from the outside”, through psychological analysis. Means of hidden psychologism- portrait, landscape, interior, commentary, silence, artistic detail.
- summatively denoting (feelings are named but not shown).
Psychologism is inherent, as a rule, major journalistic works. Its stylistic features coincide in many ways with the features of journalism in general: the desire for imagery and expressiveness; search for new language means; open expression of the author's position; the huge role of keywords characteristic of a certain era or ideological direction; widespread use of established speech patterns.
However, psychologism is present not only in the language and style of the work. In recent decades, media products made without the use of high technology have not aroused interest among the mass reader – the consumer. The forms of psychologism have changed. The state of the hero can be indicated by a gesture, photograph, music, graphics, etc. Thanks to high-quality slides, photographs and other forms of presentation of material, the reader is influenced on a non-verbal level. One photograph in a modern feature article in a mass magazine can say more about the hero, show his inner world and inner experiences more clearly than a journalist can do on a verbal level.
Large role in the process of perception and sensation playsrecognition, which is also used in psychologism. Perception has the property of selectivity, that is, it is easier and faster to perceive what is familiar or even close. Its characteristic feature is constancy. For example, the reader associates the expression “gates of the Arctic” with the far north.
The principle of psychologism allows not only to reveal the inner world of the hero, to give psychological or life advice, but also to present moral object lessons.
Under some circumstances, users of the VKontakte social network may need to hide personal photos. Whatever the reason for the concealment, the VK.com administration has already provided everything necessary for these purposes to each user.
Before you begin the process of closing photos, it is recommended to prioritize the importance, since in some cases the images are easier to delete. If you still need to hide the photo from one or all users, follow the instructions below, depending on your case.
First of all, it is important to understand that there are quite a lot of cases when you need to hide your photos and the solution to each individual problem requires consideration. In most cases, literally any problem with VKontakte photos is resolved by deleting them.
When going through the process of hiding your photos, remember that in some cases the actions taken are irreversible.
The instructions below allow you to easily solve the problem of hiding pictures on your personal page in one form or another, depending on what you want to achieve.
Hide the preview photo on your personal page
As you know, on the personal page of each VKontakte user there is a specialized block of photos, where various pictures are gradually collected as they are added. Both downloaded images and those manually saved by the user are taken into account here.
The process of hiding photos from this block is normal for most users and cannot cause any serious problems.
After all the manipulations have been completed, the hiding can be considered complete. Please note that removing pictures from this feed can only be done manually, that is, there are no trusted extensions or applications for these purposes.
Hide a tagged photo
It often happens that a friend or acquaintance tags you in a picture or photo without your knowledge. In this case, you can use the special social settings section. VKontakte network.
In the process of hiding photos where you were tagged, all actions take place through the page settings. Consequently, after following the recommendations, completely all pictures where you were tagged will be removed.
Now, if someone tries to tag you in a photo, the resulting tag will be visible only to you. Thus, the photo can be considered hidden from outside users.
The VKontakte administration allows you to upload absolutely any photos, but with some minor restrictions on the age rating. If any user has published an ordinary photo of you, the only way out is to personally apply for removal.
Be careful, the privacy settings for tagged images apply to all photos without exception.
Hide albums and downloaded photos
Quite often, users face a problem when they need to hide an album or any photo uploaded to the site. In this case, the solution lies directly in the settings of the folder with these files.
If your privacy settings allow you to see an album or a certain number of images exclusively to you as the account owner, then these files will not be displayed in the photo feed on your personal page.
If you need to set unique privacy settings for only some photos, you will have to do everything manually.
The privacy settings for a photo album, in most cases, do not require verification. If you still want to make sure that the settings are correct, that hidden pictures are visible only to you, you can ask a friend to go to your page and make sure on his behalf whether the folders with pictures are hidden.
By default, only an album is private "Saved Photos".
To date, the VKontakte administration does not provide the ability to hide any individual image. Thus, to hide a single photo you will need to create a new album with suitable privacy settings and move the file to it.
Take care of your personal data and wish you good luck!
Lately, everyone and everything has been counterfeited - watches, videotapes, vodka, etc. The percentage of counterfeits that falls on strict reporting forms, securities and paper money (Bank of Russia tickets) is estimated by experts to be about 8-9% of all economic crimes. Of course, institutions that produce the above-mentioned products try to protect them in every possible way, including by printing methods. And now we will see what they are like together with you.
Printing security methods are usually divided into five groups: design, printing, the use of special paper (or other base), special inks and finishing.
Design
At the design stage, it is possible to use guilloche elements, linear rasters, engravings and engraving elements, intentional defects, microtexts, volumetric effects, hidden images, overlapping images, barcodes and control codes.
Guilloche (guilloche elements)
“Continuous interlacing narrow lines forming complex geometric shapes; used as a background on the print. “A means of protection against counterfeiting of banknotes and securities,” this definition of guilloche elements is given in some encyclopedic dictionaries, however, in our opinion, it is not entirely complete. One thing is certain: guilloche is one of the main technologies for protecting documents using a complex composition of guilloche elements.
Guilloche element (rosetta). Created in Cerber
Guilloche elements (grids, borders, rosettes, corners, vignettes) are a pattern of many intersecting thin lines determined by mathematical formulas with values of a dozen decimal places. By the way, without knowing the exact formula of a certain guilloche, it is almost impossible to reproduce it. And the variety of guilloche elements tends to infinity.
The composition of guilloche elements is difficult to reproduce on a duplicating machine due to the too small thickness (from 40 to 70 microns) and the constantly changing curvature of the lines. And it is impossible to repeat the guilloche composition obtained by the Oryol printing method, when to all the complexities the smoothly and randomly changing color of each line is added, by other methods (offset, stencil, letterpress or intaglio printing). The fake line will be either continuous, but monochrome, or changing color, but intermittent, consisting of raster dots. It will not be possible to meet both requirements at the same time. Among other things, even monochrome guilloche elements are difficult to scan, as they often contain repeating periodic elements that can load huge amounts of memory and complicate the operation of the computer. There are special programs (see sidebar) that instantly draw the necessary lines and compositions according to given mathematical formulas. We will talk about them in detail in the next issues of the magazine. In addition, you can currently purchase disks with libraries of ready-made guilloche elements. In Russia, such libraries are produced by SecureSoft.
Guilloche is, one might say, an ancient method of defense. In Russia, guilloche appeared on banknotes and other securities under Alexander II - in 1866. However, guilloche technology is constantly being improved. Methods for creating guilloche elements are being simplified, and the complexity of the composition itself from these elements is increasing. Currently, they are no longer created on special mechanical guilloche machines, but are modeled on computers and printed either with offset or multi-color Orlov printing. The more expensive the security, the more complex the guilloche elements on it.
Linear rasters
It would be unnecessary for specialists in the field of design and printing to talk about the standard types of raster dots in the form of a circle, ellipse and diamond, or about stochastic rasterization (where there seems to be no raster cell at all). Special rasters differ from the above mentioned ones in the unusual shapes of the raster points (concentric squares, etc.). The idea here is to use a grid consisting, for example, of concentric circles, and to form image elements by changing the width of the forming lines.
Engraving elements
Engraving. Created in Graver program
The use of images and individual elements in the style of engraving is an old tradition in the technology of protecting banknotes, securities and documents. However, recently the complexity of images, and at the same time the skill and speed of manufacturing such security elements, have increased significantly due to the use of computer technology. Traditional hand-made engraving technologies are used less and less. There are specialized programs for creating engraving-style images.
Defects
Sometimes various “flaws” are deliberately introduced to protect documents. These could be missing letters, punctuation marks (remember how security officers expose spies in V. Bogomolov’s novel “The Moment of Truth”?), signs shifted relative to the baseline, etc. It is assumed that the authors of the fake may not notice such defects, but those Those who catch such “linden” by line of work will keep these “shortcomings” in mind.
Microtext
Microtext on the 1996 US $100 bill
Microtext is a very common means of combating manufacturers of counterfeit products, which is used to protect securities not only on paper, but also on polymer bases. It is especially helpful when trying to scan documents, since scanners cannot clearly recognize it. Microtext is a certain set of extremely small characters (from 120 microns), perceived by the human eye as an ordinary thin line. It can only be seen using optics, and reproduction by conventional printing methods is very difficult.
Volume effect
A three-dimensional image, as a rule, is extremely difficult to notice, and it is not possible to reproduce at all. This effect is based on the characteristics of human vision.
Hidden images
Hidden images (“ghost” - ghost, “phantom” - phantom image) are created based on the relief obtained by intaglio printing.
There are several ways to make them. For example, you can create a latent image from parallel, equal-width lines in the foreground and background; in this image, the foreground lines will be more prominent than the background lines. In other words, under normal lighting, the foreground and background will not differ in any way from each other, and only from a certain viewing angle will it become clear that the background is lighter.
A more complex method is that you can make a drawing of thin parallel lines of the same relief, but in it the foreground lines will be perpendicular to the background lines. Thus, depending on the lighting or viewing angle, the foreground will be lighter than the background, and vice versa. For example, in oblique light on the patterned guilloche ribbon on the front of Russian banknotes, you can see the kipp effect - the letters PP (Russian ruble). To be fair, it should be noted that this effect is quite difficult to see. At the same time, sometimes there are fakes on which the above-mentioned letters are clearly visible, and from any angle.
When normally examining a banknote, hidden images usually look like simple design elements, and only under certain lighting does the hidden information become noticeable - this is the special attractiveness of “phantom” drawings for the designer and the customer.
Metameric images
Strictly speaking, this method could also be attributed to protecting documents with the help of special materials, but since it is laid down at the design stage, it is worth considering it here - in the category of hidden images. Metameric is a physical effect in which two different materials have approximately the same colors under one light and completely different colors under another.
Some metameric images appear the same under different shades of white light, but look different when illuminated with colored filters.
For example, on a 250 guilders banknote (Netherlands) it is impossible to notice a sitting rabbit in the bushes, but if you look through a red filter, the picture of the animal will appear very clearly.
Agree, this is a good means of combating counterfeits, especially since scanners and color printers are not capable of reproducing the metameric effect efficiently.
Matching images
Oryol stamp on the 500 ruble banknote. 1997 model. The boundaries of color transitions are clear, without breaks, distortions or overlaps of one color to another
Another method of obtaining a latent image, used mainly to protect highly valuable securities, is overlapping images. Its essence is that one part of the image is printed on the front side, and the second is applied to the back. When held up to light, all elements of the overlapping images should coincide and form a single pattern. Often such images are made in color due to the colored parts of the design of the opposite side of the bill. The production of matching images is carried out on special machines, and it is incredibly difficult to obtain them under ordinary printing conditions.
Control and bar codes
Just don’t think that the same barcodes are used to protect securities as they are used to mark goods. Rather, it looks like a coded drawing.
Recently, many specialized firms have been working to create know-how in the field of protecting documents and securities using design methods. An example is the “LIFT Graphic Security Trap” technology developed by the Dutch company AestronDesign. It helps protect colored securities from copying, and that's practically all that is known about it. For obvious reasons, information about new developments on this topic is not distributed and is closed.
Technological printing methods
This is a very important stage in the production of securities. As you will understand from the following, each printing method has its own advantages and disadvantages, so they are often combined; for example, Russian rubles are made of three types of printing - intaglio (intaglio), offset (Orlov and iris) and letterpress.
Oryol seal
Oryol printing is a type of offset printing in which the elements of the resulting images provide a transition from one color to another. The essence of the process is that a multicolor image is formed by transferring printing inks from color-separated letterpress printing plates to a prefabricated form - a cliche (where a color image is obtained) and then transferring it to the printed material in one pass. At the same time, the transition boundary is clear, there are no distortions or breaks in strokes, or overlap of one color over another.
The multicolor printing method was developed by the inventor I.I. Orlov in 1890 and named Orlovsky in his honor. And already in 1893 the first Oryol machine was built and started working. For the first time, the Oryol seal was used in the production of credit cards with a face value of 25 rubles. model 1894. It is impossible to reproduce the effect of the Oryol seal using conventional classical printing methods. For this, sophisticated high-precision equipment is used, which can only be owned by companies with a state license to use it.
As an example of the Oryol seal, we can cite familiar Russian banknotes. On their front side on the left and on the back side on the right (for a 10 ruble banknote - vice versa) there is an ornamental stripe made using the Oryol printing method: the different colors of the line elements are precisely combined with each other without breaks or displacements. When examining the bill against the light, the various white spaces and shaded fragments of these image elements on the front and back sides are combined to form a new pattern.
Iris Seal
Another type of offset printing is iris printing, in which the elements of the resulting images contain a smooth transition from one color to another. At the same time, there is no clear transition boundary. For those who want to experiment, I’ll tell you: the paint box is divided into parts by a partition, and different paint is placed in them. When passing through the roller system, these paints partially penetrate each other and form an area with a smooth transition of colors.
To illustrate this printing method, let's look again at Russian money. On the coupon fields of the reverse side of the bills, a micropattern is visible, depicted using thin lines forming hexagons. The micropattern on the large coupon field is made using the iris printing method and is visually observed as a smooth transition from one color to another.
Metallographic printing
Intaglio printing is a printing method in which image elements are recessed into the printing form. When printing, the paint from the forms transfers to the paper and, when dried, forms a paint layer protruding above the surface of the paper of sufficiently large thickness, which is easy to feel by touch. With the help of intaglio printing, high accuracy and clarity of image reproduction is achieved. The smallest elements of images on banknotes are made in this way.
All Russian banknotes of the 1997 model contain images made with intaglio printing with increased relief. This is the inscription on the front side - “TICKET OF THE BANK OF RUSSIA” (in the upper part on the right) and a mark for people with impaired vision in the form of circles and rectangles. For freshly printed banknotes, the specified details are easily perceived by touch.
Offset printing
Offset is a printing method in which an image is transferred from a printed circuit board to a rubber sheet, and from there to paper. This is the most common printing method. It is successfully used in banknote production in combination with intaglio printing.
Currently, the process of offset printing of banknotes is carried out on machines capable of printing 4 patterns on both sides of the banknote in a range of up to 10 colors. Presses with a high degree of print security use a regular blade; Each image is transferred from the board before printing. In this way, all 8 templates can be printed in high quality, which allows the banknote designer to create overlapping images that are only visible through light. The banknote offset printing machine features a dual channel ink supply and a channel separator system - this allows the operator to create the most complex rainbow or iris printing designs.
Up until the late 1960s, wet offset printing was widely used in banknote production. The use of polymetallic or aluminum printed circuit boards made it possible to obtain good quality images, although there was one “but”: the printing process required chemical treatment of the blank elements of the board. Accordingly, the operator had to constantly maintain a high level of skill.
In addition, there are certain technical limitations; Let's say some offset printing inks are not suitable for wet offset printing. This is why the dry offset printing method has been predominantly used for the past 30 years.
The advent of scanners and desktop printers over the past 10 years has made possible the emergence of a new generation of counterfeits. To increase the level of security for securities, designers began to additionally use intaglio printing to create a multi-color background on banknotes, but this trend did not pay off.
Many central banks and euro producers have decided not to use intaglio printing on the reverse side of the banknote. For a number of quite objective reasons (cost savings and speeding up production), it was replaced by wet offset printing with high resolution.
All of the above applies to the past of offset printing and its present. What does the future hold for offset printing?
Today, there are several new promising offset printing technologies that were originally developed for commercial printing and are now used for banknote printing.
A range of other offset press systems include automatic rinsing after each shift and automatic format changes to accommodate new operating conditions, such as automatic counting and web resizing.
Dry offset
The dry offset printing method appeared about 20 years ago and has become the main method for printing works of fine art and high-quality decorative printing (up to 800-900 lpi). Dry printing produces uniform lines 10 microns wide, so banknote manufacturers are closely monitoring its development, believing that printing the correct lines could make it extremely difficult to counterfeit banknotes using copiers. Unfortunately, the development of this method is slow and it still cannot be widely used for banknote printing for the following reasons:
- short service life of printed circuit boards;
- the ideal ink formula for this printing method has not yet been created;
- To maintain a constant press temperature in a printing press, a temperature control system is required.
- greater clarity of lines;
- more saturated colors;
- high quality;
- higher productivity;
- small amount of waste.
Intaglio printing
Dürer is considered to be the inventor of the intaglio printing principle. The essence of this method is to transfer an image to the printed material from a printing plate on which the printing elements are recessed in relation to the white space. Intaglio printing allows you to change the size of printed dots on a raster cell not only in area, but also in height. Due to this, it is possible to obtain a very high-quality image.
The use of advanced printing technology and high-quality inks makes the use of expensive and time-tested cotton paper, which serves as the basis for banknotes, more profitable due to minimal waste, and therefore, minimizing the cost of one printed banknote. Of great importance here is also the use of paints with a high (usually more than 85%) solids content, based on non-toxic, highly purified raw materials. Balanced chemistry also ensures press stability, preventing downtime and lengthy cleanup after an eight-hour shift, reducing costs.
Currently, when printing well-balanced images, ink consumption is 1.5-3 kg per 1000 sheets, which is equivalent to 75 kg of ink per 1 million banknotes. These figures indicate that paint costs will be negligible.
The future of gravure printing also largely depends on what functions and characteristics can be achieved using printing inks.
The advantage of using intaglio printing to create security elements is the thickness of the ink layer, which improves the quality of the security elements, making them more reliable and wear-resistant.
Holograms and reflective foil are often considered essential optical security features for banknotes. Due to the fact that a contact copy of acceptable quality can be easily produced anywhere in the world, there has been a need to improve the protective characteristics of these elements. Overprinting using intaglio printing using either traditional inks or inks with special properties quite effectively and simply solves this problem. The best ink compositions for intaglio printing easily adhere to foil, despite the fact that it is very difficult to print on it, and there are already a huge number of examples of the use of such overprinting - these are, say, German banknotes in denominations of 50, 100 and 200 marks, as well as entire issues of Swiss banknotes. The difficulty here is that diffractive structures and reflective foils include all kinds of protective chemical layers such as polyurethane, polyacrylate, polyesters and nitrocellulose. Nevertheless, the special paint OVI (optically variable ink) from SICPA, Switzerland, copes with the task - it can be applied to all these materials.
OVI is also used in the production of money - banknotes in denominations of 500 and 1000 rubles. In the upper part of the front side of the bill on the left is the emblem of the Bank of Russia - a double-headed eagle and the inscription “BANK OF RUSSIA”. When the viewing angle changes, the emblem changes its color from yellow-green to red-orange.
Another change in the functionality of gravure ink is the increased choice of substrate types that can be printed on. Many printing factories are planning or are already performing gravure printing on low-denomination polymer banknotes. The wear resistance of such a base speaks in favor of its wide application, and recent developments in the field of ink compositions provide long service life and excellent printing characteristics on these interesting materials.
The latest developments in the field of intaglio printing make it possible to produce modern, aesthetic banknotes with a high level of security. The use of special printing inks for intaglio printing makes these banknotes wear-resistant and much more convenient for machine processing and automation of the process of issuing money. It should be noted that in the production of other valuable printed products, such as excise stamps, parcels, birth certificates, postage stamps, etc., the intaglio printing method is also used, providing a combination of cost savings and the necessary level of protection.
Using special paper (or other substrate)
Paper can present a lot of surprises to counterfeiters. For example, when printing banknotes, multilayer paper is used, which itself contains a whole range of security elements.
Banknotes are printed on durable, high-quality paper designed specifically for banknote printing. Consider, for example, the process of making the paper used to print US dollars, which is manufactured by Grain and Company (supplying paper for printing all US currencies since 1879).
The raw materials for its production are scraps of cotton and linen fabrics (we will most likely never know the exact recipe, but it is known that the approximate ratio of these types of raw materials is 75 to 25%).
Colored fibers for introduction into paper come in skeins, and fibers of each color are purchased from different companies. They are cut according to technical requirements.
The paper raw material is manually sorted, foreign elements are removed from it, and then it is sent for cutting. The resulting mass is sent to a rotary boiler, where, when treated with superheated steam, it is converted into paper pulp.
After cooling and squeezing, the mass enters a washing machine, where it is repeatedly passed through special shafts equipped with steel knives and washed abundantly with artesian water. At the same time, foreign inclusions are removed from the paper pulp and the length of the fibers is reduced.
Next, bleach is added to the resulting mass, the raw material is placed on a porous surface that allows water to pass through, and left in this form for several days. After this, the mass enters the grinding machine, where colored fibers and dye are added to it, giving the paper a creamy tint. The paper pulp is placed in a cleaning machine (called a Jordan) and then passed through a filter that removes unmilled fibers.
The resulting mass contains up to 99% water, to remove which the mass is repeatedly rolled over a rotating wire mesh. In this case, the fibers are intertwined and a paper fiber is formed, which is subjected to additional processing in order to remove residual water and compact the fibers (special suction, vacuum roller, etc.).
The final step is to dry the paper by passing it through a series of rollers consisting of large hollow steel cylinders heated by steam. As a result of the described process, paper similar to blotting paper is obtained.
To give the paper the required density, it is impregnated with animal glue and glycerin, passed through hard rollers and dried. The finished paper, cut into 32-page sheets in packs of 10 thousand sheets, arrives at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington. The resulting paper can withstand repeated bending (up to 4 thousand times), is resistant to tearing and squeezing, and has a characteristic crunch.
Typically, note paper contains a two- or multi-tone watermark—alternating darker and lighter areas that are distinct from the rest of the note. Clearly visible in the light, it must have slightly blurry, indistinct contours. This is due to the fact that the thickness of the paper changes smoothly. Note that the watermark, which originated as a mark of the paper manufacturer, has now become an integral part of the protection of banknotes. There is a local watermark - a design located in a specific place on the banknote (usually on the coupon field), and a general watermark - a continuously repeating pattern located throughout the entire field of the bill.
Security fibers of various colors are added to banknote paper. The fibers are randomly located on the paper and are found both in the thickness and on the surface of the paper. In addition, sometimes at the casting stage, colored inclusions made of polymer film in the form of circles or polygons - the so-called confetti - can be introduced into the paper of banknotes.
Banknote paper does not contain optical brightener and therefore appears dark in filtered ultraviolet light (wavelength 366 nm). General purpose paper will fluoresce blue or bright blue. This is clearly visible even if you illuminate the side of a stack of paper. Note, however, that if a bill gets into a solution of washing powder (for example, during accidental washing), then the paper will adsorb the powder and will luminesce in UV light. Conclusion: don’t hide your stash next to your detergents!
Water marks
Watermark on a 500 ruble banknote. 1997 model
The most famous and long-existing method of protection is watermarks. They are obtained during the paper manufacturing process (see CompuArt No. 10’2001) when the paper web passes through special cylinders and represent a change in the thickness of the web, which creates the effect of a hidden pattern. They can be dark (relief) and light (linear) when viewed against the light or at some tilt.
Fibers
As we saw in the paper industry for making dollars, colored fibers (Silurian fibers) are introduced into the soft (raw) paper pulp. There are cases of counterfeiting of even such a sign, but you need to remember that real protective fibers are separated with tweezers, and on fakes the threads are imprinted or drawn. The fibers may be visible to the naked eye (as on dollars or francs) or colorless or fluorescent (as on guilders). They do not have to have a strictly round cross-section. On the contrary, one of the difficult to reproduce features is the unusual (and/or variable) cross-sectional shape. The fibers can be non-polymer, cotton, metalized, etc.
And one more thing - paper with security threads is practically not available for free sale.
Metallized strips
Metallized strip on a 500 ruble banknote. 1997 model
Often, plastic, metallized or metal threads are introduced into the paper of banknotes, sometimes extending to the surface of the banknote on the front side (so-called floating). The thread can have magnetic properties or fluoresce under the influence of UV radiation, and the glow can be either single-color or multi-color. Typically the thread contains repeating microtext.
At the stage of developing the appearance of the banknote, a good designer can introduce metallized stripes into the overall composition.
Confetti
As mentioned above, at the stage of casting the paper, small (1-2 mm) round or square inclusions - confetti - can be introduced into its mass along with threads. They can be colored or colorless; paper or plastic; visible only in UV rays; fluorescent; photochromic (sensitive to light); with micro-printing (with numbers, letters, logos, etc.). They, like threads, can be removed using tweezers.
Solvent sensitive material
For especially valuable securities, a special material may be used that is sensitive to moisture or oily secretions of human fingers. Therefore, checking such a document for authenticity is simple: you need to touch it. The absence of changes in properties confirms the fake.
Fluorescent particles
A fairly common method of protection is the introduction of fluorescent particles into the mass during paper production. Ultraviolet light causes such particles to glow. Often the introduced particles form a specific composition or inscription.
Chemical reagents
During the processing of paper pulp, special chemical compounds are introduced into it, giving the paper certain properties. The method for determining authenticity is based on chemical analysis methods. As a special case, we can name Confidential Paper (SCRIP-SAFE Security Products, USA), which, when photocopied, reveals a hidden inscription “VOID” or “COPY”. Or, for example, Nocopi Security Paper (Nocopi, USA) produces a faded copy (solid black) when scanning or copying.
Radioactive particles
Along with other inclusions, microscopic doses of rare earth elements that emit weak radiation can also be introduced into the paper. It is harmless to humans, but is very easily diagnosed with special detectors. Activity, isotope type and marker coordinates are identification parameters when checking such papers.
Effects
These include the effects of “crunching” and “stretching”. For example, a slightly stretched American dollar, after removing the load, will spring back and return to its normal state.
Protection with special paints
The inks used in the production of banknotes differ from conventional printing inks. They are more resistant to various chemicals and do not change their color.
Sometimes a ferromagnetic pigment is introduced into paints, which triggers various testers. Magnetic ink is often used to print serial numbers (Russian rubles) or fragments of metallographic images (US dollars). A one-color design can be made with two paints that have the same color but different magnetic properties.
The use of pigments that luminesce under the influence of ultraviolet light (luminescence of red, green and yellow colors) is very common. When printing modern banknotes, inks are sometimes used that have the same color, but different reflection in the infrared region of the spectrum - IR metameric inks (see above). To identify all the described signs, there are special devices.
Distribution of magnetic ink on the 1996 US $100 bill
In recent years, to print banknotes of large denominations, OVI optically variable inks, which have a metallic sheen and can change color when the viewing angle changes, are often used for printing. Optically variable paints are produced by the Swiss company SICPA using very expensive and complex technology.
Under the influence of various chemicals (washing powders, solutions used in dry cleaning, solvents), paints can partially change their original color and sometimes wash out (water-soluble paints).
Protection with special paints has almost the same effect as protection with a base. In the same way, various particles can be introduced into the paint, for example, metallized materials or powders, magnetic materials or other special particles. Other methods of protection using paint are also used. Thus, when using highly absorbent paints, it is impossible to remove them from the base without destroying the base itself.
Thus, the use of paints with different properties makes it possible to enhance protection against counterfeiting. Their diversity creates an effect of surprise and at the same time greatly increases the cost of a fake.
Let's take a closer look at the use of magnetic inks in the manufacture of securities. Magnetic paints are complex colloidal solutions of ferromagnetic materials. Depending on the preparation technology, they can change their characteristics (viscosity, magnetization, ability to evaporate) over a very wide range - up to several orders of magnitude. Colloidal particles present in the solution have very small sizes (hundredths of a micron) and therefore are able to freely penetrate almost any porous material, including, of course, paper. Magnetic paints differ from other finely dispersed ferromagnets not only in their small particle sizes, but also in their specific reaction to an external magnetic field. From the point of view of the problem under consideration, this circumstance turns out to be the most important. The reaction of magnetic paint is much stronger than that of most other magnetic materials. Inscriptions or marks applied with such paint on a security paper can be identified using a probe with excitation fields of a certain shape and amplitude that do not affect other ferromagnetic particles. In principle, magnetically sensitive paints can be composed of various materials. The technology for preparing magnetic paints with high performance characteristics in Russia is IMS know-how.
The production of magnetic paints cannot be called cheap. The cost of one liter of high-quality paint is estimated at approximately $250 per liter.
Use of finishing
The creation of some protective barriers against counterfeiting is also possible during post-printing processing. The most common methods of processing securities and labels are embossing, hologram application, internal or external die-cutting, perforation or perforation of products, etc.
Embossing
There are flat and relief stamping, blind (blind) stamping and foil stamping. In principle, the embossing process is easily accessible, but its high cost and low productivity of cheap machines make small-run production very unprofitable.
Holograms
A hologram, which is a special three-dimensional image made on foil or other material using laser technology, is a fairly reliable means of protection. Typically, holograms are attached to paper using hot stamping or pressing. Currently, holograms are used to protect banknotes, securities, branded software packaging, valuable products, audio and video cassettes and some other goods.
There may be cases where the hologram is attached to paper using lamination.
Numbering
Here, in general, without much comment it is clear that a large circulation of securities with identical numbers makes it easier to detect counterfeits.
Die cutting
For small runs, this method is rarely counterfeited due to the high cost of stamps.
Perforation
Perforation is the piercing of paper (or other substrate) in the form of text (or a picture). Swiss Microperf is an example of modern banknote perforation. These are tiny holes that form a pattern on the bill, which is the “calling card” of genuine Swiss currency.
Lamination
Lamination is the processing of printed products by pressing a special film onto a printed sheet to give it shine, rigidity and for more reliable protection from external influences.
VOID type films
The main property of VOID multilayer self-adhesive film is the weak bond between the inner layers and the strong adhesive layer. The latter serves for gluing the film to the product. When the film is torn off from the product, only the top layer is removed, under which the inscription “VOID” appears, which means “invalid”. Re-sticking is no longer possible. This method is often used to protect computers, licensed programs, and imported household appliances.
New developments
Recently, document security technologies have become increasingly complex; they are being developed not only in the laboratories of various companies, but also in scientific institutes. Thus, relatively recently there was a message that the Siberian State Geodetic Academy had created a unique protection method. While conducting research in the field of laser surface processing, employees of the Department of Metrology and Fire Standardization of the Geodetic Academy discovered an unusual effect. It turned out that if you treat paper with a laser in a certain way, you can get a hidden design that will reliably protect it from counterfeiting. This method of protecting securities so far has no analogues either in the country or in the world.
So, what are all product protection methods based on? These are mainly the effects of surprise, the difficulty of reproduction, the high cost of the material and devices used (which makes the fake more expensive than the original).
