Post No. 2. Micro elements
There is no exact definition (at least I don’t know) what is a “micro element”. I would suggest to use this expression for images that are beyond the resolution of the human eye which is 200 µms. (Resolution is the shortest distance between two points that can still be visually distinguished as separate.)
In practice, for example, letters of 1 point size (approx. 350 microns) and below are considered to be micro-letters. This size is still smaller than the resolution of the majority of the commercially available digital printers. Although, digital printers capable of printing these fine elements are available, but mostly for professional purposes. Anyway, this small size fits very well to offset printing and suitable for placing hidden graphic features, like intentional errors. These elements are widely used with standard visible colours but – in my opinion – they have an extremely eye-catching look in UV using appropriate magnification.
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UV 365 nm image of a document printed by ANY |
Let’s have a look at this beautiful certificate sample by ANY under 365 nm UV lamp. As we can see, this document depicts a falcon, which is an emphasized element, but one will not pay attention to the leaf under the bird at first glance.
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ANY Specimen Certificate in UV 365 nm with micro-elements |
Feel free to magnify the images further! As you can see there are negative micro writings on the leaf.
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ANY Specimen Certificate’s leaf in UV 365 nm with micro writing |
Although, it is a one-colour element, the knowledge we have nowadays allows us to represent such micro UV elements using rainbow printing. The beauty of this technology will be the topic of the next post.