ICE (Intaglio Contrast Effect)
CCL Secure (Australia)
Type: Compound optically variable security feature — intaglio printing over a metallic patch on Guardian™ polymer substrate, producing an angle-dependent contrast enhancement effect
Overview
Intaglio Contrast Effect (ICE) is a compound security feature proprietary to CCL Secure (formerly Innovia Security, formerly Securency International) and exclusive to the Guardian™ polymer banknote platform. It is one of several security effects in the CCL Secure/Innovia Security portfolio that exploit the unique combination of a metallic printed patch applied during Guardian™ substrate manufacture as a foundation layer for subsequent intaglio printing — a technique made possible by the smooth, non-porous surface of polymer substrate that would not be achievable on cotton-paper banknotes.
ICE is protected by patent EP1263614 ("Security document or device having an intaglio contrast effect"), in which the applicant describes the substrate as Guardian polymer. The technology was developed within the Securency/Innovia Security R&D programme and the intellectual property resides with CCL Secure as the successor entity.
Technology & Effects
ICE is an image printed with special inks by intaglio over the metal-coated area of the polymer banknote. The element has an optically variable colour effect: the colours of the image become more contrasting when looking at the banknote at a very sharp angle.
The mechanism works in two stages. First, a GOLDswitch metallic pigment patch is applied to the polymer substrate during manufacture, creating a highly specular gold-metallic reflective zone. Second, at the banknote printing stage, an intaglio image is printed directly over this metallic patch using special inks formulated to interact with the metallic surface beneath. At normal perpendicular viewing, the intaglio image is visible against the metallic background in a conventional manner. When the note is tilted to a sharp oblique angle, the metallic patch beneath the intaglio dramatically intensifies its specular reflection — and the contrast between the raised intaglio ink elements and the brilliant metallic background suddenly amplifies, making the image appear to snap into high contrast and become more vivid and three-dimensional.
This angular contrast enhancement is the defining visual characteristic of ICE and produces an authentication gesture — tilting the note to a sharp angle and observing the contrast jump — that is immediately dramatic and unmistakable, yet requires no tools. By producing the printed image on a highly reflective layer, the raised printed image is significantly enhanced when viewed at different angles and under different lighting conditions and is therefore able to produce a security effect which is readily noticeable to the naked eye, will maintain its effectiveness for the life of the document and will satisfy the anti-copy requirements of security documents such as banknotes.
Form Factors & Application
ICE requires two separate production stages carried out by two different parties: the metallic GOLDswitch patch is applied by CCL Secure during Guardian™ substrate manufacture, and the intaglio image is printed over it by the banknote printer in their print hall. Precise registration between the substrate-stage metallic patch and the print-stage intaglio image is essential to the feature's effectiveness, and the design of both elements must be coordinated from the outset. This two-stage, two-party production architecture is itself a significant security barrier — simulating ICE requires both access to the Guardian™ substrate with its metallic patch and an intaglio press capable of printing in register over the metallic area.
Security Levels
ICE operates at Level 1 (public). The contrast enhancement effect is visible to the naked eye under normal ambient lighting when the note is tilted to a sharp angle, and the dramatic snap from normal to high-contrast appearance is an intuitive and unambiguous authentication cue. The combination of metallic patch and intaglio printing requires two separate specialist manufacturing processes that are unavailable to counterfeiters, and the polymer substrate's contribution to the effect means it cannot be replicated on paper.
Notable Deployments
The Brunei 100 Dollars (2004 series) is the documented example of ICE on a circulating banknote, where the feature is visible as an intaglio-printed image over the GOLDswitch metallic patch area.
- Name
- ICE (Intaglio Contrast Effect)
- Category
- Security Feature
- Effect Types
- Latent image Metallic
- Company
- Linked Features
- 1 security feature