For the archival film processing technique that reproduces images of documents, see Microform.
Close-up of microprint incorporated on US$100 paper currency
Microprinting is the production of recognizable patterns or characters in a printed medium at a scale that typically requires magnification to read with the naked eye. To the unaided eye, the text may appear as a solid line. Attempts to reproduce by methods of photocopy, image scanning, or pantograph typically translate as a dotted or solid line, unless the reproduction method can identify and recreate patterns to such scale. Microprint is predominantly used as an anti-counterfeiting technique, due to its inability to be easily reproduced by widespread digital methods.
While microphotography precedes microprint, microprint was significantly influenced by Albert Boni[1] in 1934 when he was inspired by his friend, writer and editor Manuel Komroff, who was showing his experimentations related to the enlarging of photographs. It occurred to Boni that if he could reduce rather than enlarge photographs, this technology might enable publication companies and libraries to access much greater quantities of data at a minimum cost of material and storage space. Over the following decade, Boni worked to develop microprint, a micro-opaque process in which pages were photographed using 35mm microfilm and printed on cards using offset lithography. (U.S. patent 2260551A, U.S. patent 2260552A) This process proved to produce a 6" by 9" index card that stored 100 pages of text from the normal-sized publications he was reproducing. Boni began the Readex Microprint company to produce and license this technology. He also published an article A Guide to the Literature of Photography and Related Subjects (1943), which appeared in a supplemental 18th issue of the Photo-Lab Index.[2][3][4]
^Price, Miles (April 1953). "The Microcard Foundation". American Bar Association Journal. 39. American Bar Association: 304–305. ISSN 0747-0088. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
^Metcalf, K. D. (1945-03-01). "The Promise of Microprint: A Symposium Based on The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library". College & Research Libraries. 6 (2): 170–183. doi:10.5860/crl_06_02_170. hdl:2142/35340. ISSN 2150-6701. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2015-10-08. Alt URL Archived 2015-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
^Erickson, Edgar L (March 1951). "Microprint: A Revolution in Printing". Journal of Documentation. 7 (3): 184–187. doi:10.1108/eb026173. ISSN 0022-0418.(subscription required)
^Boni, Albert (Summer 1951). "Microprint" (PDF). American Documentation. 2 (3): 150. doi:10.1002/asi.5090020304. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
microprint. While microprinting at some scales may be readable to the human eye without microscopy, there is no differentiation between microprinting...
numeral on the back appear in yellow. Microprinting, on various areas of the banknotes there is microprinting, for example, inside the "ΕΥΡΩ" (EURO in...
numeral on the back appear in yellow. Microprinting, On numerous areas of the banknotes you can see microprinting, for example, inside the "ΕΥΡΩ" (EURO...
numeral on the back appear in yellow. Microprinting, on various areas of the banknotes there is microprinting, for example, inside the "ΕΥΡΩ" (EURO in...
numeral on the back appear in yellow. Microprinting, on various areas of the banknotes there is microprinting, for example, inside the "ΕΥΡΩ" (EURO in...
zone. To prevent counterfeiting, it contained watermarks, guillochés, microprinting, fluorescent dyes, and multi-colour fluorescent fibres. In addition...
invisible ink characteristics, holograms, optically variable inks and microprinting that document their authenticity. While euro coins have a national side...
numeral on the back appear in yellow. Microprinting, On numerous areas of the banknotes you can see microprinting, for example, inside the "ΕΥΡΩ" (EURO...
a magnifying glass. Cheques, for example, use microprint as the signature line. Enlarged microprinting Recto of 100 euro (series ES1) (lower left) Recto...
a solid line. Features can be built into the thread material e.g., microprinting on a transparent plastic thread or adding materials so they fluoresce...
in the newest banknotes. They include intaglio printing, holograms, microprinting, fluorescent ink, latent images, watermarks, and angle-sensitive ink...
numeral on the back appear in yellow. Microprinting, On numerous areas of the banknotes you can see microprinting, for example, inside the "ΕΥΡΩ" (EURO...
present in the banknote. They include intaglio printing, holograms, microprinting, fluorescent ink, latent images, watermarks, and angle-sensitive ink...
numeral on the back appear in yellow. Microprinting: on various areas of the banknotes there is microprinting, for example, inside the "ΕΥΡΩ" (EURO in...
with various new security features, which included color-shifting ink, microprint, segmented metal thread, moiré, and EURion constellation. The latest version...
numbness in the outer thigh Methylphenidate, a stimulant medication Microprinting (MP), a method of printing very finely as an anti-counterfeiting mechanism...
approximately 4.2 cents for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce. Microprinting and security threads were introduced in the 1991 currency series. Another...
revised security features, and the text "One Nigeria, Great Promise" in microprinting. On the back is a QR code (Quick Response code) which when scanned leads...
Reverse ₪20 129 × 71 mm Red Rachel Bluwstein; the poem Kinneret in microprinting; palm tree branches in the background Vista of the Sea of Galilee shoreline;...
Plain "Republika ng Pilipinas"; Portrait of Andrés Bonifacio; Value; Microprint of "Republika ng Pilipinas"; Year of minting; Mint mark Strongylodon macrobotrys...
changed but enhanced with anti-counterfeiting technology which include microprinting, and features viewed only at certain angles. This design later won the...
incorporating a "3D security ribbon", color-shifting numerals and drawings, and microprinting, entered circulation in 2013. Supernotes are said to be made with the...
world to use such features. All current Australian notes also contain microprinting for further security. There were initial difficulties with the first...
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