Methods and systems for optical effects in pigments, inks, and on media. One aspect of this disclosure involves a pigment particle which includes a core, having a fluorescent material and having a spherical shape, and a shell surrounding the core; the shell includes a photochromic material which has a first optical property in a first light source and a second optical property in a second light source which includes a set of wavelengths not sufficiently present in the first light source. The second optical property attenuates an emitted radiation from the fluorescent material. Other aspects are also described.

Methods and systems for optical effects in pigments, inks, and on media. One aspect of this disclosure involves a pigment particle which includes a core, having a fluorescent material and having a spherical shape, and a shell surrounding the core; the shell includes a photochromic material which has a first optical property in a first light source and a second optical property in a second light source which includes a set of wavelengths not sufficiently present in the first light source. The second optical property attenuates an emitted radiation from the fluorescent material. Other aspects are also described.

An easily producible security feature according to the invention contains at least one luminescence device on and/or in a product carrier. Additionally, the security feature contains, in and/or on the product carrier, at least one absorptive spectral filter for luminescence radiation exiting from the at least one luminescence device, such that a color impression results both under illumination with visible radiation and under luminescence illumination conditions.

A method for detecting a component including a concealed pattern includes: detecting infrared electromagnetic radiation reflected or emitted by a component including a first pattern, the component including: a substrate; the first pattern disposed over at least a portion of the substrate; an optional primer layer disposed between at least a portion of the substrate and at least a portion of the first pattern; and a first visibly opaque layer including an infrared transparent pigment, the first visibly opaque layer disposed over at least a portion of the first pattern; and comparing the reflectivity and/or absorbance of infrared electromagnetic radiation by the first pattern at one wavelength to the reflectivity and/or absorbance by the primer layer and/or the substrate at the same wavelength.

A device for verifying a machine-readable security feature of a document of value, having: a transport device configured to transport the document on a transport plane, a radiation emitter that is arranged on a first flat side and emits radiation in the direction towards the first flat side, a sensor that is arranged on the first flat side and is configured to receive at least part of the luminescent radiation, a reflector arranged and configured on the second flat side-so as to at least partly reflect the luminescent radiation of the security feature of the document of value to the sensor, and an evaluation unit.

A device for verifying a machine-readable security feature of a document of value, having: a transport device configured to transport the document on a transport plane, a radiation emitter that is arranged on a first flat side and emits radiation in the direction towards the first flat side, a sensor that is arranged on the first flat side and is configured to receive at least part of the luminescent radiation, a reflector arranged and configured on the second flat side-so as to at least partly reflect the luminescent radiation of the security feature of the document of value to the sensor, and an evaluation unit.

Provided are an information recording object and a reading device devised so that embedded information is difficult to guess. The information recording object 30 provided with a combined image comprising an image C1 printed in a lustrous layer 31 and an image C2 formed on the image C1 and printed in a transparent layer 32 is characterized in that: the image C1 and the image C2 are each printed with an ink for which the amount of reflected light differs according to viewing angle; for the combined image, one image is visible depending on the viewing angle; the image C2 is an image in which there is a regularity in feature points in a spatial frequency domain F2; and the image C1 is an image in which the feature points in a spatial frequency domain F1 are disposed at positions that block said regularity.

Provided are an information recording object and a reading device devised so that embedded information is difficult to guess. The information recording object 30 provided with a combined image comprising an image C1 printed in a lustrous layer 31 and an image C2 formed on the image C1 and printed in a transparent layer 32 is characterized in that: the image C1 and the image C2 are each printed with an ink for which the amount of reflected light differs according to viewing angle; for the combined image, one image is visible depending on the viewing angle; the image C2 is an image in which there is a regularity in feature points in a spatial frequency domain F2; and the image C1 is an image in which the feature points in a spatial frequency domain F1 are disposed at positions that block said regularity.

A method for creating a secure document, registering the secure document and verifying the authenticity of the secure document includes receiving a print object that has content. A security feature, including an identifier, is created and is associated with the content. The identifier may be a barcode. The barcode may represent a character string. The security feature may include the identifier barcode and a decoy barcode that is not associated with the content. The identifier barcode (or the character string represented by the barcode) and the content are transmitted to a database for storage. Once stored, the identifier and the content are considered to be registered. A print object that includes the security feature and the content is then transmitted to a printer for printing.

A method for creating a secure document, registering the secure document and verifying the authenticity of the secure document includes receiving a print object that has content. A security feature, including an identifier, is created and is associated with the content. The identifier may be a barcode. The barcode may represent a character string. The security feature may include the identifier barcode and a decoy barcode that is not associated with the content. The identifier barcode (or the character string represented by the barcode) and the content are transmitted to a database for storage. Once stored, the identifier and the content are considered to be registered. A print object that includes the security feature and the content is then transmitted to a printer for printing.