Provided is a phase difference film formed of a resin containing a polymer having crystallizability. The phase difference film has an NZ factor of less than 1 and an in-plane retardation Re that satisfies 125 nm≤Re≤345 nm. The polymer has a crystallization degree of 15% or more. Alternatively, the polymer is an alicyclic structure-containing polymer being a hydrogenated product of a ring-opening polymer of dicyclopentadiene.

Provided is a phase difference film formed of a resin containing a polymer having crystallizability. The phase difference film has an NZ factor of less than 1 and an in-plane retardation Re that satisfies 125 nm≤Re≤345 nm. The polymer has a crystallization degree of 15% or more. Alternatively, the polymer is an alicyclic structure-containing polymer being a hydrogenated product of a ring-opening polymer of dicyclopentadiene.

The present invention relates to the technical field of security documents comprising a security feature, such as a windowed security thread, a security foil, a security patch, a hologram or an ink printed security feature, and a protective coating, and methods of manufacturing of said security documents. The security feature has a security feature thickness t.sub.f of at least about 5 μm (micrometers) and a security feature surface facing away from the substrate consisting of a first region adjacent to the edges of the security feature and a second region non-adjacent to the edges of the security feature. The protective coating covers the security feature surface facing away from the substrate, a first substrate surface adjacent to the edges of the security feature, and a second substrate surface, which is different from the substrate surface covered by the security feature and the first substrate surface. The protective coating covering the security feature surface facing away from the substrate and the first substrate surface is transparent, the protective coating covering the first region has a thickness t.sub.b1, the protective coating covering the second region has a thickness t.sub.b2, the protective coating covering the first substrate surface has a thickness t.sub.c, and the protective coating covering the second substrate surface has a thickness t.sub.a. The thickness t.sub.c is larger than the thickness t.sub.f, which is larger than the thickness t.sub.a; the thickness t.sub.b2 is larger than the thickness t.sub.a; and either the thickness t.sub.c is larger than the thickness t.sub.b1, which is larger than or equal to the thickness t.sub.b2; or the thickness t.sub.c is equal to the thickness t.sub.b1, which is larger than the thickness t.sub.b2. The variable protective coating thickness on the surface of the security document provides the inventive security document with an increased resistance against physical and chemical attacks from the environment, while maintaining the mechanical resistance properties required for such security documents.

A secure document including a first layer having a metal holographic structure forming an arrangement of pixels each including a plurality of sub-pixels of distinct colors and a second layer positioned facing the first layer, the second layer being opaque to at least the visible wavelength spectrum. The first layer includes perforations formed by a first laser beam, the first perforations locally revealing through the holographic structure a number of dark areas in the sub-pixels caused by underlying regions of the second opaque layer such as to form a personalized image starting from the arrangement of pixels combined with the dark areas.

A secure document including a first layer having a metal holographic structure forming an arrangement of pixels each including a plurality of sub-pixels of distinct colors and a second layer positioned facing the first layer, the second layer being opaque to at least the visible wavelength spectrum. The first layer includes perforations formed by a first laser beam, the first perforations locally revealing through the holographic structure a number of dark areas in the sub-pixels caused by underlying regions of the second opaque layer such as to form a personalized image starting from the arrangement of pixels combined with the dark areas.

A laminate of the present invention includes, in a thickness direction of the laminate, a transfer foil in which at least a patch substrate, a relief forming layer, a reflective layer, and an adhesive layer are sequentially laminated, a protective sheet that is provided on a first side of the transfer foil in the thickness direction, and an information recording sheet that is provided on a second side of the transfer foil facing away from the protective sheet in the thickness direction.

A value document with a carrier element and a foil element arranged in a partial region of the carrier element. The carrier element has, at least in the partial region, a luminescence marker which is adapted to give off luminescence radiation which has at least a first wavelength and a second wavelength in each case in the infrared spectral region. The foil element has a reflection layer and a spectral selection layer. The selection layer is arranged between the carrier element and the reflection layer. The reflection layer is configured to reflect infrared radiation and the selection layer is configured to spectrally selectively inhibit transmission of infrared radiation. The inhibition of the transmission of the first wavelength and the inhibition of the transmission of the second wavelength differ by at least 10%.

A security element, e g. for an ID card (7) or passport, banknote, ticket, etc, comprises a plurality of superposed layers (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) and a security image or object (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) comprising a plurality of discrete security components, each said discrete security component constituting or providing a portion of the complete security image or object, which portion is less than the hole of the security image or object, wherein each said discrete security component is provided or formed on or within a respective one of the said plurality of superposed layers of the element (7). The layers can be laminated together. The components can be: a security rainbow hologram/DOVID (1); a tactile security feature (2); a 3D holographic optical element (3); an IR visible printing (4); an UV visible printing (5); a colour switch printing (6).

A security element, e g. for an ID card (7) or passport, banknote, ticket, etc, comprises a plurality of superposed layers (8a, 8b, 8c, 8d) and a security image or object (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) comprising a plurality of discrete security components, each said discrete security component constituting or providing a portion of the complete security image or object, which portion is less than the hole of the security image or object, wherein each said discrete security component is provided or formed on or within a respective one of the said plurality of superposed layers of the element (7). The layers can be laminated together. The components can be: a security rainbow hologram/DOVID (1); a tactile security feature (2); a 3D holographic optical element (3); an IR visible printing (4); an UV visible printing (5); a colour switch printing (6).

The invention relates to a method for producing a support body in a card format, with a graphic customization, that has a surface finishing effect that is more or less smooth, rough, mirrored or matte on the support body. The method includes supplying a support body having a layer of material configured to allow a marking by punching or lamination. The layer is exposed on the main external face and the surface finishing effect is equivalent to that obtained by a step of marking or lamination while not including a step of depositing varnish.