SecurityGeneric MICR Fundamentals Guide 8-11Safety papersSafety papers have a background that makes alteration easilyvisible. Scenic backgrounds or a repetitive pattern, such as alogo, are some examples. Safety papers that consist only of apatterned background are not foolproof.Many financial documents are produced on a base paper, onwhich a safety pattern is printed using stable inks. These inks donot have the same sensitivity to chemical or mechanical erasureas true safety inks. They are used because they look better andare easier to print with. However, documents printed on thesepapers are much easier to alter than those printed on true safetypaper.OverprintsOverprints consist of a pattern or a scene that is printed over allor parts of a printed document. Overprinting may be combinedwith a texturing process. The varied colors and the texture makeit very difficult to modify the characters under the overprintwithout affecting the overprint itself. However, overprinting addsa step, which can make the check production process muchslower.TexturesTextures can be printed on a form before the data is printed, orapplied with an overprint afterwards.One type of preprinted texture is called “intaglio.” An intagliosurface is created using a “male and female” die set. Theengraving is usually fine and the production cost of the finaldocuments can be high. Intaglio is a popular method used fortravelers' checks.A problem with intaglio is that the surface is abrasive and cancause problems for the reader sorter manufacturers. In addition,attempts to place a dry ink image on a textured surface canresult in image deletions and distortions.
