SECURE OFFICIAL DOCUMENT

An official document commits whoever issues it. Diploma, certificate, clearance, authorisation, named title: as soon as a piece of paper grants a right or attests to a fact, it becomes a target. A secure official document is a document whose substrate and printing carry processes that make copying and alteration detectable.

Protection never rests on a single process. It is built in three layers, combined according to the level of risk.

1. The substrate

Everything starts with the paper. A secure paper carries its protections in the pulp, where they cannot be added afterwards: a watermark visible against the light, invisible fibres revealed under ultraviolet lamp, reagents that stain the paper as soon as someone tries to erase an entry with solvent.

2. The printing

Then come the processes that resist reproduction. The guilloche, a network of interlaced lines that breaks up as soon as it is photocopied. Microtext, unreadable to the naked eye and lost by scanners. Thermochromic ink, which changes colour under the warmth of a finger. Unique numbering, which makes every copy traceable.

3. The marking

Finally the marking applied to the document: a personalised hologram, holographic film, embossing in relief, or a VOID label that reveals the word VOID as soon as it is peeled off.

Choosing according to risk

The right level of security is the one that costs more to defeat than the fraud would earn. Three cases recur.

Moderate risk, internal document or restricted circulation: watermarked paper and numbering are enough to discourage opportunistic copying.

Standard risk, document handed to a third party who will present it elsewhere: a guilloche background and microtext are added, so that a photocopy is spotted immediately.

High risk, document that grants a right or carries value: reactive paper, guilloche, microtext, reactive ink and a personalised hologram. The checker then has several independent verification points, including one that needs no equipment.

Who has these documents made

Government bodies and local authorities, schools, universities and training organisations for their diplomas and certificates, professional orders and federations for their cards and credentials, transport operators, companies issuing conformity certificates or value vouchers. Etic France works for these clients in France, in Monaco and in French-speaking West Africa.

How an order works

You describe the document, its use and the risk to be covered. We propose a combination of processes and a quotation. A proof is sent to you for approval before any production run, then the job is produced and delivered. Quantity, numbering and packing are defined with you.

Etic France produces secure official documents for public authorities, training institutions and certifying bodies, in France, in Monaco and in French-speaking West Africa. The starting point is always the risk to be covered, never a catalogue of processes.

The full range of processes is presented on secured documents. Related pages: secure A4 paper and secure property title.