SECURE A4 PAPER

A4 is the most requested format in security printing, for a simple reason: it is the format of office printers. The document is manufactured at our plant with its protections, then completed at your end, as needs arise, with the variable data of each file. You keep control of the filling without losing the security of the substrate.

What A4 changes technically

A secure paper meant to run through a laser or inkjet printer is not chosen like a paper meant for a press. Three points matter.

Grammage. It must stay within the range accepted by your machines. Too light and the paper cockles under the heat of the laser fuser; too heavy and it jams. Usual grammages for this kind of use run from 90 to 120 g/m², to be validated against your equipment.

Heat resistance. A laser fuser runs hot. Security inks and varnishes must withstand it without shifting, which rules out some reactive processes and calls for others. That trade-off is made with you at the time of selection.

Surface condition. Security fibres and reactive treatments change the surface of the paper. A proof printed on your own equipment is the only reliable way to validate the combination.

Protections used in an A4

Watermark in the pulp, fibres visible or revealed under ultraviolet, solvent-reactive paper, pre-printed guilloche background, microtext inside a rule or a logo, sequential numbering, thermochromic ink, and where needed a hologram or a VOID label applied after printing.

Personalisation and packing

A4 is delivered free of data but personalised in your colours: logo, coat of arms, legal footer, signature box, serial number. Packing is set according to your use, in reams for a department printing as it goes, or in numbered batches for controlled use with copy tracking.

Other formats

A5, A3 and bespoke formats follow the same logic. A4 serves as the reference because it covers the majority of administrative uses.

Secure A4 is ordered in reams, blank or pre-printed, with the protections built into the pulp of the paper. Etic France produces these papers for public and private clients.

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