Home › News › What Is Anti-Counterfeit Ink? 5 Series Explained
2026-08-04 published · updated
SJH OVI chameleon ink (gold-green) sample: color shifts with viewing angle — a hallmark of high-end security ink.
Anti-counterfeit ink is a specialty printing ink that verifies authenticity through specific means. Here are the five main series explained.
1. UV Invisible Ink
Colorless in normal light, glows under 254/365nm UV. Covert, easy to verify, cost-effective — for tickets, IDs and packaging.
2. OVI Chameleon Ink
Color-shifting with viewing angle (gold-to-green, etc.), visible to the naked eye, extremely hard to counterfeit — for banknotes and premium packaging.
3. Thermochromic Ink
Changes color with temperature (custom 5-80°C), great for beverage labels and tamper-evident seals.
4. IR Excitation Ink
Emits visible fluorescence under IR, invisible normally, verified with dedicated devices — highest covertness for IDs and banknotes.
5. Photochromic Ink
Develops color under sunlight/UV and fades without light — for tags, cosmetics and tickets.
SJH Ink offers custom formulation and free printed proofs. Tel 13510998453, www.sjhink.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Selection, detection, printing and ordering — answered.
What is anti-counterfeit ink?
Anti-counterfeit ink is a specialty printing ink that contains functional materials allowing authenticity to be verified by a specific method. It behaves differently in appearance, colour or optical response, making it one of the most widely used and lowest-cost carriers in a product security system.
What are the main families of security ink?
Five mainstream families: UV invisible (fluorescent) ink, OVI optically variable ink, thermochromic ink, IR excitation ink, and photochromic (sunlight-activated) ink.
Which security ink is the cheapest and easiest to check?
UV invisible ink. It is colourless under normal light and shows fluorescence under a banknote detector or UV torch within seconds. Cost is moderate, which is why it is the most widely used family.
Which security ink offers the highest protection level?
IR excitation ink. It emits visible fluorescence only under IR excitation and is invisible to the naked eye, so it requires dedicated detection equipment. It is used for high-security documents, banknotes and tickets.
Can security ink stop counterfeiting completely?
No. Security ink is one layer of a system, not a universal lock. Professional practice combines ink with guilloche patterns and security codes, trading stacked copying difficulty for higher protection.
