PRINTING HOLOGRAMS

Credit cards, bank notes and more: the many uses for applying 3D images to a 2D surface

PRINTED HOLOGRAMS ARE CREATED THROUGH A PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLE called holography, whereby the contours of a three-dimensional object can be captured in a two-dimensional image. The history of holograms dates to 1948, when Hungarian-British engineer Dennis Gábor first conceptualised what’s now referred to as holography. Using an electron microscope and interacting waves of light, Gábor captured the point where the phase of two light waves aligned, creating the illusion of depth in an image.