Laser Colour Personalisation from TOPPAN Security

At the ICAO TRIP Symposium in Montreal this year, TOPPAN Security introduced CHROMA, a laser-based colour personalisation technology that aims to remove the longstanding trade-off between portrait quality and document security in polycarbonate identity documents. With claims to be the first laser system to deliver full-colour, photo-realistic portraits engraved within a polycarbonate body, CHROMA is targeted at passports, ID cards and other government-issued credentials.

For some time, monochrome (typically greyscale) laser engraving has been the reference technology for polycarbonate personalisation. By modifying the plastic matrix rather than adding surface ink, it offers excellent resistance to abrasion, solvents and delamination, and makes alteration of portraits or biographical data extremely difficult.