Companies can employ a host of inexpensive and obvious techniques to protect documents, from watermarks to perforated borders to sequential or random numbering, Mr. Warner said. But more sophisticated and expensive options are available, too. Documents can be printed with optical variable inks, so that words printed in black will appear green if held at an angle, much the way numbers on U.S. currency do. Document authenticity is established by checking it under a black light. Companies also could have holograms printed on their documents.
Security can begin with the paper on which documents are printed.
Copy-proof paper has a subtle background color a photocopier won't pick up, making it obvious that a document is original. Other papers have invisible inks that will show only on photocopies, and ink that will change color if scratched with a fingernail or coin. Terry Stovold, manager of worldwide technical sales at Nocopi Technologies Inc., West Conshohocken, Pa., a vendor of such kinds of paper, said they're well suited to internal business documents. Sophisticated papers are expensive, though. Mr. Warner said cost will always be a factor in document security, though it will vary widely based on the types of features, the processes involved to incorporate them, and the number of documents to be printed.