A security document comprising: a substrate, a security feature applied to or inserted into a portion of the substrate wherein the security feature has a security feature thickness t f and a security feature surface (120 b) facing away from the substrate consisting of a first region (120 b1) adjacent to the edges of the security feature and a second region (120 b2) non-adjacent to the edges of the security feature, and a protective coating (130A, 130B, 130C) covering the security feature surface (120 b) facing away from the substrate, a first substrate surface (110 c) adjacent to the edges of the security feature, and a second substrate surface (110 a), which is different from the substrate surface covered by the security feature and the first substrate surface (110 c); wherein the protective coating (130B, 130C) covering the security feature surface (120 b) facing away from the substrate and the first substrate surface (110 c) is transparent, the protective coating covering the first region (120 b1) has a thickness t b1, the protective coating covering the second region (120 b2) has a thickness t b2, the protective coating covering the first substrate surface (110 c) has a thickness t c, and the protective coating covering the second substrate surface (110 a) has a thickness t a; characterized in that the security feature is selected from a windowed security thread, a security foil, a security patch, a hologram and an ink printed security feature; the thickness t f of the security feature is at least about 5 μm (micrometers); the thickness t c is larger than the thickness t f, which is larger than the thickness t a; the thickness t b2 is larger than the thickness t a; and either the thickness t c is larger than the thickness t b1, which is larger than or equal to the thickness t b2; or the thickness t c is equal to the thickness t b1, which is larger than the thickness t b2. a substrate, a security feature applied to or inserted into a portion of the substrate wherein the security feature has a security feature thickness t f and a security feature surface (120 b) facing away from the substrate consisting of a first region (120 b1) adjacent to the edges of the security feature and a second region (120 b2) non-adjacent to the edges of the security feature, and a protective coating (130A, 130B, 130C) covering the security feature surface (120 b) facing away from the substrate, a first substrate surface (110 c) adjacent to the edges of the security feature, and a second substrate surface (110 a), which is different from the substrate surface covered by the security feature and the first substrate surface (110 c); the security feature surface (120 b) facing away from the substrate, a first substrate surface (110 c) adjacent to the edges of the security feature, and a second substrate surface (110 a), which is different from the substrate surface covered by the security feature and the first substrate surface (110 c); the protective coating (130B, 130C) covering the security feature surface (120 b) facing away from the substrate and the first substrate surface (110 c) is transparent, the protective coating covering the first region (120 b1) has a thickness t b1, the protective coating covering the second region (120 b2) has a thickness t b2, the protective coating covering the first substrate surface (110 c) has a thickness t c, and the protective coating covering the second substrate surface (110 a) has a thickness t a; the security feature is selected from a windowed security thread, a security foil, a security patch, a hologram and an ink printed security feature; the thickness t f of the security feature is at least about 5 μm (micrometers); the thickness t c is larger than the thickness t f, which is larger than the thickness t a; the thickness t b2 is larger than the thickness t a; and either the thickness t c is larger than the thickness t b1, which is larger than or equal to the thickness t b2; or the thickness t c is equal to the thickness t b1, which is larger than the thickness t b2.