Counterfeit Bills
Many of you know, when attempting to print currency off your home printer a message pops up saying "www.rulesforuse.org" , this is one of the biggest yet smallest obstacles in the counterfeiting business.
Apart from printing off the image using a usb connected to printer, this is the method that 100% works for every computer and printer available.
The Requirements?:
- Scans or templates of the notes/bills
- Download a program called "PrintFab" from this website http://www.printfab.com/en/ (available for linux/mac/windows)
- Install it.
Add the printer to the program in the menu and open up your money scans from your computer/hardrive and then print to the correct dimension. Once they come out, flip the paper around and print the back. (to find out the paper needed for the job look it up on wikipedia, it may be 100% cotton or plastic paper depending on the currency)
When buying a printer, make sure that its compatible with the program first by checking the "compatible printers" section of the website. They have a lot of printers available to use with the program so more than likely you will be fine, including very high quality printers.
Its good to choose a printer with an orange cartridge if you are doing 50 euro notes or if your doing dollars, a green cartridge. Alternatively to get the vibrancy of the bills (if your computer printer can't do it) get a 2 color offset press, and match the color with offset inks (this is much easier said than done). uvstuff.com can supply ink cartridges for your computer printers, if you find one that works with printfab + has uv cartridge compatibility then your saving money. Woowhoo!
Of course you may all know , printing the notes isnt the only obstacle you should be faced with...
Check the machines out: http://www.checkanote.co.uk/
They look for 1-5 of these features
- ICD inteligent Code detection a value hidden in the metalic security thread
- The IR (Infra red) Ink
- Holographic Band
- Fluorescent fibres (viewed vibrantly with UV light)
- Watermarks (specific shades)
You will now come to realize banknotes are the most sophisticated objects in the world. They would need to
be or else every child in the world would be hitting scan>print and spending the money.
Now, you are building a product, your not making money. This is a craft, the end result of this should be that you replicated a bill so well its indistinguishable. If you start up this operation cheap you'll only get cheap products. Knowledge is key, accept the fact that this thread will not help you make counterfeits, but it will inspire you to delve in to this to further increase your interest and ability to learn, although I may give information that seems GOLDEN, its not even a quarter of what you should know. Knowledge is basically a change in perspective, the more change of perspective the more imagination will be flowing through you while leading to more thoughts which can output better quality bills. No point me naming off the things money can buy with this endeavor but i'm sure you can all guess. *cough* prostitutes *cough* cars *cough* The outcome of this whole inspiration can only be credited to me. No problem in advance... you don't have to thank me all at once
Many notes have holograms. The shiny image that turns in to another image. The euro notes are famous for this, picturing a number "50" and a square door shifting as you tilt the note as well as a few more things incorporated (like perforations of the € symbol when held to the light.) The pounds are notorious for there difficulty, there severely difficult, ink printed on top of the hologram doesn't help either. To get a hologram replicated, I leave you with great information:
Get the hologram image (google/wikipedia) then download a program called CorelDRAW (as an alternative to photoshop because i have noted that photoshop is for photographs and corel draw is good for graphics like the files we are working on), so happy fucking days, its a great program and not hard to use.
Crop everything out bar the holographic image. Make sure to have separate images made in to black and white templates of each shifting image you want to appear when you tilt the hologram. Design it exactly like the original. We are going to be sending those template images along with a notepad file containing the exact dimension/size you want them to be. Obviously your going to need take out an accurate measuring device to do this (its called a fucking ruler).
Visit the popular site : http://www.alibaba.com Search "custom hologram" and message a few reputable sellers. Send them the same message (copy+paste it to speed things up) (of course using TOR in case they refuse to replicate money holos), provide them with the templates of how you want the hologram.
If you request a quote from multiple sources on alibaba you will eventually get a reply with them showing you an image like this: http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4518147884712830&pid=1.7 except of course the currency's image. Many of them will tell you they need the money first to provide you an image so request that they provide you with a prototype of what you want before you go and spend your money. This shows that they wont scam you because if they make a prototype for you, it shows they went through a bit of effort and are likely to complete the job for you.
They will ask you questions like the thickness of the stickers/hot foil and the length. Reply in simple terms saying you want the stickers REALLY thin and about 10meters in length. If your getting hot foil instead of stickers, you need a hot stamping machine to stamp them on to the paper along with a die for the shape. Anyway, you will get a quote. When I ordered last year, it was 10,000x "50 euro hologram" stickers (which were SUPER thin, flush to the surface) for €850 including shipping. So be prepared to risk sending a lot of money, you could possibly be scammed. Its safe to have them shipped to your house because customs will never find them, the chinese do a great job at making them look discrete, them guys know exactly what there doing, its as if the chinese say "fuck the death penalty"... if someone gives them work they will do it. 10,000 holos look smaller than I thought, I was expecting a big crate to come to my door but instead I got a booklet shaped package , much like a large catalog. I did get lucky and received to my home address but if your paranoid, then get them shipped to a drop house.
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For watermarks the idea is to screen print it on. On the back of the bill screen print the watermark on using watermark ink (white+black) , you need both colors because if you look closely the watermark isn't 100% white or dark in colour, its blended. Watermarks are multi-toned. You must replicate that creating screen stencils and perfecting it until its fully indistinguishable. The black and white watermark ink can be mixed to create a greyish colour. The black wmark ink should be used for the security thread also. Multiple screens for the different inks should be used. And also I recomend getting a high-mesh screen so it looks detailed. Research all this on arts and crafts forums. Watermark ink can be found on alibaba also among many websites online. ---
Buying Archival quality paper is needed. The feel is number 1, you can go ahead and order from alibaba again or you can research different companies online. If you order 100% cotton paper (for euros) you will realise that they aren't snappy like real money, the key here is to order customised paper and request that the paper feels snappy. Usually Archival quality paper is very snappy. The original notes become snappy from the tons of pressure from the hydraulic printing machines/ intaglio presses pressing down on the notes. They come out of the machines feeling very durable and thin. I hear of many people covering the notes with layers of hairspray or limpy waxy sprays to produce either a snap or a raised texture, this shit doesn't work... apart from it being time consuming you want the notes to be made legitimately, just like the real ones. If I'm a cashier I'll first notice that the bill feels heavy and sticky, this raises alarms. Think logically. The snap of the notes should be made not artificially, instead it should be made just like the real notes are. Request from your paper supplier that you have the notes feeling very durable and snappy. Although instead of using the word snappy (which could be obvious) phrase it differently.
With normal paper, it won't handle UV ink, archival paper does, so it is 100% needed.
Raised ink you might say? Simple. Literally, very simple. If you got holographic hot foil instead of the stickers for the hologram on your bill, you won't need to buy a hydraulic press. But if you got holographic stickers instead of hot foil, then you will need to invest in a hydraulic press. They don't take up TOO much room in the area your working in so don't worry. So presuming you have a hot stamping machine, you need to get a die that replicates the area of raised ink on the bill. Attach it to the hot stamping machine, depending on the pressure your machine gives out, it will form a raised texture to the bill. You could buy an expensive CNC engraver to make the metal die plate, but alternatively you could ask for one custom made on a website that specializes in this. I recommend getting a CNC engraver though because its less risk and also you will probably move on to a higher denomination and want to make a new plate/die for a different bill and in the long run it will work out cheaper. An alternative to an expensive CNC engraver would be to etch copper plates using acid, there are loads of tutorials online about how to do this. Also you could etch photopolymer plates but from my understand, photopolymer is very weak and a heavy duty hydraulic press might make the plate snap. This is not what you want. You can possibly use photopolymer plates to make the raised ink template, using lithographic printing method add in a clear medium, run it through your small lithographic printing machine and out comes the note with a raised texture to it. Experimenting with different clear medium inks is needed.
I read books about art williams, stephen jory, wesley weber among a few others. I recommend reading as much as possible. As I said, knowledge (otherwise knows as a change in perspective) is key here. You need to stimulate your brains imagination. This does sound like some weird shit but imagination is unlimited knowledge is limited, this obviously translates into the fact that you must maximize your potential by knowing everything related to this, then your imagination will help you reach massive goals thus leading to success, money, and bitches.
Reference
Internal Link: Counterfeit Information