HOW HOLOGRAMS ARE PRINTED
Credit cards, bank notes and more: the many uses for applying 3D images to a 2D surface
WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD
Printed holograms are created through a photographic principle called holography, whereby the contours of a three-dimensional object are captured in a two-dimensional image. The history of holograms dates back to 1948, when Hungarian-British engineer Dennis Gabor first conceptualised what’s now referred to as holography. Using an electron microscope and interacting waves of light, Gabor captured the point where the phase of two light waves aligned, creating the illusion of depth in an image.