Disappearing ink (of a non-espionage nature)

[bcr]

I've encountered a situation where a hand signed document needs an overprint but feeding it through a laser printer is erasing the signature.

I believe this is because the signature was made using erasable/washable ink and the heat from the fusing process is just evaporating it.

Only solution I can think of is to get an inkjet machine which won't heat up the page during printing.

Has anyone else experienced this, and could changing fuser settings solve it?

 

[TJPrinter]

Is the document something you could scan and overprint the copy? I know checks and some legal documents have ink that will fade with heat but I haven't encountered any documents that are signed using this ink. I remember reading an article about some inks that erase with heat and appear again when cooled, like put it in the freezer cold and the image comes back.

 

[bcr]

Is the document something you could scan and overprint the copy? I know checks and some legal documents have ink that will fade with heat but I haven't encountered any documents that are signed using this ink. I remember reading an article about some inks that erase with heat and appear again when cooled, like put it in the freezer cold and the image comes back.

Thanks - they're original signed documents which we have to then print headers onto for, essentially notarial reasons. So it has to be the originals.

Interesting about the cooling part. May test that out as the copy is ruined anyway

 

[namelessentity]

To be fair, they should probably have them re-done anyway. The whole point of using a pen is so the document can't be altered, isn't it? I'm sure there's some legal issue with using an erasable ink to sign notarized documents.

 

[bcr]

To be fair, they should probably have them re-done anyway. The whole point of using a pen is so the document can't be altered, isn't it? I'm sure there's some legal issue with using an erasable ink to sign notarized documents.

I use the term notarial very loosely.
There's no legal issue in this instance

 

[MailGuru]

I use the term notarial very loosely.
There's no legal issue in this instance

So............ Someone gave me a document to read over, and then I sign it signifying that i agree to the document in it's exact form of the date and time that I signed it. Then, sometime later, you alter the document that I signed (even aesthetically), and, there's no legal issue with it?

If there's ever a dispute and it ends up in a court of law, the Judge hands me the document and says "Is this your signature?". I would have to say "Yes, your Honor, but, that is NOT the form I signed. Here's the form I signed". The implication being, if something was changed on the form (even headers & footers) after I signed it, there is the possibility that other things in the document may have been changed. The document would have to be excluded in the proceedings.

 

[jwheeler]

Nothing to see here folks.

 

[bcr]

So............ Someone gave me a document to read over, and then I sign it signifying that i agree to the document in it's exact form of the date and time that I signed it. Then, sometime later, you alter the document that I signed (even aesthetically), and, there's no legal issue with it?

If there's ever a dispute and it ends up in a court of law, the Judge hands me the document and says "Is this your signature?". I would have to say "Yes, your Honor, but, that is NOT the form I signed. Here's the form I signed". The implication being, if something was changed on the form (even headers & footers) after I signed it, there is the possibility that other things in the document may have been changed. The document would have to be excluded in the proceedings.

You're really over thinking this.

Signatories (usually multiple) sign document in hard copy in advance of issuance of the document in future upon their instruction and consent.

They can't date it in advance because the issuance date is difficult to predict and they are typically travelling a lot.

Were not doing anything dodgy here this is the standard practice in this particular industry where original hand signed documents are required but which most of the time cannot be signed, dated, bound together and then shipped out on the exact date of issuance by multiple signatories based in different countries.

 

[MailGuru]

Apologies. Just sounded nefarious. My Bad.

 

[davarino]

Let's assume that the problem is the heat. The ink need not be a special ink to vaporize at those temperatures, but it could be one.

Four possible solutions:

If you have an addressing machine for mailing and the size of the imprint is small enough, you might be able to inkjet the information with the drier turned off and run the machine slowly enough not to smear.

Typewrite or, even better, use a 1970's version automated typewriter.

Run through an inkjet desktop printer, or desktop daisywheel or dot-matrix.

Letterpress print the imprint.

 

[bcr]

Let's assume that the problem is the heat. The ink need not be a special ink to vaporize at those temperatures, but it could be one.

Four possible solutions:

If you have an addressing machine for mailing and the size of the imprint is small enough, you might be able to inkjet the information with the drier turned off and run the machine slowly enough not to smear.

Typewrite or, even better, use a 1970's version automated typewriter.

Run through an inkjet desktop printer, or desktop daisywheel or dot-matrix.

Letterpress print the imprint.

Thanks.

For now I've ordered a basic A4 inkjet machine to try it out

 

[MailGuru]

Hey Bcr, you never mention volume. What kind of volume are you anticipating?

Where I'm going with this is: if the daily volume is low enough, it could probably be done on a $75 "disposable" personal printer you could pick up at Sams or Costco like an Epson or an HP

 

[bcr]

Hey Bcr, you never mention volume. What kind of volume are you anticipating?

Where I'm going with this is: if the daily volume is low enough, it could probably be done on a $75 "disposable" personal printer you could pick up at Sams or Costco like an Epson or an HP

Yeah it's a handful of pages each month. Got a basic Inkjet now and it works fine.