Braille is a special typeface designed for blind and partially sighted individuals. The special font was developed in 1824 by the Frenchman Louis Braille and is named after him. Nowadays, Braille is most often used on packaging for pharmaceutical products and has been a legal requirement since 2004. These special characters can be applied to labels in accordance with EN ISO 17 351.
The technology of printing the Braille dot alphabet is very similar to the blind printing process. To print Braille on packaging, technologies such as embossing, screen printing, or inkjet can be used. However, this special typeface has very strict criteria. To ensure that Braille readers can identify the text, the height of the Braille dots must be 0.2 mm. Character sets are made up of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, and special characters. Each Braille character consists of up to six dots, arranged in two columns of up to three dots each.
The application of Braille typeface using screen printing is a well-established practice. This technology makes it possible to use a variety of substrates, ranging from paper to cardboard to polymers. It is important to remember that the dots must not interfere with the legibility of the graphics or text underneath them. It is also not recommended to print Braille on the caps of packaging.
We have a special machine at our factory for printing Braille which uses XDOT® technology. This involves the layering of a special UV varnish. After curing, the desired relief is created which meets the parameters of EN 15823.
Do you know where you can most often find this typeface? All around us! For example, on the packaging of pharmaceuticals or around the buttons in elevators.
To order this technology, or to find out more information, please contact our sales department using the button below.
