Blacklight paint
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Blacklight paint or blacklight-reactive paint is paint that glows under a blacklight (a source of light whose wavelengths are primarily in the ultraviolet range). The paint may or may not be colorful under ordinary light. It is also known as Day-Glo which is the trade name of the original product, invented by Bob Switzer.
Such paints and inks are commonly used in the production of blacklight posters. Under daylight, the ultraviolet light ordinarily present makes the colors especially vivid. Under blacklight (with little or no visible light present), the effect produced can be psychedelic.
Other common usage of the blacklight paints is in security features of money notes, various certificates printed on paper, meal coupons, tickets and similar things that represent a value (monetary or otherwise). The blacklight painted figures used for this purpose are usually invisible under normal light, even when they are exposed to direct sunlight (which contains ultraviolet light) but they show up glowing when exposed to blacklight source. This defeats simple and inexpensive attempts to counterfeit them by scanning the original using a high resolution scanner and printing them using an inexpensive high resolution printer (most if not all inexpensive printers don't allow using blacklight paints for printing) and no special equipment is needed to verify the presence and correctness of this feature (an inexpensive blacklight source being handy is all that is needed). Some coupons and tickets use colorful blacklight paints.
Blacklight paints are sometimes used in the scenery of amusement park dark rides. A blacklight illuminates the vivid colors of the scenery, while the vehicle and other passengers remain dimly lit or barely visible. This can enhance the effect of being in a fantasy world.
Blacklight paints are always fluorescent. More rarely, they may also be phosphorescent, containing a phosphor that continues to glow for a time after the blacklight has been removed.
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