Direct Part Marking

A work item of AIDC's Technical Symbology Committee (TSC).

Status: The public review period for this document ended June 7, 2006.  The final version will be published upon resolution of any comments received.

Definition: Direct Part Marking (DPM) is a technology used to produce two different surface conditions on an item. These markings can be created by laser etching, molding, peening, etc.

Concern: Traditional print quality measures are based on the assumption that there will be a measurable difference between dark and light elements of a symbol. Because DPM symbols frequently do not have sufficient contrast between elements intended to be dark and light, it is often necessary to provide specialized lighting in order to produce highlights or shadows in order to distinguish the various elements of the symbol.