The present invention is related to an intaglio ink composition comprising a first component A) and a second component B), wherein the first component A) is selected from the group consisting of i) about 0.1% to about 40% by weight of a plurality of first particles having a modal particle diameter between about 1 nm and about 3 μm, said plurality of first particles may be a material having machine readable properties, preferably selected from the group consisting of magnetic properties, UV- or IR-absorbing properties, optically variable properties, light polarization properties, electro-conductive properties, luminescent properties and combinations thereof, ii) about 1% to about 20% by weight of one or more dyes, said one or more dyes may be a material having machine readable properties preferably selected from the group consisting of IR-absorbing properties, luminescent properties and combinations thereof, and iii) combinations thereof, and the second component B) is about 0.1% to about 40% by weight of a plurality of second particles having a modal particle diameter between about 6 μm and about 25 μm, said plurality of second particles may be a material having machine readable properties preferably selected from the group consisting of magnetic properties, UV- or IR-absorbing properties, optically variable properties, light polarization properties, electro-conductive properties and luminescent properties and combinations thereof, wherein the first component A) and the second component B) exhibit at least one different characteristic, said characteristic being selected from the group consisting of the CIE (1976) color index parameters, machine readable properties, and a combination thereof, the % by weight being based on the total weight of the intaglio ink composition.