The invention provides a method capable of accurately positioning a coating for producing an anti-counterfeiting optical element and aims at overcoming the defects that the efficiency is low, and fine mapping, metal removal and hollowing cannot be realized in the prior art for producing the anti-counterfeiting element. The method comprises the following steps: forming an undulating structural layer comprising at least a first undulating structural layer area and a second undulating structural layer area on the surface of a substrate, wherein the ratio of the surface area to the apparent area of the first undulating structural layer area is greater than the ratio of the surface area to the apparent area of the second undulating structural layer; forming a first coating on at least one part of the first undulating structural layer area and forming a second coating on at least one part of the second undulating structural layer area; forming protecting layers which can be heated for sublimating on the at least one part of the first coating and on the at least one part of the second coating, wherein the thickness of the protecting layer on the first coating is smaller than that of the protecting layer on the second coating; heating to sublimating the protecting layers until the protecting layer on the first coating is completely sublimated and the protecting layer on the second coating is not completely sublimated; hollowing out the coating part which is not protected by the protecting layers.