An information processing apparatus includes a setting unit, a detector and a controller. The setting unit sets setting information associating a registered image obtained by reading an image with control information indicating whether input image data is to be stored or not. The detector detects the registered image from the input image data. The controller controls whether or not the input image data including the registered image is stored in a storage based on the setting information.

A printed material, an image forming apparatus, and a data acquisition device. The printed material includes a printed confidential information image visible under a special condition, and an information image having information on a position of the confidential information image. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming device configured to form an image on a recording medium to form the printed material. The data acquisition device includes circuitry, and the circuitry is configured to acquire confidential information from the confidential information image on the printed, specify the position of the confidential information image from the information image, and display position information of the confidential information image.

An optical article printed on a substrate may include an organic binder; and a plurality of reflective magnetic platelets provided in the organic binder, wherein the plurality of reflective magnetic platelets are substantially aligned in accordance with at least part of a surface of revolution, and wherein the plurality of reflective magnetic platelets are aligned to cause a first reflective effect of the optical article when the substrate is rotated around a first axis and to cause a second reflective effect of the optical article when the substrate is rotated around a second axis, wherein the first reflective effect is different from the second reflective effect.

A first pattern and the second pattern in an original include relatively lighter markings within a relatively darker background. The first pattern differs from the second pattern by including non-printing patches between the relatively lighter markings. When the original is exposed to ultraviolet light, the underlying print media fluoresces in response to the ultraviolet light at the non-printing patches, revealing hidden security printing features. When a scanned image is printed on a second sheet of print media to produce a copy of the original, the copy lacks distinct markings at locations where the relatively lighter markings and the non-printing patches appear in the original because the spacing interval of the relatively lighter markings and the non-printing patches is below the minimum resolution of the scanner. Thus, when the copy is exposed to ultraviolet light, the copy does not fluoresce the ultraviolet light where the non-printing patches appear in the original.

An information processing apparatus includes a setting unit, a detector and a controller. The setting unit sets setting information associating a registered image obtained by reading an image with control information indicating whether input image data is to be stored or not. The detector detects the registered image from the input image data. The controller controls whether or not the input image data including the registered image is stored in a storage based on the setting information.

An original document is formed using a first print medium by printing a first and second monochrome patterns with a single colorant to form printed first and second regions including first and second shapes, respectively, which are devoid of the colorant. The second shapes have a smaller size and a higher frequency than the first shapes. The first and/or second regions encode information. The first and second patterns and a fluorescence of the first print medium are selected such that the first and second regions of the original document are indistinguishable to the naked eye, under both normal and ultraviolet illumination but are distinguishable, only under the ultraviolet illumination, in a copy formed by scanning the original document and printing the scanned document on a second print medium with a plurality of colorants, to reveal the encoded information.

An original document is formed using a first print medium by printing a first and second monochrome patterns with a single colorant to form printed first and second regions including first and second shapes, respectively, which are devoid of the colorant. The second shapes have a smaller size and a higher frequency than the first shapes. The first and/or second regions encode information. The first and second patterns and a fluorescence of the first print medium are selected such that the first and second regions of the original document are indistinguishable to the naked eye, under both normal and ultraviolet illumination but are distinguishable, only under the ultraviolet illumination, in a copy formed by scanning the original document and printing the scanned document on a second print medium with a plurality of colorants, to reveal the encoded information.

An optical article printed on a substrate may include an organic binder; and a plurality of reflective magnetic platelets provided in the organic binder, wherein the plurality of reflective magnetic platelets are substantially aligned in accordance with at least part of a surface of revolution, and wherein the plurality of reflective magnetic platelets are aligned to cause a first reflective effect of the optical article when the substrate is rotated around a first axis and to cause a second reflective effect of the optical article when the substrate is rotated around a second axis, wherein the first reflective effect is different from the second reflective effect.

Systems and methods for authenticating material samples are provided. Characteristic features are measured for a batch of material samples that comprise substantially the same composition and are produced by substantially the same process. The measured characteristic features have respective variability that is analyzed to extract statistical parameters. In some cases, reference ranges are determined based on the extracted statistical parameters for the batch of material samples. The corresponding statistical parameters of a test material sample are compared to the reference ranges to verify whether the test material sample is authentic.

An original document is formed using a first print medium by printing a first and second monochrome patterns with a single colorant to form printed first and second regions including first and second shapes, respectively, which are devoid of the colorant. The second shapes have a smaller size and a higher frequency than the first shapes. The first and/or second regions encode information. The first and second patterns and a fluorescence of the first print medium are selected such that the first and second regions of the original document are indistinguishable to the naked eye, under both normal and ultraviolet illumination but are distinguishable, only under the ultraviolet illumination, in a copy formed by scanning the original document and printing the scanned document on a second print medium with a plurality of colorants, to reveal the encoded information.