A digital medium such as a DVD disk, may contain hidden content and apparent content. When loaded, a main or title menu may appear to provide an apparent link to apparent content and a non-apparent link to non-apparent content. The non-apparent link may require a user to perform a sequence of non-apparent control actions before providing access to the non-apparent content.

A color shift security feature is provided. In at least one form, a clear colorant is used to add content to a document to provide a visual indication if the document is printed on a printer with self-limiting behavior. In this manner, in at least one form, it can be determined if a document is authentic, secure and/or authorized.

A multi-functional printing (MFP) includes a scan privacy tool to allow edits and changes to a scanned document image to remove or hide private information within a document. The scan privacy tool is enabled for jobs on the MFP device and launches when a job is run. The document is scanned and a scanned document image displayed on a display and edit interface of the scan privacy tool. Changes are made to the image using tools available through the scan privacy tool. The changes are applied to the scanned document image. The modified image is saved and transmitted to an engine in the MFP device to complete the job.

A multi-functional printing (MFP) includes a scan privacy tool to allow edits and changes to a document image to remove or hide private information within a document. The scan privacy tool is enabled for jobs on the MFP device and launches when a print job is run. The document is sent from a device or retrieved from memory storage. The document image displayed on a display and edit interface of the scan privacy tool. Changes are made to the document image using tools available through the scan privacy tool. The changes are applied to the document image. The modified image is saved and transmitted to an engine in the MFP device to complete the print job.

According to some embodiments, a document processing unit may receive information associated with a document to be processed. The document processing unit might comprise, for example, a printer, scanner, copier, facsimile machine, or multi-function device. The document processing unit may then automatically analyze the received information in view of at least one pre-determined document policy. The document processing unit may then automatically determine, based on the analysis, whether to apply a policy action, associated with the pre-determined document policy, to the processing of the document. For example, the document processing unit might prevent a document from printing.

A process of signing documents including generating a document identification from a digital copy of a document to be signed by at least one signatory, and encoding the document identification into one or more watermarks. A hard copy of the document to be signed incorporating the watermark(s) is produced. The watermark(s) is/are read using an optical reader device, and the document identification encoded into the watermark(s) and read by the optical reader device is decoded. The hard copy is associated to the digital copy based on the decoded document identification. Signing of the document is performed using a digital signing device, and signatory information unique to the signatory is obtained. Finally, a digital signature of the digital copy is generated based on the decoded document identification and the signatory information, following which the digital signature is applied to the digital copy to produce a digitally signed copy of the document.

In accordance with an embodiment, an image forming apparatus comprises a first image forming section configured to form an image with a visible image forming material; a second image forming section configured to form an image with an invisible image forming material; an image acquisition section configured to acquire a print image that should be printed on a medium as a printed matter; and a processor configured to acquire authentication information for authenticity determination added to the printed matter and carry out an image forming processing on not only the print image with the visible image forming material by the first image forming section but also the authentication information with the invisible image forming material by the second image forming section.

A processor of an MFP generates a first additional image based on an image in a designated region of a document. Furthermore, the processor of the MFP generates a second additional image showing a difference between the document and a document before revision of the document. Then, the processor of the MFP registers the first additional image and the second additional image on a server in association with a marker image showing the revised edition number of the document.

In accordance with an embodiment, an image forming apparatus comprises a first image forming section configured to form an image with a visible image forming material; a second image forming section configured to form an image with an invisible image forming material; an image acquisition section configured to acquire a print image that should be printed on a medium as a printed matter; and a processor configured to acquire authentication information for authenticity determination added to the printed matter and carry out an image forming processing on not only the print image with the visible image forming material by the first image forming section but also the authentication information with the invisible image forming material by the second image forming section.

An information insertion method, an information extraction method, and an information extraction apparatus using dot-based information are provided herein. The information extraction apparatus includes an identification unit and an extraction unit. The identification unit identifies a set of at least one dot output to a target. The extraction unit extracts information from the set of at least one dot.