Image data outputting apparatus and image data outputting method

• US 20020054317A1
• Filed: 08/08/2001
• Published: 05/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Kawano, Hiroyuki, Matsunoshita, Junichi, Kameda, Koji, Shinozaki, Kengo
• Granted Patent: US 7,301,654 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00838 Preventing unauthorised reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00883 Auto-copy-preventive originals, i.e. originals that are designed not to allow faithful reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3204 of data relating to a user, sender, addressee, machine or electronic recording medium H04N2201/3256 and subgroups take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/327 which are undetectable to the naked eye, e.g. embedded codes

Abstract

An image data outputting apparatus and method form satisfactory images regardless of characteristics of an image forming apparatus by outputting copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery to the image forming apparatus. For example, a recording medium outputting system is constructed by connecting a LAN having a DB server managing transmission/reception of data to/from a database in the city office, and many LANs each having a terminal and a printer installed in a convenience store via a communication line and the Internet. Document data of a certificate is retrieved from the database in the city office by operating a terminal in a store, the retrieved document data is merged with copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to characteristics of a printer in the same store, and the merged data is outputted from the printer.

Claims

1. An image data outputting apparatus for outputting copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery, comprising:

storing means for storing a plurality of pieces of copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to characteristics of a plurality of image forming apparatuses;

selecting means for selecting a piece of copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to a characteristic of an image forming apparatus specified for forming an image from the plurality of pieces of copy forgery preventing image data stored in the storing means; and

outputting means for outputting the piece of copy forgery preventing image data selected by the selecting means to the image forming apparatus specified for forming an image.

2. The image data outputting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the piece of copy forgery preventing image data includes at least a background portion constituted by a first pattern and a latent image portion constituted by a second pattern; and

the selecting means selects the piece of copy forgery preventing image data so that, when an image is formed by the specified image forming apparatus, the background portion and the latent image portion are almost equal in density.

3. An image data outputting apparatus for outputting copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery, comprising:

generating means for generating copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to a characteristic of an image forming apparatus for forming an image; and

outputting means for outputting the copy forgery preventing image data generated by the generating means to the image forming apparatus for forming an image.

4. An image data outputting method for outputting copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting a piece of copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to a characteristic of an image forming apparatus specified for forming an image from a plurality of pieces of copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to characteristics of a plurality of image forming apparatuses stored in storing means; and

outputting the selected piece of copy forgery preventing image data to the image forming apparatus specified for forming an image.

5. An image data outputting method for outputting copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery, the method comprising the steps of:

generating copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to a characteristic of an image forming apparatus for forming an image; and

outputting the generated copy forgery preventing image data to the image forming apparatus for forming an image.

6. An image data outputting apparatus which outputs a piece of copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery to an image forming apparatus for forming an image based on a piece of forgery prevention target image data to be protected from copy-based forgery, the image data outputting apparatus comprising:

storing means for storing a plurality of pieces of forgery prevention target image data and a plurality of pieces of copy forgery preventing image data;

retrieving and selecting means for retrieving a piece of forgery prevention target image data corresponding to information transmitted from a terminal from the plurality of pieces of forgery prevention target image data stored in the storing means and selecting a piece of copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to the retrieved piece of forgery prevention target image data and an image forming apparatus specified for forming an image; and

outputting means for outputting the retrieved piece of forgery prevention target image data and the selected piece of copy forgery preventing image data.

7. An image data outputting apparatus which outputs a piece of copy forgery preventing image data for preventing copy-based forgery to an image forming apparatus for forming an image based on a piece of forgery prevention target image data to be protected from copy-based forgery, the image data outputting apparatus comprising:

storing means for storing a plurality of pieces of forgery prevention target image data;

retrieving means for retrieving a piece of forgery prevention target image data corresponding to information transmitted from a terminal from the plurality of pieces of forgery prevention target image data stored in the storing means;

generating means for generating a piece of copy forgery preventing image data corresponding to the retrieved piece of forgery prevention target image data and an image forming apparatus specified for forming an image; and

outputting means for outputting the retrieved piece of forgery prevention target image data and the generated piece of copy forgery preventing image data.