Variable data digital pantographs
First Claim
1. A method of forming a variable data pantograph comprising:
- receiving a variable data string associated with one or more pantograph characters;
retrieving one or more character representations from a vocabulary of character representations stored in memory, the retrieved one or more character representations corresponding to the variable data string, each of the character representations in the vocabulary including a foreground region including a character shape, and a background region suitably sized and arranged for encompassing the foreground region, the background region incorporating a first pattern of elements and the foreground region incorporating a second pattern of elements;
associating a respective target color with each of the one or more character representations;
associating a first set of color separation control data with the respective target color for rendering the target color in the foreground region and associating a second set of color separation control data with the respective target color for rendering the target color in the background region for each of the one or more character representations; and
assembling the one or more character representations to form a variable data pantograph, whereby when the variable data pantograph is rendered as a function of the associated first and second sets of color separation control data of the respective one or more character representations in an original document, the foreground and background regions are similar in tone to the respective target colors, and the foreground and background regions are substantially less similar in tone in a copy of the original document to render the one or more character foreground regions visible.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A variable data pantograph is formed by receiving a variable data string and retrieving at least one character representation from a vocabulary of character representations stored in memory. The retrieved at least one character representation corresponds to the variable data string. Each of the character representations in the vocabulary is associated with a foreground region including a character shape and a background region suitably sized and arranged for encompassing the foreground region. The background region incorporates a first pattern of elements and is controlled to render a target color using a first set of color separation control data and the foreground region incorporates a second pattern of elements and is controlled to render the target color using a second set of color separation control data. The retrieved at least one character representation is assembled to form a variable data pantograph, whereby when the variable data pantograph is rendered in an original document, the foreground and background regions are similar in tone, the foreground and background regions being substantially less similar in tone in a copy of the original document to render the character visible.
79 Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A method of forming a variable data pantograph comprising:
-
receiving a variable data string associated with one or more pantograph characters; retrieving one or more character representations from a vocabulary of character representations stored in memory, the retrieved one or more character representations corresponding to the variable data string, each of the character representations in the vocabulary including a foreground region including a character shape, and a background region suitably sized and arranged for encompassing the foreground region, the background region incorporating a first pattern of elements and the foreground region incorporating a second pattern of elements; associating a respective target color with each of the one or more character representations; associating a first set of color separation control data with the respective target color for rendering the target color in the foreground region and associating a second set of color separation control data with the respective target color for rendering the target color in the background region for each of the one or more character representations; and assembling the one or more character representations to form a variable data pantograph, whereby when the variable data pantograph is rendered as a function of the associated first and second sets of color separation control data of the respective one or more character representations in an original document, the foreground and background regions are similar in tone to the respective target colors, and the foreground and background regions are substantially less similar in tone in a copy of the original document to render the one or more character foreground regions visible. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An apparatus for generating a variable data pantograph comprising:
-
a reception component which receives a variable data string associated with one or more pantograph characters; memory which stores a vocabulary of character representations, each of the character representations in the vocabulary including a foreground region including a font body image shape and a background region suitably sized and arranged for encompassing the foreground region; and a generation component which retrieves a selected one or more of the character representations from the vocabulary which are to form a variable data pantograph corresponding to the received variable data string, associates a respective target color with each of the one or more character representations, associates a first set of color separation control data with the respective target color for rendering the target color in the foreground region, and associates a second set of color separation control data with the respective target color for rendering the target color in the background region for each of the one or more character representations, whereby when the variable data pantograph is rendered as a function of the associated first and second sets of color separation control data of the respective one or more character representations in an original document, the foreground and background regions are similar in tone and the foreground and background regions are substantially less similar in tone in a copy of the original document to render the character visible. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
-
-
17. A method of generating a pantograph font representation at a character comprising:
-
receiving a character to be represented in the pantograph font representation; rasterize the character to form a grid in which each location in the grid is designated as ON or OFF, the ON/OFF locations of the grid associated with pixels defining the character, the OFF/ON locations of the grid associated with pixels defining the region of the grid encompassing the character; for each ON/OFF location, assigning a first base pattern comprising a first element; storing the grid with the assigned first base pattern in memory as a foreground pantograph representation of the character; for each OFF/ON location, assigning a second base pattern comprising a second element; and storing the grid with the assigned second base pattern as a background pantograph representation of the character; wherein the first and second base patterns are selected to provide regions of similar tone when rendered in an original document, the regions of similar tone being substantially less similar in tone in a copy of the original document to render the character visible. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. An electronically stored vocabulary of character representations residing in a computer memory for use by a printing system, each of the character representations comprising:
-
a stored foreground region of a predetermined grid size including a character shape; and a stored background of the predetermined grid size suitably sized and arranged for encompassing the character shape when the stored foreground region and stored background region are overlayed; wherein a first pattern of elements is incorporated in the character representation to define the foreground region character shape and a second pattern of elements is incorporated into the character representation to define the background region encompassing the character shape, whereby when the character representation is incorporated in a variable data pantograph which is rendered in an original document, the stored foreground and background regions are similar in tone and layered, the foreground and background regions being substantially less similar in tone in a copy of the original document to render the character visible. - View Dependent Claims (24)
-
Specification