Patent ID: 7747087

Claim:
A method of encoding information into an image or images comprising the steps of constructing the information to be encoded, adjusting the size of the information to consider the impact on image quality; encoding the information into bytes; calculating the size, in bytes, of the encoded information; pre-pending to the encoded information an optional byte or bytes specifying the size of the encoded information; identifying, based on inputs to this method, the image pixels from the original image that are to be modified; using the data values from the encoded information, the pixel values from the original image, and calculated or specified light and dark levels, encoding each byte of information into a start delimiter, light and dark pixels, an optional parity pixel, and an end delimiter by modifying the image pixels, balancing the impact on image quality with the capabilities of the expected capture, decoding, and extraction systems; inserting the modified image pixels into the image, replacing the appropriate image pixels with the modified pixels; inserting additional optional light pixels between bytes; saving the modified image; repeating the above steps for requested number of additional images; saving the modified image or images.