Patent ID: 8335342

Claim:
A method for protecting print items comprising: receiving a digital image data representation of a print item to be rendered; receiving indication of an intended value for an informational indicia to be visually indicated upon a face of a print item; checking a border area at an edge of the digital image data representation; determining whether all the digital image data representation within at least a portion of the border area partitioned into blocks is blank; clearing all the digital image data representation within at least a portion of the blocks of the border area if it is not blank to produce blank partitioned blocks; determining whether a sufficient number of blank partitioned blocks are greater than or equal to a number of bits of intended value to be embedded, divided by a number of bits which can be embedded per blank partitioned block; and in response to a sufficient number of blank partitioned blocks existing performing: encoding the intended value as a plurality of data carrying dot patterns; embedding each of the plurality of data carrying dot patterns in the border area; and rendering the print item with the embedded data carrying dot patterns in the border with each embedded data carrying dot rendered as too small to be visually noticeable.