IMAGE PROCESSING UNIT, METHOD AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing unit that can protect a digital image and a printed image in response to various applications by using an add-on system and an electronic watermark method in combination. SOLUTION: First an electronic watermark imbedding section 11 imbeds an invisible electronic watermark to an input image 10. In the case of printing an image into which an electronic watermark is imbedded, an add-on attachment section 12 attaches a specific dot pattern in yellow to the image to obtain an output image 13. Dividing the image into areas to which the electronic watermark is imbedded and areas to which the dot pattern is added by the add-on method in this case can coexist the electronic watermark system and the add-on method.