EP1014318A2

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Info

Publication number: EP1014318A2
Application number: EP99125264A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Takashi Int. Property Division Yamaguchi
Original assignee: Toshiba Corp
Current assignee: Toshiba Corp
Priority date: 1998-12-18
Filing date: 1999-12-17
Publication date: 2000-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 2019-12-17
Also published as: DE69917417T2; DE69917417D1; KR100433590B1; EP1014318A3; KR20000048145A; JP2000182086A; EP1014318B1

Abstract

In a ticket issuing method, security data is firstmade from ticket issue request data and useridentification data sent from user via a communicationmeans and then, ticket image data is made from the ticketissue request data and by embedding the security data inthe ticket image data in the invisible state, ticketprinting data for printing ticket by user is made. Theticket printing data thus made is sent to user via acommunication means.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ticket issuingmethod and a ticket issuing system to issue tickets, forinstance, tickets for concerts, tickets of travellingfacilities and other tickets by way of a network or atelephone line.

Further, the present invention relates to a ticketcollating method for examining the genuineness of issuedtickets.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, a system is widespread to requesttickets for concerts or transport facilities using anetwork or a telephone line and a requester goes to pickup the requested ticket at a prescribed place. Thus, itis possible to purchase tickets at home or a company.

Further, based on the widespread of personalcomputers and color printers and improvement of theinfrastructure of the communication environment of theinternet, etc., a system that is capable of directlyissuing tickets that are requested via a network at homeor a company is now under the examination.

Further, such a service is provided recently thatwhen a ticket for a concert is requested via a network, animage for exchanging with a ticket is unloaded on apersonal computer at home and record it on a floppy disk,that is then brought to the place of concert for listeningthe concert.

Further, a system is also being tested now to requestan electronic postage stamp via a network and issue therequested electronic postage stamp at home or a company.For instance, U.S. Patent No. 5,696,507 and U.S. Patent No.5,666,284, disclosed a method and a system to storepostage stamp data including coded postal charge data in adedicated storage device that is connected to a personalcomputer and print the stamp data on an envelope.

However, a dedicated storage device that is connectedto a personal computer is required for the method and thesystem disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5606,5007 and U.S.Paten No. 5,666,284 and therefore, a client systemstructure is restricted. Further, although a postalcharge data is coded, it is printed in the visible stateon an envelope using a two-dimensional code technology orits applied technology and therefore, there is such adefect that coded data is read relatively easily when adifference in two data is taken and compared and thus, itssecurity is weak.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide aticket issuing method and a ticket issuing system that arecapable of simply issuing tickets that have high securityby way of communication means such as a network or atelephone line.

In addition, another object of the present inventionis to provide a ticket collating method that is capable ofeasily examining the genuineness of issued tickets andeasily making a follow-up survey when any illegal ticketis detected.

According to the present invention, a ticket issuingmethod comprising the steps of making security data fromticket issue request data and user identification datasent from a user via a communication means; making ticketimage data from the ticket issue request data; makingticket printing data by embedding the security data in theticket image data, the security data being invisibleagainst the ticket image data when the ticket printingdata including the ticket image data and the security datais printed on a ticket paper by the user; and sending theticket printing data to the user via a communication means,is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, a ticketcollation method comprising the steps of: making securitydata from ticket issue request data and user identification data sent from a user via a communicationmeans; making ticket image data from the ticket issuerequest data; making a prescribed pattern image data;making pattern modulated image data by modulating theprescribed pattern image data by the security data; makingticket printing data by superimposing the patternmodulated image data on the ticket image data; sending theticket printing data to the user via a communicationmeans; restoring the security data from a ticket printedby the user based on the received ticket printing data;and judging genuineness of the printed ticket according tothe restored security data, is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, a ticketissuing system comprising: means for making security datafrom ticket issue request data and user identificationdata sent from a user via a communication means; means formaking ticket image data from the ticket issue requestdata; means for making ticket printing data by embeddingthe security data in the ticket image data, the securitydata being invisible against the ticket image data whenthe ticket printing data including the ticket image dataand the security data is printed on a ticket paper by theuser; and means for sending the ticket printing data tothe user via a communication means, is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, a ticketissuing method comprising the steps of: outputting security data according to ticket issue request data froma user via a communication means, the security data beingvisible when the security data is printed on a paper;outputting ticket image data from the ticket issue requestdata, the ticket image data being visible when the ticketimage data is printed on a paper; outputting ticketprinting data by embedding the security data in the ticketimage data, the security data being invisible against theticket image data when the ticket printing data includingthe ticket image data and the security data is printed ona ticket paper by the user; and sending the ticketprinting data to the user via the communication means, isprovided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing thestructure of a ticket issuing system for achieving aticket issuing method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operatingsteps of ticket issue;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of ticketimage data when applied to an auto race admission ticket;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing one example of securitydata when applied to an auto race admission ticket;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing one example of ticketprinting data when applied to an auto race admission ticket;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining thebinary imaging of security data by two-dimensional code;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining thebinary imaging of security data by two-dimensional code;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining thebinary imaging of security data by two-dimensional code;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining the ticketprinting data preparation step;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a definite calculation example in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a definite calculationexample in the ticket printing data making;

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the thinningprocess in a third reproduction method;

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an interpolationprocess in a third reproduction method;

FIG. 22 is a diagram schematically showing a ticketissuing method; and

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining an example whenthe ticket issue method of the present invention isapplied to electronic postage stamps.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention willbe described below referring to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing thestructure of a ticket issuing system to achieve the ticketissuing method of the present invention. This ticketissuing system is composed of by connecting a user sideapparatus A with a system side apparatus B through such anetwork C as Internet, LAN, etc.

Further, "user" referred to here does mean a personwho prints a ticket by a printer available at home anduses that ticket and a person who prints a ticket by aprinter available at home or installed at a shop for use by other person or shop customer.

The user side apparatus A is composed of auserterminal device 11 comprising a personal computer, adedicated client software 12 that operates on a personalcomputer, and aticket printer 13 such as a color printerthat is connected to theuser terminal device 11.

The system side apparatus B is composed of a hostcomputer/server 16, adedicated server software 17 thatoperates on a host computer, adata base 18 that storesticket data, user data and other data, and a securitydatadetecting system 19.

Next, a ticket issue operating steps will beexplained referring to a flowchart shown in FIG. 2. Thehost computer/server 16, thededicated server software 17and thedata base 18 are always in the ready to operatestate and users who are registered in thedata base 18 areable to use anytime.

First, a user starts up theuser terminal device 11and the dedicated client software 12 (Step S1) andconnects theuser terminal device 11 to the hostcomputer/server 16 (Step S5) by inputting useridentification data such as a usr ID and a password (StepS2).

The host computer/server 16 collates the input useridentification data with data stored in the data base 18(Step S3) and approves the connection (Step S4) and starts the service when the input data is contained in theregistered user list, and rejects the connection if it isnot contained in the registered user list.

When connected to the host computer/server 16 (StepS5), a service menu is displayed on theuser terminaldevice 11 and a user selects a desired service and inputticket issue request data (Step S8). The ticket issuerequest data referred to here are, in the case of, forinstance, a ticket purchasing service, such required dataas a kind of desired ticket, date and time, charge, seatreservation, charge paying means, etc.

When the ticket issue request data are input, theuser terminal device 11 transmits these input data to thehost computer/server 16. The host computer/server 16receives the data and collating the data with the datastored in the data base 18 (Step S9), executes a ticketpurchasing step. If a desired ticket cannot be purchased,the host computer/server 16 sends a message stating it totheuser terminal device 11 and the step returns to theservice menu.

If a ticket is purchasable, the host computer/server16 outputs security data from the ticket issue requestdata and user identification data (Step S10), formsticket image data from the ticket issue request data (StepS11), and makes ticket printing data by embedding thesecurity data in the ticket image data in the invisible state (Step S12). When the security data is printed on apaper, the security data is visible. Further, the hostcomputer/server 16 makes ticket display data based on theticket printing data (Step S13) and transmits the ticketprinting data and the ticket display data to the userterminal device 11 (Step S14). The detailed method formaking security data, ticket printing data and ticketdisplay data will be described later.

The ticket display data sent from the hostcomputer/server 16 is displayed on the display of the userterminal device 11 (Step S15). A user checks the displayby looking it and when there is no problem, prints aticket. That is, when a print command is executed, theticket printing data is sent from theuser terminal device11 to theticket printer 13 and aticket 14 is printed andoutput (Step S16). When the print is normally completed,a print completion command is executed and when there areany print error, etc., the print command is executed again.

A user is able to go to a place of concert with aprinted ticket and use it as usual (Step S17). At theplace of concert, whether the usedticket 14 is a properticket is checked using a securitydata detecting system19. In the securitydata detecting system 19, thegenuineness of the ticket is judged by collating thedetected security data with data stored in the data base18 (Step S18).

FIG. 3-FIG. 5 show examples of auto race admissiontickets applicable to this embodiment. Fig. 3 showsticket image data 21, FIG. 4 showssecurity data 22 andFIG. 5 shows ticket printing data schematically.

Theticket image data 21 shown in FIG. 3 aregenerated from the ticket issue request data referring tothedata base 18 during the process in Step S11 shown inFIG. 2. On this ticket, a kind ofticket 31, aplace 32, adata andtime 33, areserved seat number 34, acharge 35,aserial number 36, aticket issuer 37 and a logo markthat are required for tickets for a normal concert areprinted. These data are also printed on the stub of theticket. Thesecurity data 22 shown in FIG. 4 is generatedfrom the user identification data and the ticket issuerequest data during the process in Step S10 show in FIG. 2.Thissecurity data 22 is used for the genuinenessjudgement to check whether a ticket was forged or altered.In this example, such data as a two-dimensional code data39, a serial number for inquiring 40, a ticket issuer 41,a logo mark are printed on this ticket. Letters andfigures are also expressed in binary image.

The two-dimensional code data 39 is printed for theautomatic mechanical process when thesecurity data 22 isread. The kind ofticket 31,place 32, date andtime 33,reservedseat number 34,charge 35,serial number 36,ticket issuer 36 andlogo mark 38 were converted into two-dimensional codes and contained in this two-dimensionalcode data 39. Further, the serial number forinquiry 40,ticket issuer 41 and logo mark are provided for checkingthesecurity data 22 with the naked eye.

Numbers of four figures are used for the inquiry

serial numbers

36 and 40 in this embodiment. The ticketsshown here are composed of data shown in the followingtable 1.

Classification	No. of Figure	Data Example	Use
Serial No.	20	1998092512345678	Used for inquiry to Data Base
Date ofIssue	8	19980925	Date
Class.Code 1	2	12	Data Base Class. Code
Class.Code 2	4	3412	Kind of Ticket/Area/Form of Contract. etc.
Ticket No.	6	345678	Ticket Issue Order

In the above table 1, Date of Issue indicates a datewhen issue of a ticket was requested, Class.Code 1indicates the data storage location of the data base forsearch, Class.Code 2 indicates coded kind of ticket andothers, and Ticket No. indicates the ticket issue order.Using a serial number comprising these data as a key forcollating to thedata base 18, it is possible to uniformlymanage a large quantity of tickets.

Thus, thesecurity data 22 shown in FIG. 4 is able tocheck both of man and machine. These data are also printed on the stub of a ticket.

Theticket printing data 23 shown in FIG. 5, that is,visible data and invisible data are made from the securitydata and the ticket image data during the process of StepS12 shown in FIG. 2 and an actually usable ticket isproduced when these data are printed. Theticket printingdata 23 shown in FIG. 5 is made by embedding thesecuritydata 22 shown in FIG. 4 in theticket image data 21 shownin FIG. 3 in the invisible state according to a methodthat is described later. Accordingly, the tickets shownin FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 are quite the same and cannot bediscriminated by the naked eye.

In this embodiment, an inquiry serial number, aticket issuer and its logo mark are included in thevisible state in the ticket image data, and in theinvisible state in the security data. Thus, by partiallyincluding the data in a ticket in the visible andinvisible state, it becomes possible to immediately detecta ticket that is forged or altered through the simplerewriting.

Further, regarding a logo mark, its location in thevisible state is so arranged that it is completely agreedwith that in the invisible state. Thus, it becomes verydifficult to forge or alter either one or both of logomarks visibly state and invisibly and security of a ticketis further improved.

Next, how to form the security data will be described.

The security data is composed of two-dimensional codedata and binary image such as letters or marks as shown inFIG. 4; however, one of these elements only or bothelements may be included.

When the security data is input in two-dimensionalcode, the mechanical process becomes possible whendetecting the security data and when the security data isinput in binary image, the visual process by man becomespossible and these processes are selectable according to asystem characteristic. Two-dimensional code and binaryimage are called the basic security data.

One example of the partial generation of the two-dimensionalcode 39 shown in FIG. 4 will be explained.

The two-dimensional code 39 is printed on a ticketfor the mechanical automatic process when the securitydata is read as mentioned above, and a kind of ticket, etc.are coded and included on the security data. For two-dimensionallycoded data, it is possible to use not only akind of ticket but also almost all kinds of forms such asvoice, image, text, etc. including individual data such aspre-registered voiceprint and fingerprints of user and,managing data.

First, it is necessary to convert basic security datainto digital data. In the case of basic security datacomprising such analog data as voice and voiceprint, they are converted into digital data through the A/D conversion.The data that is already in the digital form is used as itis.

Then, the digitized basic security data is convertedinto a binary image in two-dimensional code. The basicsecurity data is delimited into 4-bit blocks in order fromthe top and each block is replaced to a 2×2 pixel blackand while binary image according to a value of each blockas shown in FIG. 6.

For instance, when embedded data are arranged in thehexadecimal notation from the top as shown below,
FF 01 45 D3 ...
These data are replaced as shown in FIG. 7.

Further, the binary image data (FIG. 6) is expandedby n times so as not to impair the embedded image dataduring the smoothing process at the time of the compositeprocess described later. Here, n=2-4 is desirable. Theresult when the binary image data shown in FIG. 7 wasexpanded when, for instance, n=2 is shown in FIG. 8.

In this embodiment, Calra code was applied in thetwo-dimensional coding; however, other two-dimensionalcodes such as matrix system two-dimensional codes andGlyph codes are also usable without problem.

In the case where such two-dimensional image data asa character string 41 of "Ticket East-West-South-North"and alogo mark 42 as shown in FIG. 4 are inserted in the security data, these data are converted into binary imagedata. In this case, it is necessary to unify imageresolutions when converting data into binary images and isdesirable to bring image resolutions in accord with thoseof the ticket printing data. Such significant portionsincluding letters, etc. are converted into blackcomponents and meaningless portions such as background,etc. are converted into white components.

The two-dimensional code data and binary image datathus made are arranged in the same size area as the ticketimage data as shown in FIG. 4. It is necessary to predeterminethe layout by a system for the convenience of asensor to detect the security data.

Next, the ticket printing data making method (thecomposite processing method) will be described in detail.

Theticket image data 21 is data of a so-calledticket itself and is equivalent to FIG. 3. There are dataof 24 bits (8 bits for each of RGB) per pixel. Thesecurity data 22 is data to be embedded in theticketimage data 21 in the invisible state and is equivalent toFIG. 4. There are 1 bit data per pixel. Thekey imagedata 24 is data that becomes a key for making the ticketprinting data and detecting (restoring) the security data.This data is not opened to user and has 1 bit data perpixel.

First, in the smoothing processing step S51, the smoothing process is executed with the black pixels of thesecurity data made "1" and the white pixels made "0".Here, the pixels at both ends of noteworthy pixels in thex direction are taken, the 3×1 pixel area is cut and aweighted average is taken as shown by the followingexpression (1).W(i)=(STL(i-1)+2 · STL(i)+STL(i+1))/4where,

W(i) : x = Weighted mean value of i pixel

STL(i): x = Embedded image data of i pixel = 1 or 0

If the security data was not increased by n timeswhen made, the two-dimensional code data of the securitydata was destructed in this smoothing process. The morethe expansion factor n is larger, the higher the safefactor not to destruct the embedded image data will becomebut concealed data is apt to be disclosed.

For instance, when thekey image data 24 and thesecurity data 22 are as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11,respectively, the result of the smoothing process becomesas shown in FIG. 12. The embedded data was expanded to 4times by setting thesecurity data 22 at n=4. Further,two pixels around the outside are set at "0" as theembedding allowance.

Then, in the phase modulation step S52, based on theresult of the smoothing process in the smoothing processstep S51, the phase modulation of thekey image data 24 is executed according to the rules of the followingexpressions (2-1)-(2-3).When W(i)=0 → DES(i)= MSK(i)When W(i)=1 → DES(i)= MSK(i+2)When other than above → DES(i)=MSK(i+1)

DES(i): x=i pixel phase modulation result = 1 or 0

MSK(i): x=i pixel key image data = 1 or 0

Here, the x=0 column and x=15 column are the edges ofthe image data and therefore, cannot be smoothed and alsocannot be applied with the phase modulation. So, at theedge, the exclusive OR of thekey image data 24 with thesecurity data 22 is taken. The result of the phasemodulation is shown in FIG. 13.

Then, in the color difference modulation step S53,based on the phase modulation result in the phasemodulation step S52, the color difference modulationprocess is executed according to the rules of thefollowing expressions (3-1)-(3-6). In this case, threecomponents of R(Red), G(Green) and B(Blue) are separatelycalculated. An example of the color difference modulationresult of the red component is shown in FIG. 14.When DES(i)=1 → VR(i)= -ΔV→ VG(i)= +ΔV→ VB(i)= +▵VWhen DES(i)=0 → VR(i)= +▵V→ VG(i)= -ΔV→ VB(i)= -ΔV

VR(i): x = the color difference modulationresult of i pixel for Red component
An integer in the range of -255∼255

VG(i): x = the color difference modulationresult of i pixel for Green component
An integer in the range of -255∼255

VB(i): x = the color difference modulationresult of i pixel for Blue component
An integer in the range of -255∼255

Further, the color difference amount ΔV is an integerin the range of preset "0∼255". The more the colordifference amount ΔV is larger, the more the visiblecontract when restoring an embedded image data becomeshigher, and the embedded data can be reproduced easily.However, if it is too large, the security data is apt tobe easily disclosed. Accordingly, the color differenceamount ΔV is desirable at about "16∼96"; however, ΔV=48is used here.

Lastly, in the superimposition step S54, from thecolor difference modulation result and theticket imagedata 21 in the color difference step S53, thesuperimposition process shown in the following expression(4-1)-(4-3) is executed and theticket printing data 23 ismade.DESR(i)=VR(i)+SRCR(i)DESG(i)=VG(i)+SRCG(i)DESB(i)=VB(i)+SRCB(i)

DESR(i): x = the i pixel superimposition processresult for Red component
An integer in the range of 0∼255.

DESG(i): x = the i pixel superimposition processresult for Green component
An integer in the range of 0∼255.

DESB(i): x = the i pixel superimposition processresult for Blue Component.
An integer in the range of 0∼255.

SRCR(i): x = Embedded image data of i pixel forRed Component.
An integer in the range of 0∼255.

SRCG(i): x = Embedded image data of i pixel forGreen Component.
An integer in the range of 0∼255.

SRCB(i): x = Embedded image data of i pixel forBlue Component.
An integer in the range of 0∼255.

Further, DESR(i), DESG(i) and DESG(I) are integers inthe range of "0∼255", respectively. If the result ofcalculation is below "0", they are set at "0" and above"255", they are set at "255".

Results of Red component when all pixels of theticket image data 21 are (R,G,B)=(127, 127, 127) are shown in FIG. 15. All values are integers in the range of "0∼255" and "255" indicates that Red component is mostfrequent. In FIG. 15, pixels with less red components andpixels with much red components are alternately repeatedin unit of two pixels in the area where no security datais embedded like a value of (0,0) pixel = 79, a value of(1,0) pixel = 79, a value of (2,0) pixel = 175 ...

As shown in the expressions (3-1)∼(3-3) or (3-4) ∼(3-6), red, green and blue color difference amount codesare reversed. Accordingly, in pixels containing much redcomponents, green and blue components are less and inpixels containing less red components, other componentsare much contained. Red and (Green, Blue) = Cyan arecomplementary colors each other and even when red and cyanare adjacent to each other, they are hardly discriminatedby the eyes of a man and looked as no color. Further, asred rich pixels and cyan rich pixels are arrangedrepeatedly in unit of several pixels according to keyimage data, this fine color difference cannot beidentified by the eyes of man and a color differenceamount is judged to be plus-minus "0".

For instance, in the expression (4-1), it iserroneously judged to be:DESR(i) SRCR(i)And it is not possible to discriminated that the imagedata is embedded. Accordingly, it becomes possible to form a ticket printing data with a security data embeddedinvisibly in a ticket image data according to thisprinciple.

When making the print with a color printer using theticket printing data, the more a color difference amountΔV is larger, the more easy to discriminate the data andtherefore, the more a degree to restore the security databecomes higher. However, the security data embedded inthe invisible state in the ticket printing data may beeasily exposed to a third person in some case.

So, when printing and outputting the ticket printingdata with a color printer, it is possible to prevent thesecurity data from being exposed without breaking thesecurity data by outputting the data after executing anerror diffusion process as an image processing. Thesecurity data in the macroscopically invisible state arepreserved because density of pixels of ticket printingdata is compensated by the error diffusion process.

Further, when the error diffusion process is applied,low frequency components decrease and high frequencycomponents increase. As the security data embedded in theticket printing data is composed of high frequencycomponents, other high frequency components are mixedtherein and therefore, the security data becomes the statethat is not visually discriminated.

Next, a ticket display data making method will be described.

Ticket display data that is made directly unusable ismade by partially reducing the ticket printing data andbreaking the ticket image data and the security dataembedded in the invisible state.

First, the ticket printing data shown in FIG. 15 iscut in a 3×3 pixel area and is applied with the smoothingprocess. This is simply to take only an average and theresult is as shown in FIG. 16. From the result of thesmoothing process, leaving the pixel data at the top ofthe 4×4 pixel area, the remainder is erased (the thinningprocess). The result is as shown in FIG. 17. This databecomes the ticket display data.

Here, amount of data is about 1/4 of the ticketprinting data. The print image resolution is generally300∼600 dpi but the image resolution of the displaypicture is about 100 dpi, which is 1/3-1/6 of the generalprint image resolution and therefore, there will be noproblem.

Thus, without displaying the ticket printing datadirectly on theuser terminal device 11, the ticketdisplay data is made by breaking the securing data byreducing data from the ticket printing data and displayedon theuser terminal device 11. As the process (display)is fast because amount of data is less and the securitydata and the ticket image data are partially broken, the ticket printing data cannot be used even when it is triedto obtain it illegally by taking a hard copy of thedisplay. Accordingly, there is such a merit that thesecurity is improved.

The ticket printing data and the ticket display dataare not different apparently from the normal image andtherefore, for instance, such general purpose imageformats as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) andTIFF (Tagged Image File Format) are usable. Further, asthey can be processed according to an application fortreating general images, the system construction isrelatively easy.

Further, even when the ticket printing data imageformat is changed to other formats in a system, anembedded security data is left as it is and no problem iscaused.

By the way, theticket 14 printed with the ticketprinting data printed and output with the ticket printer.13 such as a color printer is used by user at a place ofcircuit. At this time, the system side is able to judgethe genuineness of the ticket by detecting the securitydata of the usedticket 14. This is described below indetail.

An image of theticket 14 printed on a paper, etc.with theticket printer 13 is read by an optical readingmeans such as a scanner, digitized to the state shown in FIG. 15 and thesecurity data 22 is restored.

To restore thesecurity data 22, akey image data 22shown in FIG. 10 is used. By bringing thekey image data24 to correspond with values of the ticket image of theticket printing data 23 read by a scanner 1 : 1. Theportion "1" of the value of thekey image data 24 judgestheticket printing data 23 to be valid and the portion"0" of the value of thekey image data 24 judges the valueof theticket printing data 23 to be invalid. The resultis shown in FIG. 18. The hatched pixels in the figure areinvalid data. The valid data (expressed in white on ablack ground) in FIG. 18 is cut out in a prescribed size.

Thesecurity data 22 in this embodiment was expandedby 4 times by setting n=4 and therefore, after removingthe embedded allowance of 2 pixels around it, the data iscut out in unit of 4×4 pixels. If a valid data value inhe 4×4 pixel range is a red rich value ("175" in thisembodiment), the embedded image data (the security data)is 1. If it is a cyan rich value ("79" in thisembodiment), the embedded image data is 0. If both of redrich and cyan rich values are included, either onecontaining more rich color is adopted.

This is because of the smoothing process in thecomposition process. The result of the restoration of aembedded image data (the security data) 22 according tothis method is shown in FIG. 19. The thick frame portion in the figure is the portion of thesecurity data 22.This portion is in accord with FIG. 11 and it is seen thatthesecurity data 22 was completely restored.

Further, in this embodiment, for instance, afterprinting the data at a resolution 400 dpi by a thermalsublimation type printer and reading it at a resolution1200 dpi by an optical scanner, it was restored withoutany problem.

Further, as a second security data restoring anddetecting method, when a reproduction sheet having thesame pattern transmission factor as thekey image data 24is superimposed on the printed surface of theticket 14physically, thesecurity data 22 becomes visible.Accordingly, it is possible to directly check a logo mark,etc. in thesecurity data 22 visually. This method doesnot require troublesome operations and a complicatedapparatus and therefore, there is a merit that genuinenessof a ticket can be checked simply at any place.

Further, as a third security data restoring anddetecting method, a system to thin a value read by anoptical means will be described. It is assume that redcomponents of a value read by a scanner, etc. are as shownin FIG. 15. As a checkered pattern of 4×2 unit is usedfor the composition process in this embodiment, thesecurity data is thinned in unit of 4 pixels. Anexpansion factor n when making the security data is also related to this value and an expression of (Checkered gridunit × Expansion factor n ≥ Number of pixels to bethinned) becomes valid.

When the image data shown in FIG. 15 is thinned inunit of 4 pixels, it will become as shown in FIG. 20.However, as image data is insufficient, when all of 4×2areas are set at the same value with the remaining pixelsat the top, the image data becomes as shown in FIG. 21.Although two pixels are deviated in the x direction andthe y direction, it is seen that thesecurity data 22shown in FIG. 11 was completely restored. Thus, when theread image data is thinned, number of pixels to beprocessed when restoring are reduced and it becomespossible to restore the data at high speed.

As described above, by detecting the presence of thesecurity data 22 embedded in the usedticket 14, thegenuineness of theticket 14 can be easily judged. Forinstance, even if theticket 14 was given to a thirdperson and illegally copied using a color copying machine,the history of that ticket, for instance, when, where andwho issued it can be seen as thesecurity data 22 containsa inquiry serial number and an illegal route can bedetected easily.

In this embodiment, the composition process isexecuted using a checkered pattern in unit of 4×2 pixelsas a key. So, when the composition process is executed using a checkered pattern in size of 1×1 pixel, theeffect to prevent the copying with a color copying machineis further promoted. This is because red rich and cyanrich pixel data of the ticket printing data are regularlyarranged alternately by the composition process when suchsquare grids assize 1×1 or 2×2 pixels are used.

A sensor of a scanner portion of a color copyingmachine is not a spot but has a limited area and therefore,even if a scanner reading resolution is the same as aticket printing resolution, pixels of a sensor of scannerand pixels of the ticket printing data are finely deviatedand they are read as they are. Here, the red and cyancomponents are complementary colors and it is thereforedifficult to separate pixels arranged in extremely highlyprecise pitches and erroneously recognized to be gray bythe eyes of man and sensors, and they cannot be properlycopied.

According to this embodiment, it becomes possible toremarkably promote security of tickets, etc. However,because security data is embedded in the invisible state,some means is needed to restore it and it is not easy toperform this work for all tickets.

So, it is necessary to distinguish a ticket that hassecurity data embedded in the invisible state from thosetickets without security data embedded but guaranteed themto be proper by some other means. For instance, using a means to print a logo mark of a ticket with embeddedsecurity data in red and to print a logo mark of a ticketwithout embedded security in blue, they can be easilychecked and time and cost can be saved sharply.

FIG. 22 schematically shows the state from issue ofticket to detection of security data so far in use. Fortheticket image data 21, a landscape photograph is used.For thesecurity data 22, a logo mark "JAPAN" as acopyright data and a two-dimensional code for checking bythe sense of vision of a man and by a machine that areconverted into the security data according to the stepsshown in this embodiment are used.

First, theticket printing data 23 is made byexecuting the composition process of theticket image data21, thesecurity data 22 and thekey image data 24according to the method described above. The image ofthisticket printing data 23 is seen as a landscapephotograph to the eyes of a man but the copyright data,etc. are invisibly embedded. Further, theticket displaydata 25 is made from theticket printing data 23 accordingto the method shown in this embodiment.

Then, theseticket printing data 23 and theticketdisplay data 25 are transmitted via a network to a userwho requested the issue of a ticket. When receiving theticket display data 25, user displays theticket displaydata 25 on the display of theuser terminal device 11 and after checking its contents, prints and outputs theticketprinting data 23 using theticket printer 13 as a colorprinter and obtains theticket 14.

User is able to use this issuedticket 14 and asystem side detects the security data of the usedticket14 using the key image data and judges the genuineness ofit by collating the data base with the security data.

As the security data including the copyright data isembedded invisibly in this issuedticket 14, it ispossible to restore the copyright data according to themethod of restoration described above.

FIG. 23 is an example of the ticket issue method ofthis invention applied to an electronic postage stamp.FIG. 23(a) is the ticket printing data, FIG. 23(b) is astamp image portion and FIG. 23(c) is the security datainvisibly embedded in the stamp image portion. To enablea user to issue what has a value equal to money likepostage stamps, security becomes particularly important.When security data is invisibly embedded in an electronicpostage stamp likewise the auto race admission ticketdescribed above and the print data of that ticket (stamp)is printed directly on an envelope, etc., an electronicstamp can be realized.

In the case of such a mail, it is generally processedmechanically by an address reader and therefore, securitycan be maintained by judging its genuineness by reading the security data embedded in an electronic stamp with asensor. Further, when printing a stamp by a color printer,a cost can be reduced sharply by simultaneously printingan address and a name.

As described above, according to this invention, itis possible to provide a ticket issuing method that iscapable of easily issuing tickets having high securitythrough such communication means as a network, a telephoneline, etc.

Further, according to this invention, it is possibleto provide a ticket collating method that is capable ofeasily judging the genuineness of issued tickets andeasily making a follow-up check when any illegalityoccurred.