Global Graphics Software is an award-winning company that develops software components for digital printing. Their products are used to produce labels, packaging, wide-format graphics, and more. They have seen first-hand the importance of product authenticity, and as Digimarc partners, they know that digital watermarks can be an asset to companies looking to protect their products. Recently, Global Graphics released a white paper detailing how digital watermarks can be optimized in print workflows.
Below are a few questions relating to the white paper, posed by Digimarc and answered by Eric Worrall, the Vice President of Products and Services at Global Graphics, where he leads product strategy, position, and vision within the company.
Digimarc: Describe the proliferation of new types of codes beyond the standard barcode and why they’re gaining in popularity?
Global Graphics: We’ve seen quite a few changes since EAN and UPC barcodes appeared on products back in the 70s. In the 90s along came the QR code, which offered information for marketing outreach to users and consumers, the smaller Data Matrix code, often used to label electronic components in the automotive industry and some healthcare products, and the Aztec code, used for logistics tracking on packaging and travel documents.
FIG 1 - Example 1D and 2D barcodes in common use
More recently, these codes have become popular due to the growing importance of product authentication: As more goods are bought online, there is a greater need for transparency and authentication throughout supply chains. Today, there are more ingredients, components, materials, and products flying around the world and unfortunately so are counterfeit products.
Counterfeit goods don’t only just damage a brand’s reputation; poorly made products can be dangerous and pharmaceutical companies and premium brands, especially beauty products, now ship with track-and-trace packaging to authenticate them. This is also sometimes required by local or regional regulations.
DMRC: What is the difference between static and variable codes and why is that distinction relevant?
GG: Static codes carry a set of data or an image that is standard to every product. Variable codes include unique data. The difference is important, since different methods of adding the digital watermark are used for each type:
If a static image or code is used, a practice called steganography is used, where color values of individual pixels in the image are altered so that they are not obvious to the human eye. Steganography is a very effective technique if the same image is used on every instance of an item because it can be difficult for forgers to reproduce. But if you need to encode unique data where every item is different, you’d have to generate an image for each one. When you’re producing watermarks for many instances, that would mean generating a huge number of copies, which in many workflows is not commercially viable.
Another method of adding a digital watermark is to overlay an ‘artwork masking layer’ that encodes the desired data. These layers are very difficult for forgers to reproduce and are a more efficient way to carry unique data for each product instance.
DMRC: What are some of the specific characteristics of digital watermarks that make them unique?
GG: Digital watermarks are unique because they go beyond just being a more secure variant of other kinds of barcodes. In supply chain logistics, they scan more reliably than Data Matrix codes. And in both supply chain and retail, digital watermarks can carry more data than a UPC or EAN retail code and add track and trace authentication capabilities, making it easier for consumers to check important concerns, such as expiry dates and allergens in ingredients. Also, due to their covert nature, the aesthetics of the brand design are preserved, even when the encoded data is all over the item. Finally, the product can retain its data throughout its life. In many cases a traditional barcode becomes inaccessible once items have been unpacked and the packaging thrown away. This is a great example of how throwing away the package makes it impossible for us to trace where our products come from. With a digital watermark built into every bathroom tile for instance, ordering new boxes is simple and quick. With tiles now being printed using inkjet you can even order just one box and so there’s no need to worry about them being in stock.
DMRC: How do watermarks impact traditional design and print workflows?
GG: Digital watermarks can be applied at multiple stages in a design, prepress and printing workflow.
In some workflows the designer may apply digital watermarks to a design by using a plugin to an application such as Adobe Illustrator. This has the advantage of approving the design with the digital watermark in place. If the print requires unique data to be encoded in it, as with variable codes, the designer will not normally add it; it is usually added later in the workflow, in the prepress stage.
A new development in the application of digital watermarking is to add the marks right at the very last minute before the data is printed. This is known as late binding. In our SmartDFE for example, this can be done in parallel with or after the color management and rendering. Applying the watermarks in parallel with color management and rendering (in the raster image processor [RIP]) gives you full access to all color channels for the output and means you don’t need to generate a fully resolved “optimized PDF” or PDF/VT file containing all the variable data further upstream. This also reduces the overhead of optimizing variable data processing in the RIP. The result is increased throughput, both in composition/prepress and in the Digital Front End (DFE).
Applying marks after the RIP results in even higher performance through the DFE, with the added benefit of providing a more predictable processing speed because the amount of processing required is more deterministic than if rendering PDF. Other benefits include a lower hardware cost and the ability to print at full engine speed for larger print jobs. These benefits make it the optimum choice for highly efficient printing workflows for variable data digital watermarks.
DMRC: How is Global Graphics addressing growing adoption of watermarks in its print quality control software?
GG: Wherever digital watermarks are applied in the workflow it is recommended to review a selection of the final prints, either manually or using automated tools. Global Graphics Software has SmartQI™, which is a system that delivers RGB data to camera inspection systems matching the press. This RGB data can be used by the inspection system to check the digital watermark for every item at high speed and in real time.
Find out more about Digimarc digital watermarks and product digitization and how they can work for your business.
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