Application of Reversible Data Hiding for Printing with Special Color Inks to Preserve Compatibility with Normal Printing

Abstract: We propose an efficient framework with compatibility between normal printing and printing with special color inks in this paper. Special color inks can be used for printing to represent some particular colors and specific optical properties, which are difficult to express using only CMYK inks. Special color layers are required in addition to the general color layer for printing with special color inks. We introduce a reversible data hiding (RDH) method to embed the special color layers into the general color layer without visible artifacts. The proposed method can realize both normal printing and printing with special color inks by using a single layer. Our experimental results show that the quality of the marked image is virtually identical to that of the original image, i.e., the general color layer.