Method for manufacturing master, transfer copy, and replica master

A method for manufacturing a master, the method comprising:

• forming a thin-film layer on an outer circumferential surface of a base material in a round cylindrical or round columnar shape;
• generating a control signal corresponding to an object on the basis of an input image in which the object is depicted, wherein the input image is divided into a plurality of small areas and the control signal is generated on the basis of a determination for each small area as to whether or not the depicted object is included therein;
• irradiating the thin-film layer with laser light on the basis of the control signal and thereby forming a thin-film pattern corresponding to the object on the thin-film layer, wherein portions of the thin-film layer are either irradiated with the laser light or are not irradiated with the laser light, based on which small areas the object is determined to be included in;
• and
• forming a pattern corresponding to the object on the outer circumferential surface of the base material using, as a mask, the thin-film layer on which the thin-film pattern is formed.