System and method for creating a three-dimensional texture in an electrophotographic image

An electrophotographic printer system comprising a front end station (150) having a scanner (152) and an associated display (156), the front end station coupled to an electrophotographic printer (10) having a plurality of imaging units (20C, 20M, 20Y, 20K, and 20X), at least one of said imaging units configured to apply clear toner to a substrate, wherein the front end station is configured to:

• scan a color document;
• present a plurality of predetermined candidate textures that may be added to at least a portion of a scanned version of the document;
• accept input corresponding to a selected texture from among said predetermined candidate textures;
• and
• send information to the electrophotographic printer comprising textural data corresponding to the selected texture, the textural data being sufficient to cause said at least one of said plurality of imaging units to apply clear toner onto a substrate in sufficient quantity and with sufficient spatial distribution so as to form a visually and tactilely detectable three dimensional texture on said substrate.

A method of applying a three dimensional texture to a substrate comprising:

• providing an electrophotographic printer having a single imaging unit configured to apply clear toner to the substrate;
• sending digital information to the electrophotographic printer, the digital information comprising textural data sufficient to cause said single imaging unit to apply clear toner onto the substrate in sufficient quantity and with sufficient spatial distribution so as to form a visually and tactilely detectable three dimensional texture on said substrate;
• and
• applying clear toner to said substrate at said single imaging unit as dictated by the textural data to thereby create a three-dimensional texture.