Generic method of defining a watermark for both print and copy

An apparatus for generating a secondary image contained within an initial document onto a subsequent portion of the initial document to produce a finished document page, comprising:

• a computer processor comprising an applications software program configured to generate the initial document, computer readable computer memory, and a printer driver program;
• a printer comprising a printer control processor, computer readable printer memory, and a print engine configured to print the finished document, the printer being in electronic communication with the computer processor;
• and
• wherein the printer driver program comprises a series of computer executable steps for communicating a first portion of the initial document identified as the secondary image from the computer processor to the printer memory as a secondary image computer readable file, and communicating a second portion of the initial document identified as the subsequent portion of the initial document from the computer processor to the printer memory as a page content computer readable file;
• and
• wherein the printer control processor is configured to read from the printer memory the secondary image computer readable file and at least a portion of page content computer readable file, to selectively combine the secondary image computer readable file and the at least a portion of the page content computer readable file to generate a digital representation of the finished document page, and to transmit the digital representation of the finished document page to the print engine for printing as the finished document page.

A copier for reproducing an image from a selected first page of a multi-page document onto a subsequent page of the document to thereby produce a finished document page, comprising:

• a scanner configured to scan a page of the document containing page content and convert the scanned page content into a distinct digital file;
• computer readable memory configured to store digital files of page content;
• a sheet feeder configured to sequentially feed a plurality of sheets of the multi-page document to the scanner;
• a print engine configured to print the finished document page;
• a computer processor configured to send and retrieve digital files from the computer readable memory and execute steps of a computer program;
• and
• a copier program comprising a series of computer executable steps for reading from the computer readable memory, and selectively combining, the digital files of the selected first page and the subsequent page of the multi-page document to produce the finished document page, and to transmit the finished document page to the print engine for printing.