Payload recovery systems and methods

A payload recovery system, comprising;

• a reference image generator for generating, using an image, a reference halftone for a data-bearing halftone image associated with the image and a reference map of the data-bearing halftone image;
• a cell alignment system for receiving a scanned image of a hard copy of the data-bearing halftone image and for generating an aligned scan of the scanned image using the reference halftone and the reference map;
• a raw payload recovery system for determining possible shift positions of each carrier cell of the aligned scan using a shift rule and the reference map;
• a reconstructed data-bearing halftone image generated by the raw payload recovery system using the possible shift positions and the reference halftone;
• a recovered raw payload generated by the raw payload recovery system using the shift rule and the reference map;
• and
• a payload postprocessor for processing the recovered raw payload to generate a payload of the data-bearing halftone image.

A method for recovering a payload from a hard copy of a data-bearing halftone image, comprising;

• determining a boundary of each cell of a scanned image of the hard copy of the data-bearing halftone image to form an aligned scan;
• comparing the aligned scan with a shift rule and a reference map to identify possible shift positions for each cell of the aligned scan;
• generating a reconstructed data-bearing halftone image using the aligned scan, the possible shift positions, and a reference halftone of the data-bearing halftone image;
• and
• identifying a recovered raw payload from the reconstructed data-bearing halftone image using the shift rule and the reference map.