Apparatus and method of suppressing deterioration of document having encoded data

Abstract

An image processing apparatus includes an arrangement unit and a restriction unit. The arrangement unit puts images representing codes of an object code string in areas of an object image. The areas correspond to positions of the codes in the object code string. If a first code string and a second code string associated with the first code string are present in the object code string in a certain positional relationship and if satisfied is a condition regarding whether or not codes of the first code string are decodable by a decoder from an image obtained by putting the code images representing the codes of the first code string, which is present in the object code string, the restriction unit restricts the arrangement unit from putting images representing respective codes of the second code string, which is present in the object code string, in the object image.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.