Anyone using Photoshop CS?

[KvHagedorn]

I think this would be something a serious counterfeiter could get around pretty easily.. if it's worth $10,000,000, hack it or use a different program or whatever it takes.

[rubank]

yes, there´s no such limitation in Corel PhotoPaint 11, and besides my old scans open without problem in Photoshop CS.

In Sweden we have switched to new printing technology over the last couple of years, which makes the current bills "impossible" to scan/print to a usable copy.
Then again, the odd restaurant or taxidriver can be fooled with toiletpaper.

[az]

Man, what kind of toilet paper do you people use? My arse would be sore!

AZ

[rubank]

@AZ

We actually had perfectly normal toiletpaper with printed images of "real" money some years ago available in certain shops. And it so happened that some taxidrivers were conned by these "bills"

Unused, of course

[az]

*ROFLOL

A friend of mine tried his new scanner and color printer a few years ago, and scanned and printed some money (poor quality, and only one-sided). Later that evening we ordered Pizza, and I absent-mindedly paid the delivery guy with a fake 100 DM (~50 EUR) Bill and received lots of change. 10 Minutes later the pizza man was back and furious. He had discovered that the bill I gave him had a white backside Luckily, I could convince him that this was only a mistake, but he was very cautious with the real money I gave him

Also, some time ago, there were some (fake, obviously) 30 EUR (or DM, I forgot) bills in circulation. Some prankster had paid with them in a small town's shop, and the bills were used for a while. Even the town's bank didn't notice they were fake, coming from a reliable source (the shop - it was a small village where everybody knew one another).

AZ

[Jon P. Inghram]

PART 411 -- COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS OF UNITED STATES CURRENCY
Authority: 18 U.S.C. 504; Treasury Directive Number 15-56, 58 FR 48539
(September 16, 1993)

411.1 Color illustrations authorized.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 25 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, authority is hereby given for the printing, publishing or importation, or the making or importation of the necessary plates or items for such printing or publishing, of color illustrations of U.S. currency provided that:
(1) The illustration be of a size less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half, in linear dimension, of each part of any matter so illustrated;
(2) The illustration be one-sided; and
(3) All negatives, plates, positives, digitized storage medium, graphic files, magnetic medium, optical storage devices, and any other thing used in the making of the illustration that contain an image of the illustration or any part thereof shall be destroyed and/or deleted or erased after their final use in accordance with this section.
(b) [Reserved].

-CITE-
18 USC Sec. 504 01/22/02

-EXPCITE-
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 25 - COUNTERFEITING AND FORGERY

-HEAD-
Sec. 504. Printing and filming of United States and foreign
obligations and securities

-STATUTE-
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
following are permitted:
(1) The printing, publishing, or importation, or the making or
importation of the necessary plates for such printing or
publishing, of illustrations of -
(A) postage stamps of the United States,
(B) revenue stamps of the United States,
(C) any other obligation or other security of the United
States, and
(D) postage stamps, revenue stamps, notes, bonds, and any
other obligation or other security of any foreign government,
bank, or corporation.
Illustrations permitted by the foregoing provisions of this
section shall be made in accordance with the following conditions
-
(i) all illustrations shall be in black and white, except that
illustrations of postage stamps issued by the United States or by
any foreign government and stamps issued under the Migratory Bird
Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 may be in color;
(ii) all illustrations (including illustrations of uncanceled
postage stamps in color and illustrations of stamps issued under
the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 in color) shall be
of a size less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half,
in linear dimension, of each part of any matter so illustrated
which is covered by subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this
paragraph, except that black and white illustrations of postage
and revenue stamps issued by the United States or by any foreign
government and colored illustrations of canceled postage stamps
issued by the United States may be in the exact linear dimension
in which the stamps were issued; and
(iii) the negatives and plates used in making the illustrations
shall be destroyed after their final use in accordance with this
section.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations to
permit color illustrations of such currency of the United States
as the Secretary determines may be appropriate for such purposes.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not permit the
reproduction of illustrations of obligations or other securities,
by or through electronic methods used for the acquisition,
recording, retrieval, transmission, or reproduction of any
obligation or other security, unless such use is authorized by
the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary shall establish a
system to ensure that the legitimate use of such electronic
methods and retention of such reproductions by businesses,
hobbyists, press or others shall not be unduly restricted.
(3) The making or importation of motion-picture films,
microfilms, or slides, for projection upon a screen or for use in
telecasting, of postage and revenue stamps and other obligations
and securities of the United States, and postage and revenue
stamps, notes, bonds, and other obligations or securities of any
foreign government, bank, or corporation. No prints or other
reproductions shall be made from such films or slides, except for
the purposes of paragraph (1), without the permission of the
Secretary of the Treasury.
For the purposes of this section the term ''postage stamp''
includes postage meter stamps.

[Wombat]

Originally posted by GNEP
I hate to be controversial here, but I'd much rather my ten pound note was less easy to forge than more easy, so I've got no objection - apart from the associated speed loss of course.

Well, I certainly have a problem with it. There are people being hit by false positives, for one - their not-money-at-all stuff is being recognized as money. Also, it's perfectly legal to manipulate pictures of money. You're allowed to print very oversized or undersized US dollars, for example. But there's no concept of that with digital imaging.

As others mentioned, it will be cracked by any serious counterfeiter, leaving them with the tools they need, and the general public with an inferior product in the meantime. Plus, at least in the past, the US Treasury used Photoshop to design their bills. So if a special version has been made for them, it can be "found."

[Gurm]

Honestly, I bet this "feature" isn't even enabled. I'll check later - I'll scan some money and see if it "catches" it. LOL. I honestly don't think it'll give a shit.

- Gurm

[Wombat]

If you say so Gurm. But all you have to do is check Adobe's forums.

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@8.bhtHb2UYU0A.0@.2ccf3d27

And it's not just stopping counterfeit operations. The guy who reported the problem says, of the TIFF file he was sent:

"it's not even close to actual-size, and it's not a 'flat' portrayal - it's wavy, as if it's fluttering in the wind. Nor is it real-color."

[az]

It works with Euros too, BTW, and it lacks any legal basis (at least here).

AZ

[Gurm]

Like I said, I'll try it. I'll take a bunch of scans and digital pics of money and see if CS will refuse to work with them or not.

- Gurm

[rubank]

Gurm,
you can try all you want.
This is the answer you get from trying to scan a swedish 100 Kr. bill into CS (US-english version).

Scanning the same bill into Photopaint 11 is o.k., but the saved picture won´t open i CS - giving the same message.

[rubank]

BTW,
I wonder how the application distinguishes between unauthorized and authorized image processing ..?

[Wombat]

Originally posted by rubank
BTW,
I wonder how the application distinguishes between unauthorized and authorized image processing ..?

There's a bunch of things it looks for. For one thing, the Euro notes have a 5 dot pattern buried in all the bills.

[rubank]

Originally posted by Wombat
There's a bunch of things it looks for. For one thing, the Euro notes have a 5 dot pattern buried in all the bills.

Yeah, that´s all clear, but it´s not what I meant. I should have put in a smilie, perhaps.

The message says the app won´t permit unauthorized image processing of bank notes, so there should be authorized processing of bank notes. How does it know who is authorized..