US Patent 7463380 Spooling/despooling subsystem job fingerprinting

A system and method are provided for print job fingerprinting. The method comprises: accepting an electronically formatted document; generating a print job; in a spooling/despooling subsystem, accepting fingerprint information; and, adding a fingerprint image to the print job. That is, a fingerprinted print job is generated. In some aspects, the fingerprint is encrypted. The method further comprises: sending the fingerprinted print job, from the spooling/despooling subsystem, to a printer; and, generating a hardcopy of the document, with the fingerprint image. If the fingerprinted print job is rendered, for example copied, scanned, or converted into a different print job format, the rendered print job still includes the fingerprint image.