1. A method, comprising: determining, using a computing device, whether a machine-readable auxiliary signal is embedded in an image of a printed object, wherein determining comprises detecting at least one of a divergence or convergence of at least one characteristic of a set of two or more print structures embedded in the printed object such that the machine-readable auxiliary signal becomes one of more or less detectable, wherein the at least one characteristic changes a detection zone of the auxiliary signal in the image based on the at least one characteristic having a gray level value that varies as a function of location in the printed object; and evaluating the machine-readable auxiliary signal, using the computing device, to determine whether the printed object is an original version of the printed object.