Abstract: Methods and apparatus for making, encoding, and encrypting binary patterns for storing recorded information. One of the methods includes the steps of providing an original image, fragmenting the original image into at least two parts including a first part and a second part, forming a mirror image of one of the a least two parts, inverting the first and second parts, forming a binary pattern of the first part and the second part, and forming a mirror image of the binary pattern of the one of the a least two parts. In this method the binary pattern in each of the parts includes information representing a respective portion of the original image.