A printing system accurately prints proprietary marks and selected colors. A dictionary of recognizable patterns and defined colors corresponding to the proprietary marks and selected colors is linked to a user interface wherein a user may designate a location within a document and at least one of the proprietary marks with defined colors from an accessible menu. A processor associates the defined colors with the image at the specified location and generates a printer signal representative thereof. Alternatively, the processor includes a pattern recognizer for identifying recognizable patterns within a document. The patterns have a likeness to defined patterns within a pattern dictionary and can be converted to the defined patterns for display or imaging.