A system and method records and identifies certain attributes of printed products for verifying their authentication and for tracking individual printed products or copies of printed products. In embodiment of the invention, a static code with redundant information and with high spatial resolution is applied on the printed product and the optoelectronic detection of the printed image on the printed product is carried out by means of a line-scan or area-scan camera or a laser scanner within a printing machine or an additional processing machine. The data are decoded after their acquisition by means of the optoelectronic detection device and the decoded data are used for characterizing an individual printed image and/or the printing process.