A method and apparatus are disclosed for embedding a two-dimensional machine-readable code into the background of a document in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The objects (picture, graphics, text, etc.) in a document image are first segmented from the background. A location for embedding the barcode is determined. A texture image is created by replicating the barcode to a size that covers the entire image. A modulation index map is generated from the segmentation results. The original image is modulated to produce the output image based on the texture image and the modulation index map.