Watermarking Guide

DIGIMARC DIGITAL IMAGE
WATERMARKING GUIDE
DIGIMARC DIGITAL IMAGE WATERMARKING GUIDE 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to digital watermarking 2
Digital watermarking for your digital images 3
Digital watermarking embedding guidelines 7
Digital watermarking survival 11
Case studies 17
© 2005 Digimarc Corporation 9405 SW Gemini Drive Beaverton, OR 97008 T +1.503.469.4800 F +1.503.469.4777 www.digimarc.com
INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL WATERMARKING

The Internet is an excellent sales and distribution channel for digital assets, but copyright
compliance and content management can be a challenge. These days, digital images can
be used everywhere – with or without consent. Images that are leaked or misused can
hurt marketing efforts, brand image and, ultimately, sales. With one click, your digital
assets can be detached from your copyright information, so guarding brand and
intellectual property assets is essential.
Digimarc solutions let you add an extra layer of protection to your digital images.
Whether you use Digimarc® ImageBridge™, our enterprise-level digital image

protection product, or you use Digimarc® MyPictureMarc™, our image protection
offering for photographers and creative professionals, you can take advantage of digital
watermarking to embed copyright information into images and track where they travel
the public Internet.
Digital watermarking of digital images enables:

COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
Embed copyright, owner ID and other digital information into digital images, telling
who owns it and how it can be used.
BRAND IMAGE TRACKING

Track where and how your brand assets are being used on the Internet, for simplified
management of online promotions and channel copyright compliance.
If you're a photographer, a web publisher, or an image distributor or if you maintain a

collection of images for a corporation or museum, you should consider digitally
watermarking your images any time they are released externally (licensing to a
magazine, posting on the World Wide Web, adding to a stock image collection, etc.).
Digital watermarking gives you the security of knowing that no matter how or where
your images appear online, they carry your notice of ownership and a simple path to
contact you through Digimarc's registry. In addition, digital watermarking simplifies the
process of administering usage rights, helps to communicate your brand throughout the
market, and can even help you capture secondary revenue by bringing interested buyers
to your doorstep.
DIGITAL WATERMARKING FOR YOUR DIGITAL IMAGES

This section provides an explanation of what digital watermarking is, why you should
consider using it to add a layer of protection to your digital images, and how Digimarc’s
solution works. If you are already familiar with the basics of digital watermarking or are
a current customer, you can proceed to the "General Watermarking Guidelines" section
of this document for specific instructions and tips on how to more effectively digitally
watermark your images.
What is a digital watermark?

A digital watermark is best described by comparing it to a traditional paper watermark.
Traditional watermarks are added to some types of paper to offer proof of authenticity.
They are imperceptible, except when the paper is held up to a light for inspection.
Similarly, Digimarc digital watermarks are added to digital images in a way that can be
seen by a computer but is imperceptible to the human eye. A Digimarc digital
watermark carries a message containing information about the creator or distributor of
the image, or even about the image itself.
A digital watermark is used to communicate copyright information about an image in

order to reduce copyright infringement. A person opening a digitally watermarked
image in a Digimarc-supported image-editing application or our Internet- or Windows-
Explorer reader receives notification through a copyright symbol ((c)) that the image
contains copyright and ownership information. The digital watermark can provide a link
to complete contact details for the copyright holder or image distributor, making it easy
for the viewer to license the image, license another one like it, or commission new work.
Digimarc digital watermarks are imperceptible to the human eye, yet provide images
with a durable, persistent identity. To help hide the digital watermark, Digimarc varies
the digital watermark energy within the image so that it remains imperceptible in both
flat and detailed areas. The digital watermark is robust, surviving many typical image
edits and file format conversions.
Reasons to digitally watermark images

There are several reasons for using Digimarc digital watermarks. One is simple pride of
authorship--the same reason that artists sign their paintings. Digital images are
especially prone to loss of authorship, as seen by the avalanche of images posted daily
on the World Wide Web, few of which have any reference to the photographer or
illustrator.
Another reason is, more important, commercially: a Digimarc digital watermark

communicates the name and rights of an image's copyright holder. With this
information, the image consumer can quickly and easily contact the image creator or
distributor to license the work or commission additional work.
Overall, digital watermarking provides creators and distributors of images three main
benefits:
• Protect your valuable images by communicating your copyright
• Track down uses of your images on the Web
• Generate incremental revenue by embedding an ad in every image
How the Digimarc digital watermarking system works

When combined, Digimarc's digital watermarking products and services form a
complete copyright communication and image tracking system for digital images.
This system provides the tools and capabilities to:

• Embed digital watermarks into images
• Detect and read digital watermarks
• Link to complete contact details or a web site for the image creator or distributor (for
inquiring about usage rights, licensing, etc.)
• Track instances of digitally watermarked images on the web.
Embedder and reader software

Millions and millions copies of Digimarc's digital watermarking software are currently
in distribution. Leading image-editing applications, from companies like Adobe, Cerious
Software, Corel, Jasc software include Digimarc watermarking plug-in as a standard
feature.
These Digimarc-aware applications are capable not only of embedding digital

watermarks, but also of reading and detecting digital watermarks already embedded in
digital images. When an image is opened within one of these applications, the plug-ins'
auto-detection software quickly scans the image for the presence of a digital watermark.
If a digital watermark is present, the application displays a copyright symbol (©) in the
title bar of the image window, providing an instant, visual cue that copyright and
ownership information are available by reading the Digimarc digital watermark. The
passive detection and proactive notification are key features of Digimarc's copyright
communication system.
In addition to the embedder and reader plug-ins within many image editing
applications, Digimarc also offers its own stand-alone reader product for detecting
digital watermarks within images on your desktop or on the web. This free reader
download enables users to detect digitally watermarked images directly from Internet
Explorer or Windows Explorer. If a digital watermark is present, the image displays a
“D” symbol in the lower right corner of the image.
By simply clicking a "Image Info" button, the user viewing an image can link directly to
the Digimarc registry, to obtain complete contact details for the image owner or
distributor.
In addition to the plug-ins, Digimarc offers another application for digitally

watermarking images. Digimarc's Digital Watermarking SDK provides the same digital
watermarking capabilities in a set of libraries that can be integrated into other software
applications.
The Digimarc online registry

The Digimarc registry is an online locator service for communicating copyrights and
ownership and bringing image consumers together with image distributors and creators
by providing critical contact details. This information communicates copyright and
facilitates image commerce. Through the registry, interested buyers can contact content
owners about licensing an image, licensing one like it, or even commissioning new work.
Whenever a Digimarc-aware application or our free reader software for Internet
Explorer and Windows Explorer alert the user that an image is digitally watermarked,
the user has the option of linking directly to the registry, where a contact profile or web
site for the creator or distributor of the image is immediately available.
Image tracking services

The Digimarc MarcSpider image tracking service is a patented service that reports to
image owners and distributors on where their digitally watermarked images are found
on the public web. This exclusive service enables photographers, web content
developers, stock photography libraries, corporations and other users and creators of
digital images to discover both authorized and unauthorized uses of their works
migrating across the web.
The core of Digimarc MarcSpider technology is a search engine that crawls through
publicly accessible areas of the Internet looking for digitally watermarked images. It
scans hundreds of millions of pieces of information, locating Digimarc-watermarked
images and reporting back to their owners where and when they were found.
Type of information that a digital watermark communicates

A Digimarc digital watermark contains some or all of the following information:
• Digimarc ID-A unique number identifying the creator of the image.

• Copyright Year-The year or years in which the image was copyrighted,
or
Image ID-A unique number that you assign to identify the image,
or
Transaction ID-A unique number that you assign to identify the transaction in which
the right to use the image was granted.
• Image information including:
o This Image is for Restricted Use Only -If "Yes" or "On," indicates that the
image is not freely distributable and that licensing terms apply.
o This image is copyrighted.-If "Yes" or "On," instructs the person viewing the
image that it should not be reproduced in any form without contacting the
creator or distributor.
o This image contains Adult Content.-If "Yes" or "On," indicates that the image
contains subject matter that is suitable for adults only; helpful in preventing
minors from viewing unsuitable content in online applications.
Through the information found in the digital watermark, anyone with a Digimarc
"reader" (available in the stand-alone free softwware Reader as well as in the plug-ins)
can obtain complete contact details about an image's creator and/or its distributor,
making it simple to license the image, license another one like it, or commission new
work.
Note: Not all of Digimarc's products support all of these image attributes. Refer to the
User's Guide for your individual product for specific information.
DIGITAL WATERMARKING EMBEDDING GUIDELINES

This section provides specific instructions and tips for integrating digital watermarking
into your digital image processing workflow and creating the most durable digital
watermarks possible.
What types of images can be digitally watermarked?

Generally, any image that can be opened by the application that is using Digimarc
technology can be digitally watermarked. This section provides additional information
on specific aspects of images relating to digital watermarking.
Bitmap images vs. vector images

Digital watermarking works most predictably with bitmap images, which can be either
color or grayscale. Vector or line-art images can also be digitally watermarked as long as
they are first converted to a raster or bitmapped format.
File formats
A Digimarc watermark can reside in any file format supported by a Digimarc-enabled
image editing application. For example, TIFF, PICT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PSD and BMP
images can all contain a digital watermark. Because a digital watermark is woven into
and carried by the pixels that make up an image, it survives even when the image is
converted from one file format to another.
Note: Not all of Digimarc's products support all of these file formats. Refer to the User's
Guide of your product for specific information.
Color space
A digital watermark is placed in the luminance channel of an image, so it is color-space
independent. A digital watermark can be placed in RGB, CMYK, LAB or grayscale
images, and will survive when an image is converted from one color space to another.
Note: The RGB, CMYK, LAB and grayscale color spaces are not supported by all image
editing applications, so refer to the User's Guide of your application to see what color
spaces it supports.
In some image editing applications, no filters are available when working with indexed-
color images (such as the GIF format); this will prevent you from using the plug-ins filter
to embed a digital watermark in such an image. The solution is simple, however: just
convert the image to RGB, apply the digital watermark, and then convert back to
indexed color using an adaptive palette.
Image variations/randomness
Digimarc digital watermarks are most effective and least perceptible when applied to
images that are not composed, mostly or entirely, of a single flat color. Rather, images
should contain some degree of variation or randomness.
Digimarc uses a patented technique called “perceptual adaptation” when embedding
digital watermarks as a means to make digital watermarks as imperceptible to viewers
as possible. This is simply a technical way of saying that when embedding a digital
watermark, the software identifies areas of the image that are highly detailed or very flat,
and adjusts the intensity of the digital watermark accordingly. In flat areas the digital
watermark intensity is decreased, while in detailed regions the intensity is increased. If
an image is composed mostly of flat areas, it may be difficult to conceal the digital
watermark.
Image size recommendations

To embed a digital watermark into an image and be able to reliably read it later,
Digimarc digital watermarks require a minimum number of pixels with which to work.
If you don't believe that your image will be modified or compressed prior to its actual
use, the size of the image to be digitally watermarked can be as small as 100 x 100 pixels.
However, if you expect that your image might be cropped, rotated, compressed or
otherwise modified after you embed a digital watermark, Digimarc recommends a
minimum size of 256 x 256 pixels. There is no upper limit on image size for digital
watermarking.
Note: You may find that some smaller images actually watermark successfully, and even
that some larger images do not. Such variance in successful digital watermarking is a
factor of the variation/randomness of the image (as discussed in the previous section),
the strength setting used when embedding the watermark (see "Watermark durability
vs. visibility" later in this Guide) and the parameters used in applying compression, if
any (see Image compression in Watermark Survival section later in this Guide).
Image workflow overview

As you prepare an image for its final use, you may take it through a number of different
transformations. You may save the image in multiple resolutions, and you may perform
a number of the edits discussed in the "Digital Watermark Survival" section of this
Guide, such as color correction, cropping, rotating, scaling, etc. Digital watermarking
should be one of the very last processes you apply to your image, except for
compression.
Where and when to digitally watermark images in your process

The recommended workflow sequence for digital watermarking, then, is as follows:
1. Make all necessary modifications to your image until it has the desired final
appearance.
2. Embed the digital watermark.
3. If the final image should be compressed, compress by converting to JPEG or
GIF format.
4. Read the digital watermark to verify it it was successful.
5. Publish the image.
Setting digital watermark attributes

When you're ready to embed a digital watermark, you will need to set a number of
parameters for the information the watermark will contain. The following list
summarizes these attributes.
• Digimarc ID. A unique number that identifies you when you register with Digimarc
as an image creator. This unique ID is linked to the creator's contact profile.
• PIN. A Personal Identification Number provided to you by Digimarc for use in
validating your Digimarc ID when you submit it.
• Copyright Year. A single year or two years; must be between 1922 and the current
year, or
• Image or Transaction ID. A unique number that you assign to identify the image
or transaction (range is 1-16,777,215).
• This image is for restricted use only. When selected, indicates that the image is
copyrighted and subject to restricted use.
• This image is copyrighted. When selected, indicates that the image's creator
and/or distributor has specified that the image should not be copied without
permission.
• This image contains Adult Content. When selected, indicates that the image
contains Adult Content.
Digital watermark strength

Digimarc's goal is to embed digital watermarks that are both imperceptible to the human
eye and durable. This can be a delicate balancing act, since the durability and visibility of
a digital watermark are directly related. An increase in watermark intensity, or energy,
increases the strength--but it also increases the visibility of the watermark. When a
digital watermark becomes visible, it can appear as a slight texture or graininess in the
image.
Using the “watermark strength” setting

The default watermark intensity setting found in Digimarc digital watermarking
products has been chosen to strike a balance between digital watermark robustness and
visibility in the majority of images. However, this setting is by no means "one size fits
all." Digimarc provides controls so that you can increase or decrease the watermark
intensity level yourself to achieve the desired balance between watermark robustness
and visibility in your digital watermarking projects.
The setting you select will depend on the intended use of the image and on the goals
you've set for your digital watermarks. For example, it may be quite acceptable to use a
higher watermark strength setting with JPEG images posted on a web site. The higher
durability helps to assure the persistence of the digital watermark, and the increased
visibility will often not be noticeable with medium-resolution JPEG images.
Digimarc recommends that you try various digital watermark intensity settings as part
of your testing process to see which setting works best for the majority of your images.
The goal is to find the balance between visibility and durability that best serves your
image and provides the persistent identity that will protect it.
Other factors affecting digital watermark strength

Along with the intensity setting that you choose when embedding a watermark, the
strength of a digital watermark is also affected by the following factors:
• Image variations/randomness: As discussed earlier in the "Image

variations/randomness" section, the successful embedding of a digital watermark is
dependent on the variation and randomness present in the pixels making up the
image. For example, if you are working with an image that contains more flat color
regions than detailed areas, you may want to choose a higher digital watermark
strength so that the watermark will overcome the limitations of the specific image.
This may result in a more visible digital watermark, but in some situations that is an
acceptable trade-off, as mentioned above.
• Image size: See the earlier section, "What size of image can be watermarked?"
• Compression: Saving the watermarked image in a compressed format may affect the
durability of the digital watermark.
• See the Digital Watermark Survival section.
DIGITAL WATERMARKING SURVIVAL

As mentioned earlier in this Guide, a digital watermark is designed to be robust by
surviving typical image edits and file format conversions. This section provides details
on the many factors that can affect digital watermark survival, and includes tips for
obtaining optimum results when embedding your digital watermarks.
Image compression
In general, a Digimarc digital watermark will survive image compression, but the
survival is dependent on several factors. Lossless compression, such as Compact Pro,
LZW, StuffIt™ and the .ZIP format, does not affect the survival of a digital watermark at
all, because no image data is sacrificed to create the compressed version. On the other
hand, because lossy compression methods such as JPEG actually remove some image
data in order to decrease file size, they can have varying effects on digital watermark
survival. The following factors will influence the impact that lossy compression has on
digital watermark survival:
• Level of image compression: Lossy compression degrades the image to some extent,
depending upon the quality setting chosen when saving in compressed format; most
digital watermarks will survive as long as a moderate level of compression is used
(see below for more detail).
• Visibility/durability setting used when embedding a digital watermark: The higher
the intensity setting, the better the chances the digital watermark will survive
compression. Again, a higher-intensity digital watermark provides more data-to-
survive compression. Since the visual quality of compressed images is often
somewhat compromised anyway, generally a higher watermark intensity setting
yields quite acceptable results.
• Image size: The greater the number of pixels in the image, the more the digital
watermark can be repeated throughout it; the recommended minimum size for an
image that will be compressed is 256 x 256 pixels. The larger the image, the better the
digital watermark will survive compression.
• Randomness of image data: As discussed in the earlier section "Image
variations/randomness," the more randomness and/or color variation in an image,
the better; a flat color space with little gradation may not survive well, while an
image with more detail and contrast will fare better. Since a digital watermark is
applied more strongly within areas of high contrast or variation, an image that
contains more contrast and/or variation than others will contain more digital
watermark data and thus stand a better chance of surviving compression. Note that
vector images, line art or text that are converted to a bitmap and then digitally
watermarked may not survive compression well due to a relative lack of
randomness.
Unfortunately, images vary so widely in their detail, randomness and other qualities that
it is impossible to provide universal guidelines for applying compression to all images.
A digital watermark in one image may survive a compression ratio of 20:1, while another
may not survive anything above 10:1. In addition, image editing applications vary
widely in how they apply compression as well as how they present the available
compression options to the user. For example, one application may offer a compression
scale of "Low," "Medium," "High" and "Maximum" image quality, while another may
provide a numerical scale of 0 through 255. As a result of these inconsistencies, it is
difficult to provide specific recommendations for which compression settings you
should use with your watermarked images; however, a setting that yields approximately
a 10:1 reduction in file size can be considered moderate, and should ensure watermark
survival in most images.
If you are using Adobe Photoshop for image editing and embedding digital watermarks,
Digimarc generally recommends using Level 4 (Medium Image Quality) or higher when
compressing images. If you are using an image editing tool other than Photoshop, you
will probably want to stay within the same general range.
Note: Besides JPEG, there are new forms of lossy compression such as Wavelet and
Fractal. Because these compression formats are not yet as standardized as JPEG,
Digimarc has not done extensive testing of their impact on watermark survival as of this
writing. If you want to use either approach, we recommend that you experiment
thoroughly and be sure to test your images for watermark readability before distributing
them.
As you work with compressed images and test the readability of digital watermarks
embedded in those images, you may want to experiment with the interaction between
the visibility/durability setting for digital watermarking and the level of image
compression. Depending on the content of your image (detail, color palette, etc.), these
settings will have varying impacts on the digital watermark's survivability.
Resampling images
In some situations, you may wish to have multiple copies of an image at different
resolutions. For example, one may want two of the same image at different resolutions.
One may want a 100 DPI version for Web use and a 300 DPI version. To accomplish this,
you resample the image, changing its resolution in your image-editing application after
using the "Save a copy..." or similar command.
When you are working with an image that you will be resampling in multiple
resolutions, always resample before embedding a digital watermark. This will mean
conducting more digital watermarking operations than if you embedded only once prior
to resampling, but your digital watermarks will be much more durable using this
approach.
Digitally watermarking images for digital output

This section identifies a number of issues that are unique to digitally watermarking
images for delivery and distribution on the World Wide Web or any other online
medium.
DPI settings
When digitally watermarking an image for use on the Internet resample the image to the
proper DPI setting for this medium (either 72 or 100 DPI) before you embed the digital
watermark. Correctly matching the digital watermark's DPI setting to the image's final
resolution will ensure the survival of your embedded information.
GIF and indexed color formats

If you work with GIF images regularly, you are probably accustomed to reducing the
color depth of an image in order to decrease its file size and accelerate its loading speed
for Web use. When the image you're working with is digitally watermarked, Digimarc
recommends that you use a color depth of no fewer than 216 (this is the number of colors
in the standard "Web-safe" palette that ensures equivalent colors on all computing
platforms). In some image-editing applications, no filters are available when working
with indexed-color images such as the GIF format; this will prevent you from using the
plug-ins filter to embed a digital watermark in such an image. The solution is simple,
however: just convert the image to RGB, apply the digital watermark, and then convert
back to indexed color using an adaptive palette. You should be aware that if you
repeatedly change the image's color palette (decrease the number of colors, or change
colors in the palette itself) after the digital watermark has been embedded, this may
decrease the durability of the digital watermark, as well as the quality of the image.
UCR/GCR settings
Typical UCR (Under Color Removal) settings of 280, 300 or 320 do not affect digital
watermark survival; typical GCR (Gray Component Replacement) settings also do not
affect watermark survival.
Unsharp Mask
The recommendations for applying the “Unsharp Mask” filter to an image differ
depending on whether the image is intended to be used for digital or printed output.
When preparing an image for Internet use or other digital output, if an “Unsharp Mask”
filter is necessary, always apply it before embedding your digital watermark. Because
“Unsharp Mask” increases the apparent level of detail in an image, and a digital
watermark is embedded most intensely in the detailed areas, the “Unsharp Mask”
process enhances the areas where a digital watermark is most intense.
Scaling
A digital watermark will generally survive scaling, but Digimarc recommends staying
within a range of .6X to 2X to preserve the digital watermark.
Cropping
Because the digital watermark is repeated throughout the image, removing portions of
the image by cropping will generally not affect the watermark, provided that the final
image exceeds the minimum size discussed above. If the image is cropped to less than
256 x 256 pixels, the watermark may not survive.
Rotation
Unlike other systems that embed copyright information in images, a Digimarc
watermark remains intact when the image is rotated by any number of degrees. The
rotation can be as small as 1 or 2 degrees, which can often occur when an image is
scanned, or as large as the most extreme arbitrary rotation, with no effect on watermark
survival.
Effects filters
The digital watermark survives most effects filters, but the general rule is that the
survival of the digital watermark is linked to the visual quality of the image. If an effects
filter is applied at an extreme setting such that the quality of the image is compromised
(particularly distortion-type effects such as Blur, Twirl and Morph), then the digital
watermark may no longer be readable from the image.
Working with layered images

When the image you want to digitally watermark contains multiple layers (a feature
supported by many image editing applications), digitally watermarking an image in that
state would apply the digital watermark to the selected layer only, rather than to the
entire image. To avoid this problem, you must flatten the image (combine all of the
desired layers into a single image) before embedding the watermark. To flatten the
image in Adobe Photoshop, for example, choose "Flatten Image" from the pop-up menu
on the Layers palette. In some situations, you may want to create a watermarked version
of the current image but save its layered version for later use; most applications include
a "Save As..." or "Save a Copy..." command on the File menu for this purpose. After
saving a separate copy of the file, you can open the copy, flatten the image, and apply
your watermark.
Combining digital watermarks with visual watermarks

When you are creating digital comps for an agency or prospective customer to use on a
"For Position Only" basis, you may want to apply a visual watermark in addition to a
Digimarc imperceptible watermark, to prevent their use in a final piece. If you use such a
visual watermark, be sure to apply the digital watermark last, since in the reverse order
the visual watermark could possibly disrupt a significant number of pixels, potentially
changing the image too drastically and removing the digital watermark. Also, keep in
mind that when applying a digital watermark to a comp you can use a higher-than-usual
durability setting if you like, because some degree of image variation is acceptable in this
situation.
Working with composite images/montages

An image that is actually composed of multiple discrete images presents a unique set of
circumstances where watermarking is concerned.
If you create a montage consisting only of images that you created, you can opt to embed
a digital watermark into each of those images prior to adding them to the montage; or
you can wait and digitally watermark the entire montage when it is complete. When a
user views your montage, he/she can check for watermarks by selecting individual
images within the montage using the marquee or lasso tool and choosing the "Read
Watermark" command. If you use this approach, be sure that the individual images are
no smaller than the minimum 256 x 256 pixels.
If you create a montage using images created by others, bear in mind that your image
editing application might alert you to copyright and authorship information stored in
those images via digital watermarks. You should consider this information carefully
when evaluating whether you should use such images in your work, or whether you
should contact the copyright holder(s) before using them. Remember that you cannot
embed a watermark in an image that already contains one. Attempting to do so will
result in an error message.
CASE STUDIES
This section presents three fictional "case studies" to help demonstrate how you might
apply some of the techniques and concepts explained in this Guide.
Case Study A: Using photographs on a Web site

A photographer wants to post her own images on her Web site. In order to present the
photographs in a variety of layouts, she wants to post each image in four different sizes:
600 x 440, 300 x 220, 150 x 110 and 75 x 55 pixels. She is planning to post the images in
JPEG-compressed format.
ISSUES TO CONSIDER
Resizing watermarked images can adversely affect digital watermark durability.
The two smallest images are below the recommended 256 x 256 pixels for compressed
images.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Resize the original image before embedding a digital watermark. Create the four desired
sizes from the original, and save the resized images as separate files.
Since the Digimarc-recommended minimum size for watermarked images that will be
compressed is 256 x 256 pixels, any digital watermark embedded in the two smallest
sizes most likely will not survive after the images have been JPEG-compressed. The
digital watermark in the smallest image will certainly not survive. \
PROCESS
6. Working from the original image, resize it to the four desired sizes and save
those versions as separate files.
7. Open the two largest images for digital watermarking, and perhaps the 150 x
110 pixel image. Do not watermark the smallest image, since it is too small
for effective watermarking and probably has little commercial value anyway
due to its size.
8. Embed the digital watermarks at intensity level 2 and read the watermark to
test it.
9. Compress the digitally watermarked images: Set compression at a level that
favors image quality over image size. If you are using Adobe Photoshop, a
compression level or 4 (medium image quality) or greater is recommended.
10. After saving the images in compressed format, close the files and then reopen
them. Choose "Read Watermark" from the Filters menu.
Case Study B. Digitally watermarking JPEG-compressed images

A photographer wants to digitally watermark his compressed images. The images are
already in JPEG format and posted on his Web site. All of the images are 330 x 280 pixels.
ISSUES TO CONSIDER
• Digitally watermarking an image that has already been saved in the JPEG-
compressed format can result in image quality degradation-you are effectively
compressing the image twice.
• Image size should not be an issue, as the 330 x 280 pixel size is over the 256 x 256
minimum.
• For best results and the most durable watermark, go back and apply the digital
watermark to the original, uncompressed image files (TIFF format, for example),
then compress the images.
• If it is not possible to work with the original images, the JPEG-format images can be
watermarked-but this will likely result in less durable digital watermarks and
decreased image quality.
Process-Embedding digital watermarks in the original, uncompressed

images
1. Digitally watermark the original image files using at least the default
watermark intensity of 2, or a higher setting such as 3 or 4. Optionally select
the "test" option. If you are not satisfied with the strength of a digital
watermark, revert to the original, unwatermarked version and re-apply the
watermark at a higher intensity level.
2. Compress the digitally watermarked images. Set compression at a level that
favors image quality over image size. If you are using Adobe Photoshop, a
compression level of 4 (medium image quality) or greater is recommended.
3. After saving the images in compressed format, choose "Read Watermark"
from the Filters menu.
4. Post the images on the Web site.
Process-Digitally watermarking JPEG-compressed images when

originals are not available
1. Digitally watermark the JPEG files using the default intensity level of 2, or
possibly 3.
2. After watermarking, save the images in JPEG format again. Remember to

favor image quality over file size when choosing a JPEG compression level.
You are effectively compressing the images twice, which may degrade image
quality at higher compression levels.
3. After saving the images in compressed format, choose "Read Watermark"
from the Filters menu.
4. Once you are satisfied with both the watermark strength and the visual
quality of the images, post them on the Web site.

Watermarking Guide

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DIGIMARC DIGITAL IMAGE

Introduction to digital watermarking 2

Digital watermarking for your digital images 3

Digital watermarking embedding guidelines 7

Digital watermarking survival 11

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL WATERMARKING

Whether you use Digimarc® ImageBridge™, our enterprise-level digital image

Digital watermarking of digital images enables:

BRAND IMAGE TRACKING

If you're a photographer, a web publisher, or an image distributor or if you maintain a

DIGITAL WATERMARKING FOR YOUR DIGITAL IMAGES

What is a digital watermark?

A digital watermark is used to communicate copyright information about an image in

Reasons to digitally watermark images

Another reason is, more important, commercially: a Digimarc digital watermark

How the Digimarc digital watermarking system works

This system provides the tools and capabilities to:

Embedder and reader software

These Digimarc-aware applications are capable not only of embedding digital

In addition to the plug-ins, Digimarc offers another application for digitally

The Digimarc online registry

Image tracking services

Type of information that a digital watermark communicates

• Digimarc ID-A unique number identifying the creator of the image.

DIGITAL WATERMARKING EMBEDDING GUIDELINES

What types of images can be digitally watermarked?

Bitmap images vs. vector images

Image size recommendations

Image workflow overview

Where and when to digitally watermark images in your process

Setting digital watermark attributes

Digital watermark strength

Using the “watermark strength” setting

Other factors affecting digital watermark strength

• Image variations/randomness: As discussed earlier in the "Image

DIGITAL WATERMARKING SURVIVAL

Digitally watermarking images for digital output

GIF and indexed color formats

Working with layered images

Combining digital watermarks with visual watermarks

Working with composite images/montages

Case Study A: Using photographs on a Web site

Case Study B. Digitally watermarking JPEG-compressed images

Process-Embedding digital watermarks in the original, uncompressed

Process-Digitally watermarking JPEG-compressed images when

2. After watermarking, save the images in JPEG format again. Remember to

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