Digital Watermarking
What is Digital Watermarking?Digital watermarking is the process of embedding information into another digital message which can be an audio, video or image. The embedded information is called a watermark.A watermark can be hidden so that the end user does not know about it (this is called steganography). Watermarking is mainly used for copy-protection and copyright protection. As an example, to copy protect your images and show that you are the original owner of the media.When copyright protection is needed, hidden watermarks are to be used so that the original media quality is not tampered whereas when copy protection is needed, it is more suitable to use a clear and visible watermark.Watermarks can have any kind of information. Watermarks can be a simple text message added to the bottom of an image, or another image embedded over the original image.On what medias can Digital Watermarking be applied?The most commonly used media online are images. but digital watermarking can be applied to all digital medias, here are a few examples:An image can have a clear text watermark showing who is the creator of the image.An audio can embed a clear audio watermark stating the author of the audio.A video can embed a scrolling text to convey a message about the author of the video.A flash presentation can have an embedded text showing the owner and designer of the flash.The possibilities are endless.When do I need to watermark my images?Whenever you publish images online, these images will be available publicly and thus are subject to being copied or stolen by others. Any user can simply save the image and use it on his/her website. That's where image watermarking comes in. To avoid such a scenario, you can apply your watermark to all your published images. This will ensure that you are copy protecting your images and also copyright protecting them. No one will be able to recover the original images.How can I apply a watermark to my images?Applying watermarks can be very easy to do using a dedicated software such as WatermarkIt (downloadable for free from http://www.watermarksoft.com). Such a program allows you to create your own custom watermark and apply you to all your images with a few clicks.You can simply add your website URL to make sure that viewers know the source of images, or you can stamp your images with a SAMPLE word to publish some sample artwork of yours.Final thoughts:Digital Watermarkig is a powerful method to protect your online media content. Use it to protect your images and ensure that no one will be able to pirate them. Use an easy to use watermarking software (such as WatermarkIt from http://www.watermarksoft.com ) to batch apply your watermarks to all your images.
About the Author
WatermarkIt is developed by Salo Storm Software which has been developping and supporting software for Microsoft Windows since August 2003. Visit their website at: http://www.watermarksoft.com
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