Digital watermark types and what is the digitial watermark? Quick information and samples - ByteScout

Digital watermark types and what is the digitial watermark? Quick information and samples

  • Home
  • /
  • Articles
  • /
  • Digital watermark types and what is the digitial watermark? Quick information and samples

Digital watermark types

Digital watermarking came to be in great demand when sharing information on the Internet became a usual practice. Sharing files online, you never know if someone uses them without your consent. To prevent unauthorized commercial use of your files, you can publish them to the web in the worst quality or don’t publish anything worthwhile at all. It isn’t a good way to solve the problem of the unauthorized use, is it? So, you should look for more effective ways of copyright protection, such as digital watermarking.

A digital watermark is a pattern of bits inserted into a digital file – image, audio or video. Such messages usually carry copyright information of the file. Digital watermarking takes its name from the watermarking of paper or money. But the main difference between them is that digital watermarks are supposed to be invisible or at least not changing the perception of the original file, unlike paper watermarks, which are supposed to be somewhat visible.

Speaking of digital image watermarking, we can divide watermarks into two main groups – visible and invisible watermarks.

A visible watermark is a visible semi-transparent text or image overlaid on the original image. It allows the original image to be viewed, but it still provides copyright protection by marking the image as its owner’s property. Visible watermarks are more robust against image transformation (especially if you use a semi-transparent watermark placed over the whole image). Thus they are preferable for strong copyright protection of intellectual property that’s in digital format.

An invisible watermark is an embedded image that cannot be perceived with the human’s eyes. Only electronic devices (or specialized software) can extract the hidden information to identify the copyright owner. Invisible watermarks are used to mark a specialized digital content (text, images or even audio content) to prove its authenticity.

Although copyright protection is the main field of using digital watermarks, they can also be used for such purposes as advertising (adding company’s name and logo as a watermark for promotion rather than for protection) or even adding memo titles to digital photos. It’s obvious that only visible watermarks can satisfy these requirements.

A visible image watermark can be added using a graphics editor (like free MS Paint). But it’s more effective to add digital image watermarks using special watermark software which simplifies the watermarking process, speeds up image processing and allows batch add watermarks. Please, look at the examples of visible watermarks added with Bytescout Watermarking Pro software.

The original image:
Sample image without watermark

The same image with the text watermark fitting image size which is robust against cropping (watermark is added using Bytescout Watermarking Pro software):
image protected with digital watermark added using Bytescout Watermarking

Digital Watermarking

If you check all through the internet, you will find out how people copyrighted their multimedia content using digital watermarking. Business owners, writers, astute photographers have been discovered to digitally watermarked their content to prevent them from being copied. Do you think it is worth the stress?

Water is as old as the first age. You must have come across several printed pictures having the word ‘COPY’ or related phrases on them. Photographers still implement image watermarking before providing their premium clients some prints of photography.

In this technological age, an electronic watermark is still in vogue. Content curators could watermark in video meaning the content cannot be reproduced by any other means. Examples of watermarks could be superimposing logo, symbol or text on the photo or carefully positioning them close to the border of the picture.

What is the use of watermarks?

Several reasons exist to implement digital watermarking on your online asset or website- be it visible or invisible digital watermarking.

It is another type of copyright that prevents individuals from utilizing and personalizing your image or photos without your consent.

It is a simple means of signing your image, similar to your digital signature. This helps internet users to trace the image back to you. That way, you can optimize your online reputation as an astute photographer or a content curator.

However, while watermarking provides a copyright solution, it also comes with its disadvantages if not correctly used. It could cause distraction on the image and change the focus from the image to the watermark. This is the more reason you need to learn how to watermark professionally.

Tips for Utilizing Watermarking

If you have made up your decision to use a watermark, which is why you are reading this article, then you need to be aware of some things. Firstly, customize the logo or text to the proper size. A bigger size will distract the focus while a smaller size watermark will be invisible.

Not only that, it has to be legible. You can utilize your digital signature, as long as users can read it. Nevertheless, it may not serve any significant purpose. If you are using text watermarking, making it unusual, but make it legible.

Do not position the watermark on the entire image. Instead, place it by the corner or the border of the picture. This will prevent distraction.

Other Frequently Asked Questions

What is watermarking in image processing

It is a visible detail like a logo, text that you superimpose on your original content. It could be transparent(visible0 or hard to recognize(invisible).

Why is it referred to as a watermark?

The water in the ‘watermark originated from those periods when a watermark was only a concept in the paper. At that time, proprietors created a watermark by adjusting the paper thickness, thus creating a lightness/shadow in the watermarked paper. This only occurred when the document was watery/wet. The mark on this paper was called a watermark.

What is Image watermarking?

It is a process where the content owner superimposes an invisible watermark by adjusting the picture from the vantage of the pixel. A pixel is a single dot of an image. The pixels that will form the resulting watermark is tweaked to align with the image that requires watermarking. For instance, if the watermark is 50 percent visible, 50 percent of the RGB or Red, Green and Blue values are removed from the initial image, and 50% of the Red, Green and Blue values are incorporated into the picture.

 Conclusion

Recall that your image represents your brand on the internet. Therefore, go for what suits you. Add your copyright info to the image captions or descriptions to communicate your brand to your audience.

Find more information about Bytescout Watermarking Pro software here

Don’t like commercial software? Check our Watermarking freeware here

Tutorials:

prev
next