Digimarc Validate User Guide

11 September 2023

Digimarc Validate enables you to apply watermarks to and read watermarks from digital images.

Digital watermarks are covert graphical elements that embed or "carry" data, which can include information that you can use to identify the source of any unauthorized use or distribution of the image. Digimarc Validate enables you to apply watermarks to and read watermarks from digital images.

Applying a digital watermark involves changing the pixels in the image to embed the Digimarc digital watermark technology. You can download the resulting image, inspect it to ensure it meets your goals, and make adjustments to the settings as needed.

Validate supports most popular image formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP, and BMP. Unsupported image file formats include vector and line-art, palletized images, true black-and-white, and single-channel grayscale. For best results, use images larger than 256x256 pixels.

Validate offers three modes:

• Single Image Mode for applying watermarks to or reading watermarks in single images
• Batch Mode for applying watermarks to or reading watermarks in multiple images
• Wizard Mode for applying watermarks to multiple images and copies

The mode you choose depends on the number of images you want to read or watermark. Single Image Mode is the default.

Note
We store your uploaded files temporarily and delete them after 48 hours. The file IDs are stored in your browser cache. If you clear the cache or refresh the page, that information is deleted. You can upload the files again to view the watermark information.

Sign Up

Learn about Digimarc Validate at https://www.digimarc.com/products/digital-content-authentication. To create your account:

1. Click the sign-up link.

2. Select a pricing tier and billing frequency.

3. Enter your contact and billing information.

4. Read the terms of use carefully, and if you agree to them, enable Accept the Terms & Conditions.

5. Click Save. You'll get an email from Digimarc with the subject Validate Subscription Confirmation.

6. The Digimarc services team creates your account and sends you another email with the subject A Digimarc Account Has Been Created For You.

7. Click Activate Account to create a password. The Password Creation screen opens in your browser.

8. Enter your desired password and confirm it. Passwords must:

   • be at least eight characters long

   • have at least one uppercase letter

   • have at least one number

9. Read the terms of use carefully, and if you agree to them, enable Agree to Terms of Use.

10. Click Create Password. Validate sets your password and signs you in to My.Digimarc.

11. To use Validate to apply and read watermarks from digital images, click Access Site in the Validate tile. Your ID and Account Status are displayed.

12. In the upper right corner of the page, click Validate. The Single Image Mode view opens.

Sign In

1. Sign in to My.Digimarc.

2. In the Validate module, click Access Site to open the Validate web browser portal and sign in. Your ID and Account Status are displayed.

3. In the upper right corner of the page, click Validate. The Single Image Mode view opens.

Single Image Mode

In Single Image Mode, you can apply a watermark to an image or read the watermark in an image.

Single Image Mode is the default view that Digimarc Validate displays when you log in. If you're working in a different mode, you can return to Single Image Mode by clicking Switch to Single Image Mode at the top of the screen.

Apply

This function changes the pixels in your image to apply a digital watermark.

To apply a watermark to an image:

1. At the top of the screen, select the Apply option.

2. Click Choose a file to select the image on your computer.

3. Optional: Enter a Transaction ID. This is a number you can add to the watermark for your own purposes, such as for a partner ID, sales channel, or internal department. Using a transaction ID can help you identify the source of any unauthorized use or distribution of the image. Any number from 0 to 4294967295 is allowed.

4. Set the watermark's Durability. Higher durability means the watermark is more easily read by applications like Validate but might be more visible to the human eye. Experiment with different durability settings to find the right balance between invisibility and scan success for your image. Use a durability value from 1–16.

5. Select the Format for the watermark. The Chroma technique adjusts the colors in the image to apply the watermark. The Luma technique adjusts the brightness of image elements to apply the watermark. The chroma technique works best with colorful images, and the luma technique works best on images with a narrow range of colors, such as grayscale images.

6. Click Apply. If the watermark is successfully applied, Validate displays the results and enables you to download the watermarked image.

   

   Results

   After Validate applies the watermark, it displays the results in a table with the following fields:

   • Success: Indicates true if the watermark was applied or false if the watermark was not applied.

   • Processing Time: The length of time Validate took to apply the watermark to the image.

   • Original File Size: The size (in bytes) of the uploaded image.

   • New File Size: The size (in bytes) of the watermarked image.

   If the image already has a digital watermark, Validate displays an error message.

7. To see the results in JSON format, click Show JSON. The verified property indicates the result of the verification check that Validate performs after applying the watermark. If verified is false, discard the watermarked file and try the watermarking operation again.

8. Click Download File to save the watermarked image to your computer.

Read

This function scans an image for the presence of a watermark and, if found, displays the embedded data.

To read an image:

1. At the top of the screen, select the Read option.

2. Click Choose a file to select the image on your computer.

3. Click Read. Validate uploads the file, scans it for the presence of a watermark, and presents the results.

   

4. To see the results in JSON format, click Show JSON.

Results

After Validate uploads and scans the image, it displays the results in a table with the following fields:

• Success: Indicates true if the image was uploaded and scanned; otherwise, displays false.

• Found Digimarc IDs: Indicates whether Validate found a Digimarc digital watermark in the image. In the JSON results, this is labeled foundWatermark.

• Fetch Time: The length of time Validate took to upload the image.

• Read Time: The length of time Validate took to scan the image for the presence of a watermark and read the contents of the watermark.

• Creator ID: The ID of the person who applied the watermark to the image. This value is assigned by Validate. This field is omitted if no watermark is present.

• Adult: Indicates whether the image contains adult content. This is configurable only for Validate enterprise users. This field is omitted if no watermark is present.

• Copy Protected: Indicates whether the image contains digital rights management (DRM) technology to protect against copyright infringement. This is always true for images with a Digimarc digital watermark. This field is omitted if no watermark is present.

• Restricted: Indicates whether the image contains a custom restriction that was set by the image owner. This is always true for images with a Digimarc digital watermark. This field is omitted if no watermark is present.

• Type: If a Transaction ID was added during watermarking, the type is "TransactionId." If not, the type is "Basic." This field is omitted if no watermark is present.

• Value: This is the transaction ID if one was added during watermarking, or blank if the type is "Basic." This field is omitted if no watermark is present.

In Batch mode, you can apply a watermark to one or more images or read the watermarks in one or more images, if present. Batch mode is ideal for working with many files at a time.

1. At the top of the screen, select Switch to Batch Mode. The Batch Mode screen opens.

   

2. Click Browse files to select images on your computer. Files you select are added to the table.

3. Click the check mark icon in the table's header row to select all images, or Ctrl- or Cmd-click the individual check marks next to the images you want to work with.

4. Click Upload. The File Status column is updated as each file is uploaded and received. Buttons above the table are enabled, giving you the option to read the files for watermarks and apply watermarks to the images.

   

5. To scan the files for existing watermarks, click Read files. Validate reads each file and updates the table to display the results. If a file has a Digimarc digital watermark, the Enhanced column is true; otherwise, Enhanced is false. See the Results section for descriptions of the columns.

6. To remove the selected files from the table, click Delete.

7. To apply watermarks to each of the files, click Watermark files. The Embed Options dialog opens.

   

   Tip
   Validate can apply watermarks only to files that have not yet been watermarked. If you're unsure whether an image has been watermarked, first click Read files to confirm the Enhanced column is false before you try to apply a watermark.

   1. Optional: Enter a Transaction ID. This is a number you can add to the watermark for your own purposes, such as for a partner ID, sales channel, or internal department. Using a transaction ID can help you identify the source of any unauthorized use or distribution of the image. Any number from 0 to 4294967295 is allowed.

   2. Optional: When watermarking multiple images, you can increment the transaction ID by a number of your choice, giving each image a unique number. To assign all images the same transaction ID, set the Transaction Increment to 0; otherwise, set it to the desired increment value. For example, if the Transaction Increment value is 5 and the Transaction ID is 10, the images are watermarked with Transaction IDs of 10, 15, 20, and so on. The Transaction Increment value is ignored if the Transaction ID is blank.

   3. Set the watermark's Durability. Higher durability means the watermark is more easily read by applications like Validate but might be more visible to the human eye. Experiment with different durability settings to find the right balance between invisibility and scan success for your image. Use a durability value from 1–16.

   4. Select the Format for the watermark. The Chroma technique adjusts the colors in the image to apply the watermark. The Luma technique adjusts the brightness of image elements to apply the watermark. The chroma technique works best with colorful images, and the luma technique works best on images with a narrow range of colors, such as grayscale images.

   5. Click Ok. If the watermarks are successfully applied, Validate displays the results and enables you to download the watermarked images. See the Results section for descriptions of the columns.

8. Download the watermarked images to your computer:

   1. To download the images as individual files, click Download files.

   2. To download the images in a single ZIP archive file, click Download ZIP file.

Results

• File Name: The original file name that was uploaded.

• File Size: The size (in bytes) of the uploaded file.

• File Status: The status of the file in Validate. You can filter the table data by the file status by selecting a status from the drop-down list in the table header row. File statuses include:

  • Ready to Upload

  • Upload / Read / Embed / Download Pending

  • Upload / Read / Embed / Download Complete

  • Upload / Read / Embed / Download Failed

• File Upload: The progress of the file upload operation.

• File Error: If an error occurs, Validate shows the error message in the File Error column. If an image has already been watermarked, the error message reads, "An error occurred while processing the image: Image already watermarked."

• Creator ID: If Validate finds a watermark, the internal ID of the person who applied the watermark to the image. This value is assigned by Validate.

• Enhanced: True if Validate finds or applies a watermark; otherwise, false.

• Transaction ID: The transaction ID if one was added during watermarking.

• Format: If Validate finds or applies a watermark, indicates its format. The Chroma technique adjusts the colors in the image to apply the watermark. The Luma technique adjusts the brightness of image elements to apply the watermark. The chroma technique works best with colorful images, and the luma technique works best on images with a narrow range of colors, such as grayscale images.

• Adult: If Validate finds a watermark, indicates whether the image contains adult content. This is configurable only for Validate enterprise users.

• Restricted: If Validate finds a watermark, indicates whether the image contains a custom restriction that was set by the image owner. This is always true for images with a Digimarc digital watermark.

• Protected: If Validate finds a watermark, indicates whether the image contains digital rights management (DRM) technology to protect against copyright infringement. This is always true for images with a Digimarc digital watermark.

• Read Time: For a read operation, indicates the length of time Validate took to find and read the watermark.

• Embedded Size: If Validate applies a watermark, indicates the size of the watermarked file.

• Embed Time: If Validate applies a watermark, indicates the length of time it took to apply the digital watermark.

Wizard Mode

In Wizard mode, you can apply a watermark to one or more images and copies of images. Wizard mode is ideal for watermarking multiple copies of images.

1. At the top of the screen, select Switch to Wizard Mode. The Wizard Mode screen opens on Step 1 - Select images.

   

2. Click Browse files to select images on your computer. As you select files, they’re added to the table.

3. If you've added images in error, the table's check mark icons enable you to select the images to remove:

   1. To remove a file from the table, click the check mark next to it and click Delete.

   2. To remove multiple files from the table, Ctrl- or Cmd-click their check marks and click Delete.

   3. To remove all files from the table, click the check mark in the heading row to select them and click Delete.

4. Click Next to upload all images and continue. The Step 2 - Customized data view opens.

5. Select the options for customizing the data in the watermark. The table at the bottom of the screen changes to reflect your choices. 
   

   1. Create copies of images: You can watermark uploaded images more than once, giving each copy a different Transaction ID. To make the same number of copies of each uploaded image, enter the number to create. To create copies of specific images, enter the number to make in the table’s Copies column.

   2. Enhance with a transaction ID as well as a Digimarc ID: You can add a number to the watermark to use for your own purposes, such as for a partner ID, sales channel, or internal department. The Transaction ID can help you identify the source of any unauthorized use or distribution of the image. Any number from 0 to 4294967295 is allowed.

   3. Assign the same transaction ID to all images and copies: Watermark all images and copies with the same transaction ID.

   4. Assign specific transaction IDs to images and copies: Add different transaction IDs to each copy of each image.

   5. Automatically assign transaction IDs: Allow the wizard to assign transaction IDs to images.

   6. First transaction ID number: The first or starting number for transaction IDs to use.

   7. Make each transaction ID increase by this amount: As Validate adds transaction IDs to each image watermark, it adds this number to the previous transaction ID. Usually, the transaction IDs are incremented by 1 for each image and copy that are watermarked. For example, if you upload imageA.png and imageB.png and select 3 copies, 1 for this field, and with a First transaction ID number of 1000, each image and each copy will have a different transaction ID, ranging from 1000 to 1007.

   8. Repeat sequence through copies of images: Enable this option if you want the transaction ID sequence to be repeated for each image. The image and its first copy are watermarked with the First transaction ID number. The remaining copies receive a different transaction ID, incremented by the value you set in Make each transaction ID increase by this amount. For each image in the uploaded batch, the sequence begins again. Enable and disable this option to see how the Transaction IDs are affected in the table.

   9. Assign transaction IDs individually: Assign the transaction IDs to images manually using the Transaction ID column in the table.

6. Click Next. The Step 3 - Watermark options view opens.

   

7. Set the watermark's durability and format. You can Enhance all images with the same format and durability or Set format and durability for each image individually by setting the values in the table.

   • Durability: Higher durability means the watermark is more easily read by applications like Validate but might be more visible to the human eye. Experiment with different durability settings to find the right balance between invisibility and scan success for your image. Use a durability value from 1–16.

   • Format: The Chroma technique adjusts the colors in the image to apply the watermark. The Luma technique adjusts the brightness of image elements to apply the watermark. The chroma technique works best with colorful images, and the luma technique works best on images with a narrow range of colors, such as grayscale images.

8. Click Next. The Step 4 - Watermark files view opens.

   

9. Double-check the table for each image to confirm the values are set properly. If you need to make adjustments, you can click the step to go to at the top of the view, returning to step 4 when you're finished.
   

10. To apply watermarks to each of the files, click Enhance files. The table is updated to show "Embed Completed" in the File Status column when the file has been watermarked.

    • If an error occurs, Validate shows "Embed Failed" in the File Status column and the error message in the File Error column. If an image has already been watermarked, the error message reads, "An error occurred while processing the image: Image already watermarked."

    • To show or hide table columns, click the menu icon in the upper right corner of the table and enable or disable columns as needed.
      

11. Download the files as needed:

    1. To download a specific watermarked image, click its hyperlinked filename in the Output File Name column.

    2. To download all the watermarked images in a single ZIP archive file, click Download ZIP file.

    3. To download the data shown in the table, click Download CSV file. The comma-separated values (CSV) file can be opened with a spreadsheet program.

12. To remove files from the table, Ctrl- or Cmd-click the check marks next to the images you want to remove and click Delete.

13. To rerun the wizard on different image files, click Run Wizard Again.

Results

After the files are watermarked, the table displays the results of the operation.

• Input File Name: The original file name that was uploaded.

• Input File Size: The size (in bytes) of the uploaded file.

• Output File Name: The file name for the watermarked image.

• Copies: The number of copies of each uploaded file that Validate created.

• Transaction ID: The transaction ID if one was added during watermarking.

• Format: Chroma enhancement is generally less visible, and are more suitable for images with a broad range of colors. Luma enhancement is more visible on colorful images, but work better on images with a narrow range of colors. Greyscale images or images with a black product on a white background work best with luma enhancement.

• Durability: Higher durability means the watermark is more easily read by applications like Validate but might be more visible to the human eye. Experiment with different durability settings to find the right balance between invisibility and scan success for your image. Use a durability value from 1–16.

• File Status: The status of the file in Validate. File statuses include:

  • Ready to Upload

  • Upload / Read / Embed / Download Pending

  • Upload / Read / Embed / Download Complete

  • Upload / Read / Embed / Download Failed

• File Error: If an error occurs, Validate shows the error message in this column. If an image has already been watermarked, the error message reads, "An error occurred while processing the image: Image already watermarked."

• Creator ID: Not currently used.

• Embedded Size: If Validate applies a watermark, indicates the size of the watermarked file.

• Embed Time: The length of time Validate took to apply the digital watermark.