Digital Watermarking for Creators

Digital watermarking embeds ownership information directly into your content in a way that survives copying, compression, and reposting—making it possible to prove authorship even when your work appears on other platforms.

Summary

Digital watermarking is the practice of embedding hidden information into digital content (images, videos, audio, documents) that can later be extracted to prove ownership. Stelais uses advanced steganographic techniques to create invisible watermarks that persist through common transformations like compression, cropping, and format conversion.

Visible vs. Invisible Watermarking

Visible Watermarks

  • Obvious overlay on content (logos, text)
  • Deters casual copying
  • Easy to remove with editing tools
  • Degrades visual quality

Invisible Watermarks (Stelais)

  • Hidden in pixel data or file structure
  • Survives compression and reposting
  • Cannot be seen or easily removed
  • Maintains full visual quality
Steganography
Steganography is the practice of hiding information within other data in a way that is not apparent to casual observation. In digital watermarking, steganographic techniques embed ownership data into the least significant bits of image pixels, audio samples, or video frames.

How Stelais Watermarking Works

Stelais uses multiple layers of invisible watermarking to ensure your ownership information persists through various transformations:

Frequency Domain Embedding

Watermarks are embedded in the frequency domain of your content, making them resistant to common image processing operations like resizing and compression.

Redundant Encoding

Ownership data is encoded multiple times across different regions of your content, ensuring it can be recovered even if portions are cropped or modified.

Cryptographic Binding

Watermarks are cryptographically linked to your identity and the blockchain proof, preventing forgery or transfer.

Adaptive Strength

Watermark intensity automatically adjusts based on content type to maximize durability while minimizing perceptibility.

Watermarking + Hashing: Complete Protection

While watermarking proves ownership of modified copies, cryptographic hashing proves the exact original state of your work. Stelais combines both approaches:

Cryptographic Hash

A unique fingerprint of your exact content at registration time. Any modification—even a single pixel—produces a completely different hash, proving tampering.

Invisible Watermark

Embedded ownership data that persists through modifications. Even if your content is compressed, cropped, or converted, the watermark can be extracted to prove you're the original creator.

Together, hashing and watermarking provide complete coverage: the hash proves the original, and the watermark traces copies back to you.

Ready to protect your content?

Join creators who are taking control of their work with blockchain-backed proof of authorship.

Get Started with Stelais