An image steganography program that will allow you to encode and decode images with any text!
Written in C++ using the FreeImage library
This program uses a Pixel Value Differencing (PVD) method for encoding, where instead of applying data through the RGB values themselves, it takes the differences between two values and encodes data using the Least Significant Bits (LSB) of the differences.
We do this by encoding the difference of red and green, then the difference of green and red. We then get the new RGB values by taking the average of the two green values and adjusting the red and blue values using our new difference values.
Also, depending on how large the difference is, we can embed more bits while maintaining quality.
I used this research paper as my main reference, but with a couple of tweaks.
Make sure you have Make and FreeImage installed.
Run these commands:
git clone https://github.com/UTkbxRME7c9C/lsb-pvd-image-steganography.git
cd lsb-pvd-image-steganography/
make
Run ./imgstego -h or --help for usage instructions
Usage: imgstego -i|--input <filename> [options]
Options:
-o|--output <filename> Specify output image file (optional)
-e|--encode <text> Encode the image with provided text
-d|--decode Decode the image and display text
-h|--help Display program options
For example, to encode an image with a text, use this command:
./imgstego --input filename.png -o encoded.png --encode "Hello there"
And to decode:
./imgstego --input encoded.png --decode
Warning
This program only works with lossless or uncompressed image file types. Do not use lossy file types, such as .jpeg or .gif.
By default, the program will store the encoded image to the same directory, but appending _mod on the image name that is being used. Encoding images/image.png will save the file as images/image_mod.png unless if a specific output location is provided.
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Proper pixel overflow handling, as it seems to cause issues when using very long messages, especially with bird.png.
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Encryption of some kind