Origin Provides information on the history of the image. To enter the current date in a short text format, click Today. For Credit, enter the information needed in the credit line for a copyrighted image. Transmission Reference provides the Associated Press with information on the original transmission location of the image. For Urgency, specify the editorial urgency of the image—not its handling priority.

EXIF Displays information imported from a digital camera, such as the date and time the picture was taken, resolution, ISO speed rating, f/stop, compression, and exposure time. For more information about EXIF annotations, see your digital camera documentation.

To load, save, or append file information:

In the File Info dialog box, do one of the following:

•Click Load to replace the current information with information stored in a File Info file. You can load either an XMP file or an FFO file created by a previous version of Photoshop.

•Click Save to save the current file information in an XMP file for later use.

•Click Append to add information stored in a File Info file to the current file information. For each File Info field, if the field does not contain information then it will be updated with contents from the file. Caption and Keywords will always be appended with the information from the file.

Adding digital copyright information

You can add copyright information to Photoshop images and notify users that an image is copyright-protected via a digital watermark that uses Digimarc PictureMarc technology. The watermark—a digital code added as noise to the image—is generally imperceptible to the human eye. The watermark is durable in both digital and printed forms, surviving typical image edits and file format conversions—and is still detectable when the image is printed and then scanned back into a computer.

Embedding a digital watermark in an image lets viewers obtain complete contact information about the creator of the image. This feature is particularly valuable to image creators who license their work to others. Copying an image with an embedded watermark also copies the watermark and any information associated with it.

For more detailed information on embedding Digimarc watermarks, refer to the Digimarc Web site at www.digimarc.com.

Before adding a watermark

Keep in mind the following considerations before embedding a digital watermark in your image.

Color variation The image must contain some degree of variation or randomness in color to embed the watermark effectively and imperceptibly. The image cannot consist mostly or entirely of a single flat color.

Pixel dimensions The Digimarc technology requires a minimum number of pixels to work. Digimarc recommends the following minimum pixel dimensions for the image to be watermarked:

•100 pixels by 100 pixels if you don’t expect the image to be modified or compressed prior to its actual use.

•256 pixels by 256 pixels if you expect the image to be cropped, rotated, compressed, or otherwise modified after watermarking.

•750 pixels by 750 pixels if you expect the image to appear ultimately in printed form at 300 dpi or greater.

There is no upper limit on pixel dimensions for watermarking.

File compression In general, a Digimarc watermark will survive lossy compression methods such as JPEG, though it is advisable to favor image quality over file size (a JPEG compression setting of 4 or higher works best). In addition, the higher the Watermark Durability setting you choose when embedding the watermark (see “Using the Watermark Durability setting” on page 462), the better the chances that the watermark will survive compression.

Workflow Watermarking should be one of the very last tasks you perform, except for file compression. Use the following recommended workflow:

•Make all necessary modifications to your image until it has the desired final appearance (this includes resizing and color correction).

•Embed the watermark.

•If needed, compress the image by saving it in JPEG or GIF format.

•If the image is intended for printed output, perform the color separation.

•Read the watermark and use the signal strength meter to verify that the image contains a watermark of sufficient strength for your purposes.

•Publish the watermarked image.

Embedding digital watermarks

To embed a watermark, you must first register with Digimarc Corporation—which maintains a database of artists, designers, and photographers and their contact infor- mation—to get a unique creator ID. You can then embed the creator ID in your images, along with information such as the copyright year or a restricted-use identifier.

To embed a watermark:

1 Open the image that you want to watermark. You can embed only one watermark per image. The Embed Watermark filter won’t work on an image that has been previously marked.

If you’re working with a layered image, you should flatten the image before marking it; otherwise, the watermark will affect the active layer only.

Note: You can add a watermark to an indexed-color image by first converting the image to RGB mode, embedding the watermark, and then converting the image back to indexedcolor mode. However, the results may be inconsistent. To make sure that the watermark was embedded, run the Read Watermark filter.

2 Choose Filter > Digimarc > Embed Watermark.

To check the signal strength meter:

Choose Filter > Digimarc > Read Watermark. The signal strength meter appears at the bottom of the dialog box.

You can also display the meter automatically by selecting Verify while embedding the watermark. (See “Embedding digital watermarks” on page 461.)

Setting preferences for saving files (Photoshop)

In Photoshop, you can set preferences for saving image previews, using file extensions, and maximizing file compatibility.

To set file saving preferences:

1 Do one of the following:

• In Windows and Mac OS 9.x, choose Edit > Preferences > File Handling.

• In Mac OS X, choose Photoshop > Preferences > File Handling.

2 Set the following options:

Image Previews Choose an option for saving image previews: Never Save to save files without previews, Always Save to save files with specified previews, or Ask When Saving to assign previews on a file-by-file basis.

In Mac OS, you can select one or more of the following preview types (to speed the saving of files and minimize file size, select only the previews you need):

•Icon to use the preview as a file icon on the desktop.

•Macintosh Thumbnail to display the preview in the Open dialog box.

•Windows Thumbnail to save a preview that can display on Windows systems.

•Full Size to save a 72-ppi version of the file for use in applications that can only open low-resolution Photoshop images. For non-EPS files, this is a PICT preview.

File Extension (Windows) Choose an option for the three-character file extensions that indicate a file’s format: Use Upper Case to append file extensions using uppercase characters or Use Lower Case to append file extensions using lowercase characters.

Append File Extension (Mac OS) File extensions are necessary for files that you want to use on or transfer to a Windows system. Choose an option for appending extensions to filenames: Never to save files without file extensions, Always to append file extensions to filenames, or Ask When Saving to append file extensions on a file-by-file basis. Select Use Lower Case to append file extensions using lowercase characters.

To toggle the Append File Extension option for a single file, hold down Option when you choose a file format in the Save As dialog box.

To display a preview file icon (Windows only):

1Save the file in Photoshop format with a thumbnail preview.

2Right-click the file on the desktop (or in any Windows or Photoshop dialog box that displays a file list), and choose Properties from the context menu that appears.

3Click the Photoshop Image tab.