Updating my comment #19, just like I said, Enplase has a terrible reputation for code quality. I've verified the complaints, use .zip archives for executables, .doc, etc. Ultima Steganography also doesn't set the keyboard focus for some fields, which is annoying.

I doubt that Ultima Steganography hides the fact that there's other data all that well, because of the Description.

The photograph which you select should be your own unpublished photo, otherwise a comparison with the original will reveal the presence of probable hidden data.

#28, mike, makes a couple of valid points. Any lossless operation can be performed on the output images, such as running PNG files through OptiPNG, etc. Also, steganography encompasses much more than just images.

The open-source Adaptive Steganography with AES is probably a good implementation, but it hasn't been ported to Windows and it's not under development. The open-source Steghide is very old. The open-source MP3Stego has some problems, isn't under development, and probably doesn't do a great of hiding the fact that there's concealed data.

This is a pretty sweet piece of software. I could see myself paying for a program like this but $30 seems a little steep. I played with the program a bit and got it to work for some file types but I am having trouble extracting .doc and .docx files. Anyone else having issues with extracting these types of files?

What is the reason for this really? Some examples? Can this hide a long file name and at a glance of hovering over the picture, will it reveal what's in your file? Or is this just attaching a zipped or RAR file? Will this go through online data backup systems, to be downloaded back to be still in tact and unencryptable? At least tell of some uses, if anyone knows.

Very cool !!! Quickly hid a poem in a picture of a big cat's face & eyes (a lion, maybe it is, not sure), then just as quickly extracted it, using a password. No problems. Then used a larger picture and was able to hide a larger document, this time using no password. Again, no problems.

Checking Properties in IrfanView did reveal a slight discrepancy between the processed picture's size on disk and its current memory size. Windows standard Properties also shows a very slight difference in size. I suppose this could be a clue that the photo has, as they say, more to it than meets the eye.

Suggestion: The input box where one chooses a name for the output file only accepts full paths (this is filled in when one chooses "Browse" and then inputs a name. Clarification here is needed; perhaps an Options category to set the default output path once, then all created files would go to the default unless another path is manually chosen.

Another suggestion: Not everyone will like the way the program windows "zoom in" on them; it is disconcerting -- change this to a more standard window opening.

I like the way the program immediately tells you your maximum embedded file size, based on the picture you select.

Quick and easy to use. Thank-you GOTD and Enplase Research.

I installed this on win xpsp3. Installed very nicely. No problems with the install.
Activated the software with ease. Also ran the software and had NO problems at all.
Thanks, GAOTD for a nice software offer once again.

I also wanted to thank everyone that comments on here, It can really help me at times with some questions I may have with other software. And thank you GAOTD for allowing us to give feedback. It sure can be helpful to me and I am sure many others sometimes. Thanks everyone. Have a great day.

Robin

Installed, registered and ran perfectly on Win7 x64. Had no trouble figuring out the interface, which does not need to be complicated. Created a test with a low resolution .jpg photo and rather large .txt file (not zipped). Output looked good, but the output picture was noticeably brighter. File recovered quickly without any loss. I like this as I do have some confidential client notes as text files that would be great to stow away for an added layer of protection. Put several suggestions into the suggestion box for the developer.

#19 Fubar makes a good comments,follow his link to steganography.
The user rating 63% to 37% shows positive views of a tool that works.
It's good to keep it simple, watertight and inconspicuous.

--------------
CONS: * If user forgets chosen key/password, encrypted file is unrecoverable.
--------------

How can that be a negative thing? A encrypted file will always be "unrecoverable" without a password. If it isn't unrecoverable then it's encrypted in a bad way.

Nice, Simple, Easy to use interface. Very nice piece of software. Great job!

To non-geeks:
People, the need for personal security increases daily. Not just from identity theft, but politically. EVERYTHING you pass over the 'Net is probably being captured - and not just by "criminals".
Within 2 years the 'Net WILL be controlled.
If you haven't read the book "1984" by Orwell, you should as a matter of family future concern.
The technology to track you and your activities available right now is only what we already know about. Who knows what is out there and next?

The two words "privacy" and "security" are the same thing today.
BE CAREFUL OUT "THERE"....

I strongly recommend TrueCrypt, a free, open source file or partition encryption tool. Being free and open source, your friend or associate can download it free so he/she can easily open the encrypted file.

You can set up a virtual, encrypted disk drive (this is what I do) and store multiple files on it. If you want a free and easy file/disk/partition encryption tool.

Just do a websearch for TrueCrypt to find their webpage, or download the program from your favorite download site (cnet.com is a good one). If a website asks you to pay for the program, please report them on the truecrypt homepage.

Thanks GAOTD for another useful giveaway. No problems downloading, installing, using. If it is simple enough for me to understand how to make it work then it is basically idiot proof!

Ultima Steganography is a very solid application. It does what it said it would do, flawlessly. The application is very clean and straightforward, and I understand that there is no “help” function, but the program doesn’t seem to need one. It hid my file and was able to get it back, with no data loss. I was disappointed with the lack of file formats supported and encryption methods, however.

Pros:
-Clean UI
-Straightforward, easy to use
-Can hide and encrypt files into images
-Can add a password and description to hidden files
-Can extract files from various image formats
-No quality/data loss after hiding and extracting

Cons:
-Not very many file formats to choose from
-A bit expensive at $30 for such a simple tool
-Only one encryption method

For Netbooks:
-Fits well on netbook screen

Full review of Ultima Steganography

I've encrypted a word file, the contained picture was still readable after the encryption process. But the word file was completly damaged after decryption.

There is no use of the programm.

Installed properly, ran properly, simple to use. However, extracted EXEs are corrupted and will not execute after extraction. I tried several several different EXEs and a couple of different PNGS. No luck. First clue is that Secret_File.exe (default name for extracted file) does not show the correct icon in Explorer.

When I first ran Ultima Steganography I got a std. shareware nag screen with options to continue or buy -- opting to continue closed the nag so I could click the About button & register using the name/number in the GOTD readme.txt. This wizard-based app is extremely easy to use. It's both fast and capable, though it has one fairly large weakness -- you can get around it using a two-step process... Today's GOTD exports .png, .bmp. & tif -- since .bmp & .tif can be huge, you'd want to use .png if/when you wanted to send/transfer/post the file, & Ultima Steganography makes double-sized .pngs -- & not because of any data hidden inside. [Being over-sized is a Big Red Flag for something trying to skim under any radar] To get around the problem I exported a 1.65MB .jpg to a 28.5MB .tif [std. image from an average digital camera with today's GOTD "readme.txt" hidden inside]. I then used P/Shop CS4 to save that as a .png, & yes, Ultima Steganography extracted the readme.txt file from the new .png just fine. There were slight but noticeable differences between .jpg & .png versions, but those come from the conversion, & not hiding the text file -- the same changes were there when I converted the orig. .jpg in P/Shop. I do have to say in all fairness P/Shop used ~30% [of an AMD quad] CPU & took a bit of time to convert the image to .png, while Ultima Steganography was almost instant... with a smaller image the size increase would not be as noticeable, but still, if someone's looking for stego images using statistical analysis, how much of an increase is OK?

Ultima Steganography is an *almost* portable app with 1 roughly 6 1/2 MB .exe file -- 2 files are put in a folder under Docs & Settings \ [UserName] \ App Data \ [more on why portability might be important later]. I ran Process Explorer [SysInternals] along with Ultima Steganogrphy to see if there were any demands that might potentially cause problems, since at least one comment mentioned having some. Almost everything I recorded was pretty standard, but it did open/need Internet Explorer, the Microsoft C Runtime Library (v. 8), & a few Windows' video & audio handling or related files... enough to IMHO cause problems on a few systems &/or if used in some WinPE-type environs.

The simple logic behind program's like Ultima Steganography is that if you hide the fact you're hiding something, it's less likely someone will look for it -- a really ancient principle. The difficulty has always been to hide whatever it is you're hiding in a way that's un-noticeable, whether that means using a book or newspaper etc with some sort of key telling you which words to look for (like in the movies), or smuggling something hidden inside of, or made to look like something else (again like in the movies). Hiding contraband inside the small, hollow statue was/is more obvious than making the statue out of the contraband itself -- rather than just adding plain text onto an image file's 1s & 0s, this sort of Steganography app replaces some of those 1s & 0s, in effect *making* the image partly out of the file you're hiding. Personally I doubt Ultima Steganography is espionage grade, as I assume the NSA & similar know & have the code from every steganography app they've found, so at the very least they could tell if there was something embedded & destroy &/or track it. I'd imagine the same could be true for local law enforcement, depending on how good their forensics folks were. But if an image was posted on-line, along with however many billions of images out there, who's to say if it'd ever be checked, assuming it didn't raise any Red Flags by being overly large for the image & quality level.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography]
[http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/steganography-revealed]
[http://www.jjtc.com/Steganography/tools.html]
[http://www.jjtc.com/Steganalysis/]

* * *

RE: portability, whether you're a fan of portable software or not, if/when someone knows you're hiding something, they are often tempted to look harder. According to stories in the media, in the recent spy case the feds started looking for & finding encrypted stuff *after* they found a Steganography app hidden on a laptop. I'd guess that knowing which app was used might well make detection if not decryption easier.

There are 2 Ultima Steganography files in Docs & Settings -- you can relocate those files using the portableapps.com format to make Ultima Steganography portable [I often use Portable App Creator from their forum]. You can additionally use the Portableapps.com AppCompactor to bring the size of the .exe file down to slightly over 2 MB, though please remember I haven't tested it extensively once it's compacted, & compacting may cause problems with this app that I'm not aware of. Bear in mind that even as a portable app there are still history-type records stored in the registry, but to get around that you can use a small VM like win7's XP Mode (the .vhd [virtual hard drive] can be easily erased & then replaced with a stored copy), or *maybe* even something like a WinPE environment [e.g. LiveXP].

No good for me I don't need to hide files have no reason too, anyone wanting to read a file I have are going to be pretty darn board, this program just doesn't fit a older woman who has nothing to hide.

I have a 999 MB software program file that I need to "hide" behind a gorgeous Mona Lisa photo file so as to avoid it being deleted by my file hosting provider behind my back when I want to share it. Will this software be able to do it? If it can, then the resulting graphic file would be over a Gig in size and no graphics software will be able to open it because the PC will run out of memory early on. Tell me I am wrong please, but I just cannot imagine having a need for such a frivolous piece of software. Nice try GAOTD, but please can you continue to offer software that are a bit more useful, like Microsoft Office Professional or Adobe Acrobat or equivalent generic clones? Thanks.

The install was smooth. I was able to follow the hints provided for each of the fields. I believe I did everything correctly and was able to hide a file. I extracted the hidden file with correct password (key) and the hidden item was a word doc and now it is unreadable. I am not sure if I missed a step somewhere or if there is some need to know info that is not provided...nor is a help file.

You don't need a software to do this. Like Freak said; This can be done using the Command Prompt only with 1 line, Or you can use a hex-editor,alternatively..

Since this method is very popular there is a risk of someone extracting your files from the image. So I suggest using some form of encrypted container (ie. encrypted zip,rar) to further protect your data.
Anyway I agree using this programme saves our time than using the manual method.

The flaw in this method is that these kind of files can be easily found with their 'abnormaly big' file size. Therefore you cannot use this method to hide large files. Seeing a 15MB image with no extreme resolution is enough to draw the attention of people who are digging for files.

So I suggest using NTFS alternative streams IF you are having an NTFS formated drive/partition/flash,
WHICH DOESN'T AFFECT THE FILE SIZE...

#21 it looks as though it uses the lower bit of each byte to encrypt the data (any more and the encryption would be obvious by looking at the image), so 1280x1880x3 (number of bits available in a true color image), divided by 8 (number of bits in a byte) gives 902400 bytes, which is slightly more than 880.93kb, but that must mean the is a checksum used in the extraction to verify that the file has been recovered successfully.

What would happen if my OS crashes and I have to do a clean install. I'd have to purchase this 'Giveaway'. So no, but thanks anyway

Bigger image = larger files to be hidden.

A good 1280x1880 that I tested, was able to hold up a file that was less than 880.93kb or so.

Supports image output format of: png, bmp, tif, tiff

All lossless image formats, to those suggesting jpg images should be supported, this uses a lossy compression algorithm, it does not decompress exactly as it was compressed so your encrypted data would be corrupted.

There's clearly a great deal of confusion over this. Steganography is hiding data in an image by placing it in the low-order bits of the pixels, typically indistinguishable from noise if the data is encrypted, and if done right, invisible to the human eye. I can't guarantee that Ultima Steganography did this correctly, but it appears that they did. How much data you can hide is limited not by the filesize of the source image, but by its dimensions. More pixels can hide more data. If people can't figure out what to do with this, they don't understand security. It's exceptionally difficult to determine whether steganography has been used. Maybe the NSA knows something about the mathematical properties and probabilities that the rest of us don't, but otherwise it's undetectable if done correctly. The source image should be somewhat random, such as a photograph, not a screenshot or graphic.

#11, Allan Benson, Enplase has had many giveaways here, so they aren't unknown. It's true that their website sucks and that their code quality is low, but that's true of many giveaway vendors.

The install of Ultima Steganography was very clean and simple. The dialogs open in the middle of the full desktop instead of the current monitor (highly annoying). The decryption source-file selection dialog appears incorrect, as it will accept more filetypes than encryption outputs.

#2, Freak, #4, Best of the web, those things don't do steganography, they merely append data to the image file, which is easily detected.

#6, Inas, not being able to restore the data without the original password isn't a "con", it's called security, it means that there are no backdoors. Your alternatives don't do steganography.

This is one of the few offerings from Enplase that I like. I can't guarantee that it's bug-free, but it appears to do what it says, which can be handy. Images containing steganography can be publicly posted, and no one will be the wiser.

The Wolfram Blog just had an article on steganography using Mathematica. People unfamiliar with steganography should read it.

Steganography is perfect for small quantities of data, such as an alternative place to hide passwords or Personal ID numbers that you don't want floating around.

I like the interface, and for single-purpose utilities, I find the lack of a [Help] not too disconcerting. What I do worry about, however, is the identifier required. Which picture did I hide the data in? It is really easy to mix pictures up, unless it is unique, or is a picture of a safe! I suggest tweaking the last-modified time to sometime in the recent past that has meaning, such as a relative's last birthday, and don't have other files with that date, so that you know that only pics on that date will have data, a fact reasonably invisible to others.

2Damon:

There is no limitation to secret file size. If you want to hide larger file than just use larger input image.

Thanks.

The problem with this software has already been told above: a JPG image must be HUGE to hold anything over 1MB.

I'm surprised that there is no main stream method of combining a JPG and a RAR. It's rather simple from command prompt. Sure, the JPG will be a huge file, but the average user won't notice this.

Even more so, the JPG can be moved to any user for extraction. You can password protect the RAR, and also just compress the image itself into another RAR.

It's excellent security for someone who wants to hide stuff. I mean, it won't do you any good against the fed's obviously, they have backdoor RAR extracters and whatnot. The only true way is above, Steganography. If you need your files to be protected, Steganography is extremely vital. Even more, an advanced algorithm should be used. This software will get the job done, but it's usually vital to move two images together of lesser importance. Then, inside one of those images is a RAR archive, that can only be taken out if the passcode is entered into the original Steganographic-archive.

The passcode should be around 21 characters, ranging from symbols to numbers and letters. This passcode should not be placed on a digital medium, and should be written down, or even more, remembered by human memory tricks.

You could research this stuff for hours. I used to do security management a long time ago, and this was a huge part of the process. It literally is impossible to recover a steganographic archive. There is no back-door method.

Great software for the average user. For a company? I suggest calling a security professional and IT Management. They'll get the job done much more securely.

The method described in the link (@2) above does not represent a true steganography method, by doing so would increase the resulting file by the size of the source file and easily detectable.

Real steganography encrypts the source file and storing it bit by bit while spreading them across the host file (e.g. an image file) using the least significant bit of each available byte as storage. Hence it retains or least affect the quality of the original host and at the same time maintains the size of the resulting file.

A good steganography program should not limit itself to using image only as container, but also sound and video files. Something which I would really like to see in "Ultima Steganography"

2Exemplar,

The output file name must contain full path, image file name and extension. For example, C:\MyImage.png is valid file name.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

#4 - The "flaw" with the method you suggest is that it becomes pretty obvious from the size of the JPG file that there is hidden content tacked on the end. It will also be VERY obvious in a hex editor. OK for low security, but good steganography will also conceal the fact that anything has been hidden.

Like most people I suspect, I had a look around the publisher's website before I even looked at the software, and to be honest I wasn't all that impressed. Before downloading anything, I like to know who I am 'dealing' with, and to be honest, the lack of contact details other than eMail and a simple contact form didn't inspire me to proceed. I have no doubt that this software will do what it says it does (although the Jury is out on that one looking at the comments to date), but persona means a great deal, and this company/business/corporation doesn't inspire me to proceed any further.

Hiding messages and data in an image has a limited application for the average user anyway, certainly I am at a loss to see why I would personally want to do this, so a fuller explanation as to the why, how and when would be better than just repeating the intro on GOTD, almost exactly what's on the publisher's website.

To summarise, I am not all that happy with the publisher, no inference intended at your undoubted professional skills, but I think you should put more detail on your website if only to inspire confidence in the end-user.

Work excelent for me on XP SP3 32 Prof.It is better than Text Hide because hide:images and text in the same time.Thank.

It works but the file you are hiding can't be over 86.44kb.
You must pick a picture to hide the file in, then select the file you want to hide and then pic an output picture which seems odd since I have already picked one I wanted to hide it in. See pic:
http://tinypic.com/r/21cebz9/4
You pick a secret password and when you extract it, it makes a copy of the file named Secret_file.

I guess it's good to hide .txt files but I would like to be able to hide a file of any size.

My main concern is what if I hide an important file and in 4 months it says my time trial has expired, please purchase this product to lock or unlock files.

Installed in XP-64 bit.. worked exactly as stated... However... the file to picture, (file size), ratio is less than 1 to eight... in MY test the ratio was even greater... tried a file of 1.61 Meg in a picture of 12.9 meg.. it couldn't do it, even then... although the recommended was only SLIGHTLY less for file size. Good one, though. Lou.

Interesting piece of software...

This program should only be intended to be used "for fun". The output image can only be .png I think. Since this program hides files in an image, don't expect this thing to hold any files bigger than 1MB. You would need a really REALLY big picture to hold something like that. I have a 1280x1880 image, and it told me the secret file must be less than 880.93KB. The thing is, each data of that secret file is encrypted in each of the pixels in that image, so that's why it can't hold a lot of data.

Here are my suggestions:
-Make it cheaper, around $15?
-Add an option for regular file encryption.

That's pretty much it. I don't think this program needs anymore improvements other than that. Installation was nice and smooth. The product key is in the readme file or when you close the installation (when the program starts up, close it so the key would pop up on the screen).

Hope this helps. :D

PROS:

* Smooth download, installation, activation, registration on Vista x32 OS.
* Program is very easy to use, with given, simple step-by-step instructions.
* Seems to support most of the popular image input formats
* Supports image output format of: png, bmp, tif, tiff
* Supports enryption method: XTEA (128-bit)
* Supports use of key/password to unlock file encryption.
* I easily encrypted a word document within a gif image.
* I was able to easily unencrypt the file, via chosen password.

CONS:
* If user forgets chosen key/password, encrypted file is unrecoverable.
* program supports limited image output formats (only png, bmp, tif, tiff).
* extracted file (when saved to same name as original file) overwrote original file, which was then rendered unreadable in ".doc" format. This may be the normal encryption protocol - but for novice users, this fact may not be so obvious from the get-go, so clear, up-front instructions about this process would be helpful.

Summary: Program is easy to use and does as it says, so a 2-thumbs-up for today's offer - thanks, GOTD & Enplase.

freeware options

True Crypt
SafeHouse Explorer
Axcrypt

I get this error msg:the output image file name is incorrect.please check it and try again.
there's no help file, with the program or online.
did it work for you,edwin?

Actually the only software to do this in a simple Winzip or Winrar, and here you can read how to do this yourself, it's so simple
online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/hide-file-in-picture/

I'm getting this error when I attempt to run the program (on WinXP):

---------------------------
Ultima Steganography.exe - Unable To Locate Component
---------------------------
This application has failed to start because DWMAPI.DLL was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Is anyone else having this problem?

This can be done manually:
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/hide-file-in-picture/
or a free alternative:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Security-Related/Jpg-FileBinder.shtml

This program works, just be sure to put the files in a .zip or .rar to prevent data loss....

awesome giveaway thanks gaotd