# syvaidya/openstego

OpenStego is a steganography application that provides two functionalities: a) Data Hiding: It can hide any data within an image file. b) Watermarking: Watermarking image files with an invisible signature. It can be used to detect unauthorized file copying.

Repository: https://github.com/syvaidya/openstego
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/openstego
Homepage: https://www.openstego.com
Language: Java
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: digital-watermarking, steganography
Last push: 2023-08-12T07:26:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4114, "days_push": 1117, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1440, forks 242 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:44.159251+00:00)

## What it is
OpenStego is a Java-based steganography application that hides data inside image files and embeds invisible watermarks to detect unauthorized copying. It offers both a GUI and a command-line interface, with a plugin architecture for different steganographic algorithms.

## Use cases
- hide a secret file inside an image
- extract hidden data from a stego image
- watermark images with an invisible signature
- detect unauthorized copying of images
- encrypt hidden payloads with AES
- embed steganography into another Java project via API

## When to choose
- you need free, cross-platform image steganography with a GUI or CLI
- you want to watermark images to prove ownership
- you need a Java API for steganography in your own app

## When to avoid
- you need steganography for audio or video cover files
- you need cutting-edge steganographic algorithms like DCT or FFT
- you need actively developed software with frequent updates

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: image-processing, cryptography, security, cli, gui, plugin-system
- domain: security, privacy, image-processing, cross-platform
- platform: cross-platform, jvm, windows, cli
- tags: steganography, digital-watermarking, data-hiding, lsb, java, image-security, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- syvaidya/openstego (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:44.159251+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:36:32.996829+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/syvaidya/openstego (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:44.159251+00:00, sha 9811db03524d)
  - homepage: https://www.openstego.com (fetched 2026-08-29T11:46:52.006421+00:00, sha a4113386b60e)
  - site_page: https://www.openstego.com/features (fetched 2026-08-29T11:46:52.008844+00:00, sha 0820f74b9629)
  - site_page: https://www.openstego.com/about (fetched 2026-08-29T11:46:52.010635+00:00, sha f89df25fb514)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.