Image Steganography

This Python script allows you to hide a secret message inside an image and later extract it using a password. It uses LSB (Least Significant Bit) steganography to encode the message in the pixel values of an image.

Features

• 🛡️ Hide Message: Conceal a text message inside an image with a password for protection.
• 🔍 Extract Message: Retrieve the hidden message by providing the correct password.
• 🔐 Password Protection: Only users with the correct password can decode the hidden message.
• 🖼️ Lossless Output: Outputs images in PNG format to prevent quality loss.

Requirements

Ensure you have Python installed along with the following packages:

pip install opencv-python numpy

Usage

Run the script and follow the prompts.

python image_steganography.py

1. Hide a Message

1. ➡️ Choose option 1 to hide a message.
2. 📝 Provide the following inputs:
   • 📷 Path to the cover image.
   • 💬 Secret message to hide.
   • 🔒 Password for protection.
   • 📁 Output path for the stego image.

Example:

Do you want to (1) Hide or (2) Extract a message? 1
Enter the path of the cover image: kaish1.jpg
Enter the secret message: hii I'm kaish and this is a hidden message.
Enter a password to protect the message: 1234
Enter the output image path: msg image.png

2. Extract a Message

1. ⬅️ Choose option 2 to extract a message.
2. 📝 Provide the following inputs:
   • 📷 Path to the image containing the hidden message.
   • 🔑 Password to extract the message.

Example:

Do you want to (1) Hide or (2) Extract a message? 2
Enter the path of the image with hidden message: msg image.png
Enter the password to extract the message: 1234
Extracted Message: hii I'm kaish and this is a hidden message.

How It Works

1. 🛠️ Hiding Process:

   • 📊 The message and password are combined using a :: delimiter.
   • 🔢 Converted to a binary format and embedded into the least significant bits of the image pixels.
   • 🚩 A unique delimiter (1111111111111110) marks the end of the message.

2. 🔍 Extraction Process:

   • 🧾 The script reads the least significant bits from the image.
   • 📥 Retrieves the encoded message until the delimiter is found.
   • ✅ Validates the password and outputs the message if correct.

Limitations

• ⚠️ Ensure the image has enough capacity to hold the message.
• 📌 Works best with uncompressed formats like PNG.

License

📄 This project is licensed under the MIT License. Feel free to use and modify it!