I don't know about you, but I'm always a little cautious of updates and upgrades. I rarely install version 1.0 of some new software and I like knowing if an upgrade is worth it.

Recently Digimarc updated the Digimarc for Images product to 4.0 which includes an upgrade to the watermarking technology.

For those of you who like me want to know "why" you should upgrade I spent an afternoon comparing the new Digimarc for Image upgraded technology "Chroma" to our stalwart technology now known as "Classic".  With the help of our intrepid Digimarc videographer and webmaster there is a new video showing my results with the Digimarc for Image 4.0 update.  We thought the results were compelling enough to even title the video "Beat the Villain".

We can pretend that was a Spoiler Alert...

First and foremost you should definitely get the Digimarc for Image 4.0 update to reap the benefits of the Chroma upgrade. Especially since it's FREE.

The improved survivability of the watermark will greatly improve your chances of finding lost images, or as the video is titled you could even "Beat the Villain".  Of course, this improvement works best if you can find images that have been "borrowed".  So as part of the Digimarc for Images update you can now get Digimarc Directed Search reporting as part of the Professional Edition subscription at a fraction of its old pricing.  While a subscription still costs money, long time users of the Digimarc for Images product should be very pleased with our new pricing structure.  If you are trying keep track of where your images are, the Professional Edition is a great value for the prosumer or independent professional.

You can download the updated plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and Elements for FREE.  Don't forget to update your Internet Explorer reader plug-in while your there so you'll be able to read both the Chroma and Classic watermarks from within your browser.  It's also a FREE upgrade and we like FREE.

I also recommend reading The Best Practices Guide to answer questions regarding day to day usage and there is the Chroma Tech Brief for the more technically inclined.  Yes, these are FREE too...