"How to create hot spots" Video now online

One of the really creative things you can do with watermarking is to place multiple digital watermarks within a single image. This creates multiple "hot spots" that your readers can explore within a single interactive item.

Creating multiple hot-spots requires a good layout application and a Digimarc Barcode Manager account to create the web services and watermarks. Photoshop can be used as well. You can find YouTube videos for creating hot-spots with InDesign here or using Photoshop here.

If you download this PDF with multiple watermarks you can see an image with 6 watermarks. Each of these watermarks has a pop-up text overlay to tell you where it links to, the vest, the jewelry, etc. and tapping on the screen will take you to that product. In a way the printed page responds to a smartphone with a reader app like a website and mousing over links.

Can you imagine this same image with 6 QR Codes on top of each product to create the same affect? Not something an advertiser would want to see. The really nice thing about multiple watermarks within an image is that you don't need a quiet zone like a QR code; they can be placed next to each other. If anything, you will want to make sure not to put too many watermarks within a small area, which may confuse the reader. While watermarks can go down to a 1" x 1" area, we recommend keeping the watermarked areas at least 2" x 2" for ease of use.