Premonition Studios

• Create a new image with dimensions 2x2 and 'Transparent' selected in the 'Contents' section.
• Press 'D' to set the foreground and background colors to the default.
• Select the pencil tool, change the brush size to 1 pixel, and paint the top left and bottom right pixels black.
  
• 'Edit'>'Define Pattern', change the name to 'Checkers' and press 'OK'.
• Create a new image with dimensions 500x400 and 'Background' selected in the 'Contents' section.
• Select a medium gray as your foreground color and 'Alt'+'Backspace' to fill the 'Background' layer with the gray you selected.
  
• Select the fill tool, change 'Fill' to 'Pattern', and select the pattern you just created.
• Create two new layers. Name the top layer 'Checkers' and the bottom layer 'Color'.
• Fill the 'Checkers' layer with the 'Checkers' pattern.
  
• Change 'Fill' to 'Gradient' and select the rainbow gradient.
• Fill the 'Color' layer with the rainbow gradient.
• Change the blending mode of both the 'Color' and 'Checkers' layers to 'Color'.
  
• Select the 'Color' layer and 'Filter'>'Add Noise' with the amount set to about '25%' and press 'OK'.
• Select the type tool and type the text you want to be hidden.
• Hide the text layer you just created.
  
• 'Ctrl'+'Left-click' the text layer and 'Ctrl'+'Shift'+'I' to invert the text layer selection.
• 'Filter'>'Other'>'Offset' and change the 'Horizontal' offset to 1 pixel and the 'Undefined Areas' to 'Wrap Around'.
  
• Duplicate the 'Color' layer and drag between the 'Checkers' and text layers.
• Change the layer's blending mode to 'Dissolve' and change the opacity to '25%'.
  
• Save the completed image.
• Open the image in Internet Explorer and 'Ctrl'+'A' to select all to reveal the hidden message.
  

You can use use real images as the 'Color' layers instead of gradients to increase the secrecy of the message you hide. After doing this method many times, I found the best result was from rainbow gradients or extremely colorful pictures (forests, flowers, etc). You can see my final product from this tutorial here.

Note: The result of this tutorial only works in Internet Explorer.

• You have to look at the pictures in the tutorial. I think there were some steps missing as to how to layout the layers and when you invert the text selection, you have to be in the checker layer before you do the offset filter. I kinda got it working, but needs tweaking to make it really stand out....nice tutorial though!

  Comment by Steve on November 12, 2005

• Um.... i tried many times. like 6~7 times but it did not work. I lost you from around the place where you had to change the blending mode of both layers to color. the whole damn thing turned gray. the steps before, i followed fine... shame.

  Comment by Tatiana on November 7, 2005

• Interesting......... Works in IE. It does not work in FF becouse FF uses gray color for higlighting. IE uses black.

  Comment by BinaryStorm on October 24, 2005

• hmm, I use IE, and I jus tchecked it out, worked fine for me, This is really neat, ;)

  Comment by Kit on October 21, 2005

• does not work, in ie and firefox :(

  Comment by DMWTM30 on October 21, 2005

• I must be missing something cuz I tried for a couple of hours and only got a half result. Followed everything several times right from the start. :-( Was there a step in there which wasn't put in? Otherwise, I like the effect. Very nifty! *G*

  Comment by Asenath on October 2, 2005

• Shame it only works in I.E.

  Comment by Tris on September 10, 2005

• His Sample workds for me.

  Comment by Etc on August 19, 2005