This document explains the acronyms and technical terms used in Advanced Image Protector so the project is easier to understand for new users and contributors.
DCT - Discrete Cosine Transform
A transform used to convert an image from the spatial domain to the frequency domain (used in JPEG compression and in this project’s frequency-based method).
FFT - Fast Fourier Transform
A fast algorithm to compute Fourier transforms. Mentioned because frequency-domain methods often rely on FFT/DCT-style transforms.
PSNR - Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio
A common metric to measure image quality. Higher PSNR usually means the protected image is closer to the original.
MSE - Mean Squared Error
A metric that measures the average squared difference between the original and protected image. Lower is better.
RGB - Red, Green, Blue
A common 3-channel color format for images.
RGBA - Red, Green, Blue, Alpha
RGB plus an Alpha (transparency) channel.
FGSM - Fast Gradient Sign Method
A simple adversarial attack method that uses the sign of gradients to create perturbations. In this project, it is simulated (not model-based).
PGD - Projected Gradient Descent
An iterative adversarial attack method. In this project, it is simulated using iterative noise and projection.
CLI - Command Line Interface
A way to use the program from the terminal using commands and arguments.
GUI - Graphical User Interface
A window-based interface (built using Tkinter in this project).
API - Application Programming Interface
A way for code to interact with other code. Here, it refers to the internal interfaces between components.
I/O - Input / Output
Reading files (input images) and writing files (protected images, JSON metrics).
JSON - JavaScript Object Notation
A lightweight text format used here to save metrics and batch summaries.
EXIF - Exchangeable Image File Format
Metadata format commonly used in JPEG images. Used here to store optional signatures.
SHA-256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit
A cryptographic hash function. Used here to compute short hashes of images for identification.
NumPy - Numerical Python
A Python library for fast array and numerical operations. Core to all image processing in this project.
SciPy - Scientific Python
A Python library for scientific computing. Used here for DCT, filters, and image operations (when available).
PIL / Pillow - Python Imaging Library (Pillow is the modern fork)
Used for loading, saving, and converting images.
Tkinter - Python’s standard GUI library
Used to build the graphical interface of the tool.
DPI - Dots Per Inch
A printing/display resolution concept. Not directly modified by this tool, but often mentioned in image contexts.
CPU - Central Processing Unit
The main processor of the computer. All processing in this project runs on the CPU.