A Novel Residual-Guided Learning Method for Image Steganography

Traditional steganographic techniques have often relied on manually crafted attributes related to image residuals. These methods demand a significant level of expertise and face challenges in integrating diverse image residual characteristics. In this paper, we introduce an innovative deep learning-based methodology that seamlessly integrates image residuals, residual distances, and image local variance to autonomously learn embedding probabilities. Our framework includes an embedding probability generator and three pivotal guiding components: Residual guidance strives to facilitate embedding in complex-textured areas. Residual distance guidance aims to minimize the residual differences between cover and stego images. Local variance guidance effectively safeguards against modifications in regions characterized by uncomplicated or uniform textures. The three components collectively guide the learning process, enhancing the security performance. Comprehensive experimental findings underscore the superiority of our approach when compared to traditional steganographic methods and randomly initialized ReLOAD in the spatial domain.