lsb png: embeds payload into the least significant bits of a carrier image. Visually indistinguishable. Best stealth. Capacity ~3 bits per pixel.

noise png: pixel values are the payload itself. Looks like colored noise. No carrier needed, maximum capacity.

qr code: for small texts. Plain mode is scannable by any app. Encrypted mode requires paloma on the recipient side to decrypt.

aes-256-gcm with argon2id key derivation (m=64MB, t=3, p=1). Memory-hard — resists gpu/asic brute-force. Authenticated — wrong pass fails cleanly.

scatter embed: payload bits written to pseudo-randomly permuted pixel positions derived from the passphrase. Defeats naive steganalysis.

auto (recommended): on startup paloma writes a known LSB pattern to a tiny canvas, reads it back and compares. If the bits flipped, anti-fingerprint canvas randomization is active (brave shields, tor, librewolf, hardened firefox) — paloma routes through a pure-js PNG codec via fflate that bypasses canvas entirely. If the readback was clean, the native canvas path is used (slightly smaller output PNGs).

force canvas-free: always use the JS codec. Safe everywhere. Slightly larger output (~5-10%) because filter heuristics are simpler than the browser's PNG encoder.

force canvas: always use the native canvas pipeline. Smallest files. Will silently produce undecodable PNGs if a fingerprint shield is on — the hint-text next to the select warns when this is detected.

Mix text and multiple files in a single payload. On decode, text shows in the text area and files appear as a list for individual download, bulk save or zip.

auto: single png while one fits, otherwise split across available carriers.

manual: fixed max chunk size, for strict mail limits.

reassembly: drop all parts together in any order. Session id matches chunks, aes-gcm tag verifies integrity end-to-end.

Send png as attachment, never inline. Some clients recompress inline images and break the payload.

Gmail passes png attachments through unchanged. For large splits, use multiple mails — order of arrival is irrelevant.

Never jpeg. Lossy compression destroys the payload. Output is always png.

Designed for convenience against content filters — not a replacement for gpg/age/signal. Symmetric passphrase only. No forward secrecy. Scatter-lsb hides well from casual detection but is not designed to resist dedicated modern steganalysis.

The "burn" button clears in-memory state and localStorage, then reloads. It is not a forensic wipe — ram, swap, browser caches and disk paging are beyond js control.

changelog of paloma releases — what shipped, when.