"protecting" images from download?

[edm3]

Hi, I'm pretty sure that I've seen something around here on this, but I can't find it for the life of me.
Does anyone know if the mechanism one uses to disable copying of images from a website (I know screen grabs can't be avoided).

Thanks!

[iamtheblues]

Probably the only effective way of protecting your work online is to apply some kind of watermark to it, subtle enough not to detract too much from your work.
Saludos,
Bob.

[edm3]

I'm thinking that this is why it's been so hard to find...
I'm actually of 2 minds about it, and don't mind the images being available for folks. Was mostly curious.
Thanks for the help Bob!

[pauland]

GP has mentioned a javascript solution that stops right mouseclick saves.

I think that trying to stop people copying images is pretty pointless.

1) People that do it casually, are not really going to do much with them.
2) people who might use them for a particular purpose will find a way.

If you wish to stop print reproduction, make sure you don't provide a high-resolution image.
Use a watermark of some kind.

If it can be seen on the computer, it can be copied.

[Boy]

If you use HighSlide you can use one of the tweaks ("HS Block Right-Click") I uploaded a while ago. You can find them here (in post 15 of the same thread you can find some more tweaks, including a link to HS-language tweaks). Please note that the right-click block only works for the HS-popups and that the smaller pictures on the main page are still right-clickable.

[Soquili]

Even if right click is disabled the image is still cached on the person's hard drive and accessable from there even after closing their browser.

Using low quality images with a watermark seem to be the best solution. It actually depends on how the person that would want to copy the image intends to use it.

[joscari]

Probably this is not of much help but I think I’ve read somewhere about a method that at least will cause the downloader some extra work. Make a rectangle 100 % transparent or give it no fill. Make a semitransparent watermark and place it inside the rectangle. Group the rectangle and watermark, place it on top of the image you would like to protect. The rectangle should cover the whole image. Export the site and right click the image, to save it on your computer. Open the photo library and see what you have saved: just the watermark. I have tried this only on my computer but probably it would work quite as well when exported to a server. I apologise if I’ve done something wrong and if it does not work. This worked when I tested it in Web Designer.
But, the only way to protect an image to 100 % is never to publish it on the web. And the method pointed out here only gives the downloader a little bit more work, almost pointless in other words.
Sven-Ingvar O

[jimhanus]

joscari,
I've had a lot of images "stolen" over the years. I watermark the best ones or ones that have been previously stolen. I've also had people actually link to the original file and use it as a page background or in a blog. When I find those I change the image on the server (keeping the same file name) to something that says "This image stolen" or with a copyright notice over the whole image. They eventually get changed and it makes me feel slightly better. I did have one image from Alaska used in a news article about an earthquake in Alaska without my permission. The newspaper pulled the photo when I informed them the photo was taken over 1,000 miles from where the earthquake happened, and had nothing to do with the area in question.

Jim

[gwpriester]

The utility I use is Encrypt Web Pro. Unlike simple scripts that disable right button clicking (you can usually still drag the image off the page onto the desktop), you can disable right button, image caching, printing, text selection, Acrobat web capture, print screen (though I do not recommend this because it brings up a warning that may scare users off your site). You can make your page expire immediately to prevent disc caching and you can enable Kill Frame which prevents people adding your site to an iframe on their website. And for all the good it does, you can add a warning message and a copyright notice that appears if someone attempts to right click on an image.

Of course as was demonstrated several years ago when I tried to add this to my stereograms website, those who want to get around this, can and will. But like a lock, it keeps most honest people from stealing your images. But the bottom line is, if you put it on the web, it can be stolen.

Some things you can do. If you post JPEG images, use a fair amount of compression (say 50-70%). This makes the images all but impossible to scale upwards. Don't post really large images. An image at 6 inches at 96dpi will reduce down to a commercially printable image of 3-4 inches. And as Jim suggests, add a faint watermark to your images.

[jimhanus]

Gary,
That software sounds interesting. Do you have a site that is currently using it?

Jim