I know that some people have the expertise that enables them to get around anything. I am talking about posting a pic that the average computer joe can't steal with ease. I know nothing is foolproof, but if I could even get a little additional security. Thanks.
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Anyone know how to post a pic that ppl can't copy??
- Thread starter Caddy
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Re: Anyone know how to post a pic that ppl can't copy??
To copy a picture, all you have to do is to drag the picture from the web page onto the Desktop or to any other folder, for that matter. I can't even conceive of a way to prevent copying of a picture that is posted on the Internet. You may limit access by password protecting the page, but that is it. Anyone with access to the picture can copy it.
Basically, if the user can see it, then they can copy it. Simple as that.
But, if you're trying to stop people, who don't know much about computers, from saving the image, then the simplest way is to make a Java applet that has the image hard-coded. Then there is no simple file to copy. And to reduce the likelihood of screen captures, you could make the applet flicker between the image and a blank screen, or something like that.
Again, and programmer could hack that easily, but not a regular user.
But, if you're trying to stop people, who don't know much about computers, from saving the image, then the simplest way is to make a Java applet that has the image hard-coded. Then there is no simple file to copy. And to reduce the likelihood of screen captures, you could make the applet flicker between the image and a blank screen, or something like that.
Again, and programmer could hack that easily, but not a regular user.
The easiest and best thing to do is to put a copyright notice on the image. If you don't mind sacrificing the art for a little bit of protection, you can emblazon it across the entire image instead of putting it in a corner where it will be easily cropped.
If you search back on the boards, you will find a very similar topic. One of the suggestions was to use a Java Script to disable windows users from using the right click (save image to...). Another suggestion (which is probably the best) is to overlay a totally transparent picture on top of your picture. Then, when people click on the picture they see, they end up downloading a blank document instead.
You could use Flash to make a photo gallery. That makes it quite difficult to do more than take a screenshot and possibly, print.
You might find a freeware/shareware application to output to the shockwave/flash format, if you don't have Flash available.
You might find a freeware/shareware application to output to the shockwave/flash format, if you don't have Flash available.
There have been some good ideas so far but I have a couple more. The first is to put up really crappy images--small, low resolution, etc so that someone really can't do much with it.
Also, there are services that will track the web for your images (you put some kind of a watermark on them) and notify you if they find them. It costs money to do this and the next step is to sue the person using your image, but if you are using the images to make money it could be worth it.
Also, there are services that will track the web for your images (you put some kind of a watermark on them) and notify you if they find them. It costs money to do this and the next step is to sue the person using your image, but if you are using the images to make money it could be worth it.
I've found that some professional photographers (ie, wedding photogs) are using Flash or Java to display photos that can not be dragged to the desktop, copied using "Download image to disk...," nor copied using IE to make an archive of the page. As mentioned above, though, these can all be circumvented by taking a screenshot. So, in the end, ppl can always steal images that can be shown on screen, but they'd never really be able to get something that would look good printed. IMO, the best thing is to just not worry about ppl using your images. It's not really that big a deal anyways. The only reason it should matter to you is if you make money from your pics, in which case, you'd most likely make money from printed versions of them, not onscreen versions. Everyone else should not be such Nazis about their images being used "illicitly"--just license them under a Creative Commons license (in which you allow people to use your images with certain stipulations, like attribution, etc.), and be happy if someone likes your work enought to want to use it for something. 