Adobe Community: Can I Stop my Images from being Copied from my Web Pages

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1. John Waller,

Jul 3, 2011 2:57 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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There is no foolproof way.

Disabling right click is futile since images are downloaded to the browser cache anyway so anyone who can view your webpage can collect the images from their hard drive.

If your images are that beautiful, unique and valuable that there's a high risk of theft then either don't upload them or watermark them so they're useless for re-use.

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2. David_Powers,

Jul 3, 2011 2:11 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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CarlRMorgan wrote:

Would any of you kind folk know of a way I can stop my images from being saved from my Dreamweaver web pages?

As John says, you can't. See How can I prevent my images from being copied? in the Dreamweaver FAQ.

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3. hans-g.,

Jul 3, 2011 2:19 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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Hi,

in addition to John's hint: Thereover there is a wonderful philosophical discussion: http://webhome.idirect.com/~bowers/copy/copy1.htm

And by the way there is the misconception that we can protect our graphics. With little effort interested people can get to their destination. If you really want to try it, I'll give you here the link to a German website (no problem to adapt the source code) where you can create an alert box:

http://www.6webmaster.com/homepagetools/klicksperre/do.php
Rechte Maustaste sperren Generator > (der Albertbox-Text erscheint bei Rechtsklick eines Besuchers) > Gewünschter Text für Alertbox:

means something like:
Right Mouse Button Lock Generator > (Albertbox the text appears when right-clicking a visitor) > Suggested text for alert box:

Hans-Günter

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4. hans-g.,

Jul 3, 2011 2:29 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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Hi,

in addition, you can check out my own test here: http://hansgd.de/AdobTest/klicksperre.phpHans-G.

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5. CarlRMorgan,

Jul 3, 2011 3:45 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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Thank you all for your most useful advice.

Hans, I have tried your method and it works, thank you very much. I know there is no foolproof way, but it will stop the casual copier!

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6. hans-g.,

Jul 3, 2011 3:52 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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Hi Carl,

you are very welcome and good luck! ... and I admit of course "but it will stop the casual copier".

Hans-G.

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7. David_Powers,

Jul 3, 2011 4:17 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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CarlRMorgan wrote:

Hans, I have tried your method and it works, thank you very much. I know there is no foolproof way, but it will stop the casual copier!

Sorry, but that's complete rubbish. Hans's little trick works only in Internet Explorer.

I copied his images in seconds in Firefox. It took only a few seconds more to save the entire web page in Internet Explorer. Here are the images to prove it:

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8. hans-g.,

Jul 3, 2011 4:21 AM in reply to David_Powers

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With all due respect ... and now?

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9. David_Powers,

Jul 3, 2011 5:04 AM in reply to hans-g.

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hans-g. wrote:

With all due respect ... and now?

I'm not sure what you mean, Hans. If you mean that you have made some changes to the page to make it more "foolproof", it doesn't work. The images can still be copied easily.

If you mean that preventing right-click in Internet Explorer provides at least some protection, I'm sorry, but that's not true. It provides zero protection for images.

This question comes up in the forum on a regular basis. Teaching people how to disable right-clicking in Internet Explorer serves no purpose whatsoever. Right-click is not only used for saving copies of images. It gives the user access to the context menu, which is used for many other things. In a futile attempt to prevent images from being copied, you disable other functionality. It's a bad practice and should never be done.

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10. hans-g.,

Jul 3, 2011 5:19 AM in reply to David_Powers

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Hi David,

would you please have a look to my post (nr.3):

... in addition to John's hint: Thereover there is a wonderful philosophical discussion: http://webhome.idirect.com/~bowers/copy/copy1.htm

And by the way there is the misconception that we can protect our graphics. With little effort interested people can get to their destination. where I exactly said, that there is simply no protection against unauthorized copying.

On the other hand, I think you meanwhile know my intentions ("Sb must do whatever makes sb happy"), I would like to show, that it's possible to a very limited degree, as I wrote: If you really want to try it...

Hans-G.

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11. CarlRMorgan,

Jul 3, 2011 5:33 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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I asked a question. Hans was kind enough to give me a solution, and for that I thank him! I have also learned a little more in the process!

We have already established that the solution stops people right clicking on an image and saving the image (be it in Windows Explorer or not), but it has also been established that it is by no means a fool proof way of protecting images and that there are other ways of copying images from a webpage. However, it is another level of protection.

Unfortunately, I do not want to watermark my images as I do not like looking as watermarked images myself. I also downsize my images for the web. I was just looking for another level of protection.

Thanks for the input anyway!

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12. MurraySummers,

Jul 3, 2011 6:20 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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We have already established that the solution stops people right clicking on an image and saving the image

It also stops lefties who have reversed the buttons on their mouse from clicking on anything. It's a false 'solution', and it's user unfriendly. What is it about your images that people would want to take anyhow?

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13. hans-g.,

Jul 3, 2011 7:04 AM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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Hi Carl,

thanks for your kind words. It impresses me again and again about this rich variety of experiences. That's - in my wiew - what arouses forum's interest!

Hans-G.

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14. Gytoman,

Jul 3, 2011 7:16 AM in reply to MurraySummers

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I guess by now you know the answer, I have been asked many times about this. For what its worth I suppose you know about the PRNTSC button on your key board. Any way best advise is dont put large image online that you wish to protect from copy, And if some one is using your images you need to prove copyright. Also its a complicated legal field spanning the globe, and there is always a chance of litigatation, but who goes there! On a more challenging point can any advise me why google chrome will not display my spry menu? http://www.tompriceshs.wa.edu.au/publish/ see my threed http://forums.adobe.com/thread/872827?tstart=0

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15. 370H55V,

Jul 3, 2011 7:52 AM in reply to Gytoman

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While you can't PREVENT anyone from downloading or copying your images, you CAN watermark them and do it aggressively. A well done watermark will still preserve the visual integrity of the image but will make it FAR TOO MUCH work for the average visitor to copy.

Another thing: If someone can gain access to your images folder, they can have anything in it they choose.

Check with your host to see if they offer access restriction to subfolders.

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16. MurraySummers,

Jul 3, 2011 7:56 AM in reply to Gytoman

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On a more challenging point can any advise me why google chrome will not display my spry menu?

Please don't 'cross-polinate' threads with off-topic questions! Keep your original thread for this discussion.

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17. bregent,

Jul 4, 2011 12:12 PM in reply to CarlRMorgan

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Carl, another thing to consider is that one of the easiest ways to copy images is to simply drag and drop them from the browser to the desktop. Blocking right click won't really offer any additional protection, but it will certainly annoy visitors that rely on right clicking for site navigation.

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Can I Stop my Images from being Copied from my Web Pages

Jul 3, 2011 1:56 AM

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