Dreamweaver - Posting jpg's That Can't Be Downloaded

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but...



I'm fairly new to Dreamweaver. Is there a way to build a page with thumbnail sized (or slightly larger) jpgs where they are imbedded into the page and there is no way for someone to download them?



Are there any gallery templets that allow you to build a gallery with similar properties?



Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    I think you need to override the right-click on the mouse. Most sites I've seen that want to protect their images make it when you right click, a messagebox shows on the screen instead of the contextual menu.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    All data embedded within a web page is technically 'requested' by the remote machine as discrete elements, and served by the host. It is technically 'downloaded' to the remote machine for on screen rendering of page content (assembling the html instructions to markup text and embed images, perhaps tweaked with css styles or external java, etc.).



    In this sense, if you want people to view it, they must be able to 'download' it.



    Clever folk who know how to view the activity and cache log should be able to extract the images from their local system, even if you've limited the right-click ability to 're-download and save' content.



    Folks who know how to View Source can deduce the serving location of the original files, and potentially poke around the directory structure to get at the originals.



    The only real ways to deter this (you can't really prevent it) are to limit the right-click action and to use dynamic hostnames of ridiculous length, reference links (like Apple trailers), 'access forbidden' directories, or leechproofing scripts which refuse requests unless wrapped in the original container page.



    Folks could also use spiders or software like Deep Vacuum to 'wget' or 'curl' your whole site (or do it from the original *Nix commands if they know the flags and don't need the GUI frontend).



    Or they could take screen captures of the content while it's up in the page.



    In short, you can't stop people if you want the content to be viewed smoothly in the first place, but you can make it a pain in the butt for them to rip off the images.



    Alternatively, you could embed the jpgs in Flash movies which limit extraction, but they'll potentially limit your audience due to the requirement for the Flash plug-in, and potentially limit your audience period, since search engines tend not to index Flash content well.



    Is it that important to limit access that you'd absorb a whack of extra work for limited effect?
  • Reply 3 of 9
    Thanks for your time and info!
  • Reply 4 of 9
    Edited my post above to include links to 'disable right click' code, if you want to use it.



    If you're worried about copyright infringement, your other simple fix is often to watermark your images or throw a clear credit on in photoshop. Commercial image libraries often leave such watermarks on with a note that the purchased files will have them removed, but it helps deter 'image theft' if you're truly paranoid about it.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    an easy way to remove the right-clickability is to set the image as the background of a table cell or div rather than a placed image. then you could put a hotlink on the cell itself (i think).
  • Reply 6 of 9
    Quote:

    Originally posted by admactanium

    an easy way to remove the right-clickability is to set the image as the background of a table cell or div rather than a placed image. then you could put a hotlink on the cell itself (i think).



    unfortunately, this might result in unexpected tiling or repeating of image, depending on cell content, though this may also differ per browser.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    Quote:

    Originally posted by curiousuburb

    unfortunately, this might result in unexpected tiling or repeating of image, depending on cell content, though this may also differ per browser.



    And people can still download the image by viewing the stylesheet and following the URL in the property value.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    Quote:

    Originally posted by curiousuburb

    unfortunately, this might result in unexpected tiling or repeating of image, depending on cell content, though this may also differ per browser.



    it's probably easier to do with divs and set a non-repeat value to it. of course people COULD just view the source and download it, but at that point, it's no different than someone just screen capping the image. if it's shown at 100% then there's no difference anyway. in other words, there's no surefire way to prevent people from getting ahold of an image. there are only ways to make it less convenient.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    you could go the flash route and embed the image in a swf, but then a person could just take a screen shot of the image. really, there is no foolproof way of doing this.
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