Image protection (part 1)

The Internet makes the theft of images very easy. Artists using the web as a marketing tool need to know how to defend their artwork from unauthorised use. This article is in two parts:

simple and effective - how to do it advice (part 1), and
an overview of more technical steps (part 2).

Physical image protection

The very best form of protection is to make your images fit for use only as web graphics.

1. Don’t make your pictures any bigger than necessary. The maximum image size should never exceed a standard screen display size (1024 x 768). The bigger an image, the easier it is to achieve quality prints.

2. Use image compression/optimisation software to reduce the file sizes of your images. On screen, there is little difference between a compressed and uncompressed file, however compressed files can comprise up to 90% less information, and will not withstand enlargement without severe loss of quality.

3. Graphically watermark your images. Visible watermarking is simply a matter of placing some text, or a graphic, over your image. The trick is to achieve a balance between making your watermark difficult to remove, and not overly obscuring the image.

4. Use a correctly worded copyright notice on your web pages, and as your image watermark. This should comprise the © symbol (to let others know they should not use the artist’s work without permission), the name of the copyright owner next to it (so that anyone wishing to use the image to trace the copyright holder), and the year in which the image was created (to let others know when the term of protection started).

File/folder protection

There are a number of easy steps that can be taken to keep your image files as inaccessible as possible.

5. Protect your image directory. Most web designers put their images and graphics in suitably named folders (sub-directories). Browsers automatically look for an “index” or “default” page within each sub-directory, and if there isn’t one, they display a list of all the files in that sub-directory. This means anyone can get a complete list of all your images and grab anything they want. There isn’t much point in employing other safeguards (such as no right click) if folder content lists are accessible. To stop this happening, place an index/default page in each folder where you have images. The page can be a blank document, or could include an appropriate message.

6. Stop Browsers from caching the images on your web pages, by inserting the following code HEAD tags of your web page:

7. Disable the "Image Toolbar". Internet Explorer 6 has an annoying little feature called the “Image Toolbar”. Whenever your mouse hovers over an image, the Image Toolbar pops up, and invites you to save, print (etc). To disable the Image Toolbar, insert the following code between the HEAD tags of your web page:

Resources

	We are unable, at this time, to recommend any particular image compression/optimisation software or on-line tool.
	We are unable, at this time, to recommend any particular image watermarking software or on-line tool.

Image Protection (part 2) - an overview of more technical steps.
General Internet Protection - an overview of email Spam, plagiarism, and bandwidth theft protection.

Article date: 02 September 2009 ¦ Suggest an amendment or a new resource