Thread: Info on hotlink protection needed.

Hi I read in a thread about hot link protection on jpg, TIFF files etc and am very interested in adding this to my site as there are a lot of graphics and pictures on it. My problem is that I have some free downloads and wonder if they will be affected if I add this hotlink protection.

If they would be, is there a way to separate the downloads from the rest of the site?

Thanks to all who reply.

Hi ianric... Why don't you share the the hot link protection with us .. I'd like to know more about what you are talking about... just copy the browser address and paste it in... Thanks Doug

Hotlink protection is a thing inside the CP that stops people linking to the graphics on your site.

There is a video tutorial here http://www.vodahost.com/demowolf/cpa...2_hotlink.html

It looks good but I come back to my original question.

Hotlink protection prevents excactly this: hotlinks. It wil NOT affect your downloads. Hotlink enabled will disallow others from using as source for images on their sites the ones you have on yours. However, they can always copy the image and use it.

Hi iaric and naval... Thanks for the information.. Doug

Hi Naval thank you for that. I guess I better get on the case and put it in right away.

Do you know if some body has already put a hot link in, when I put the protection in will it stop or because it was already there it will carry on?

Just a thought.

Great info as usual.

Good info - I didn't know about this. Just one question, does it affect Google from indexing images? I get a large amount of traffic relating from image searches.

Cheers

No, it doesn't affect Google indexing, it just disallowes hotlinks to your images. However, as i said, i consider it useless. the only reason for which someone would create a hotlink to your own images, would be that of having always an updated version of your image in his site. For static sites as the ones that 99% of the users have, there is no purpose for a hotlink. The "thief" can simply copy your image and embedd it in his site.

Would it be a better idea to disable right click on the web site to prevent theft of images ?

Disabling the right click wil NOT prevent stealing your images. If someone has a minimum of knowledge, he can see the image path in your source code, and take it from there. Not only, but it is enough to copy the entire screen in a graphics program and take the picture from there.

There is NO way to protect your images other than watermarking them, which of course, has it's own disadvantages.

Thanks Naval, just an idea, if man can make it, make can get around it or something like that.

The "how to protect pictures" topic is often discussed and I have a twist on making it difficult for those that feel it's necessary to borrow artwork from others.
I use the Photoshop slice tool and save for web (html). I then take the image (s) into BV using “from existing HTML page”
Go to www.addoadventure.com and right click save the elephant for a good example of this method.

Cheers,

Hi Captain,
I did just the above; right clicked & saved the elephant photo. Guess what I now have? An elephant photo in my document folder I can use!

I guess we're back to watermarking...........

Originally Posted by PlayItByBeer

The "how to protect pictures" topic is often discussed and I have a twist on making it difficult for those that feel it's necessary to borrow artwork from others.
I use the Photoshop slice tool and save for web (html). I then take the image (s) into BV using “from existing HTML page”
Go to www.addoadventure.com and right click save the elephant for a good example of this method.

Cheers,

After going to your site and right clicking & saving I get the elephant exactly as it's shown on your site. Didn't see anything different. Am I missing something???

Originally Posted by Tomissan

After going to your site and right clicking & saving I get the elephant exactly as it's shown on your site. Didn't see anything different. Am I missing something???

Hi Tomissan,

I have a couple of elephants on my home page, the example of slicing is of the main elephant (3 slices). I am in the process of put a "How To" together which will feature better examples.

Cheers,

Only a curiosity question??
Can you hotlink protect an individual folder, & if so, it may be good to put the valuable images in this one & maybe let other sites hotlink to other images. Would this not class as a remote link from another site & help with the SE,s.?? Or will it not work this way.

Originally Posted by PlayItByBeer

Hi Tomissan,

I have a couple of elephants on my home page, the example of slicing is of the main elephant (3 slices). I am in the process of put a "How To" together which will feature better examples.

Cheers,

Have A look at www.capebackpackers.com/picture_protection.html for a decent example and tutorial I've started to put together.

Hi Collectors-info, that'll be interesting if possible...

Cheers,

You cannot hotlink protect a single folder.

You can't bit Screen capture. Unfortunately......

Is there a way to check if and who is hotlinking to your site?
thank you...