So many people seeking the one true answer to the one true question. How can they can protect their images online? How? How indeed. There are no true ways to stop images from being stolen from your website. However, there are a few ways to slow them down. However, to understand this you most first understand your foe. How are thieves getting the pic from your website? Below I have listed some of the top 8 ways to steal pics and animation/movies. You must first understand that nothing you put on line is truly protected.

How they are Stolen

1."Save Image As" with the right click mouse action.

2. Saving the page in Internet Explore Five (IE5) grabs all images on the page including backgrounds.

3. Directly linking to where the image is stored on the server and dragging pic out of window

4. Open the image from browser cache located in the Temporary Internet Folder

5. Screen capture programs and PrintScreen.

6. Taking an actually digital picture of it with camera and photo editing it in photo Shop

7. Recording flash movies or animation that is copy write protect on to your camera and then upload it to the PC and covering AVI or MPEG in to Flash files. Ready to use.

8. Siting down and drawing art work from site

9. Downloading the entire web site on to your hard drive.

How to Protect Images

Now that we know how most images are being stolen, it's good time to learn how to protect them from Internet thief's.

Watermarks

Placing your trademark or name on your image is one way to protect it. This can be done by using programs as Paint Shop or Corel Painter. Another good program to use called Digiarc (http://www.digimarc.com/). Sigimarc embeds into your image so it can then be tracked across the net. Pretty cool, but its futile. Just like when the music industry were hunting down kids and the elder for downloading music illegally. That was a saw of time. They should have been looking for the people mass producing and bootlegging. The image once marked can be tracked for a fee. One advantage/disadvantage is there is no visible type to interfere with your image quality. Digimarc plug-ins are available for several different graphics programs including Photoshop and Corel.

As include a copy write notice at the bottom of each page. Some people like to emboss the © on their image or make it look official. I've seen many people brand their name over the entire pic. A lot of arts do it. It's just stupid, because you can easy remove it in Paint Shop. It's just a pain to do it someone has their name about 50 times on a picture, but it can be done.

When making a water mark, it is best to but it in the picture and somehow make it look apart of the picture. I suggest to many artist that they do this in the their art. Some that is seen, but is not understood or seen by the wood be thief.

Beside side see the Word Copyrighted by MR. Stinky or something other is pretty annoying and takes away for the image your selling. Many people just might look some place else for a cleaner image so they can get a good look at the protect. They may figure that your trying to hide something.

Roll Over And Java Script

Roll over images are easy. When your mouse is moved over the image, a second appears. The second unseen image is rolled over the first. On the second image you can use your copy right image.

The right clicking mouse is one of the mouse common to grab an image. Deactivating this action is an obvious solution . There are several Java Scripts that can be used to disable the right click action. You will need a different script to protect you from other browse for the same script doesn't work in all the browsers. One trick is not to use Java, but normal scripts. Because this script does work if the user has Java script disable. Also a lot of the script do not work on Mac platforms

Table Method/Layering

The table method is similar to the roll over method, however it works like a layer. Start by making a table that is the same size as the photograph you want to protect. Insert the photo as the table background image. Then create a a table with in the first table. The tab second table should be the same size as the first table. In the second table you will insert a nul image.

To create a null image is easy. Open a new transparent document in your image editor and set the dimensions to those of the picture you are hiding. Save the image as transparent GIF file, then place the null/empty image with in the second table. What have you done. you may asked? You have copied over the first image with a see through image. Now it appears that you can right click and grab the image. But the truth is that you'll be grabbing the empty GIF or null image file.

The draw back to have this many table some times cause funny effect on your web page. But worst the image your attempting to hide is located in the browser cache. And you can take the image by taking by locating the file name in the image source code. A whole lot of work for nothing.

IDP - Image Directory Protection

Here's one important step that many people often over look. Most web designers place images and graphics in a separate image directory. Browsers look for an index page with in each subdirectory. If there is not one there, a complete list off all your images and grab anything they want. The best way to stop this is to place an index page in some directory where you have placed your images.

This slow some people down, but they can just as easy now download your entire website on to their hard drive. Saving them a lot of trouble and can look in your info at any time they please.

Java Slide-Show

Some of the best affects are done with Java. Using Java Slide show is a great way to display your images. But the draw back is the slowing loading process. My favorite program for this are applets with can be found at http://www.anfyteam.com/ .You can also assign link to each picture. My favorite has always been water effect and rain.

Browser Caching

You can prevent the browsers from caching the images on your web page. Insert the following code between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags of your web page. <META http-equiv="Pragma" content="no-cache">

Why is this horrible to use. Basic because you have million of people out there that do not have a basic understanding of building website. And these beginners and novice over load their web sites with pics, GIFs, flash and other animation. With the no cache save it will take hours to loads these site each visit, especially. This will kill the under of time people visit if they have to wait each time they visit for their site to load. Load each page will be the same because not even the template will save in the temp folder. This will also eat up your band with, because oh the amount of data the user downloads on each visit is always the same.

Encryption

Many software companies have introduced encryption software that can encrypt images along with the entire web sites. One such program is Artistscope's Secure image Pro http://www.artistscope.net/. Easy and effective way in helping prevent any one from stealing images from your website. You can also get a register version for free. Their are many other software like this, they can be found by typing "Website or image Encryption or Encrypt Web sites " in to your browser. However, some of the one I found is a big and expensive software package. Artistscope has another product call Copy Safe. It protect your images from some of the major coping methods list earlier. The draw back is that the full license cost around five hundred dollars

Also one of my favorite is HTML Protector at

www.antssoft.com/htmlprotector/index.htm?ref=google&group=1  .

HTML Protector is a tool that helps you protect the content of your web page by preventing others from viewing your source code. Additionally, it will stop Spam robots from extracting email addresses from your pages as well as prevent people from using automated downloader's to download your entire web site to their hard drive. HTML Protector offers three JavaScript based encryption methods to choose from and a variety of other features like right click disable, printing disable, password protect your pages, insert copyright information and more

Reduce Sized Images / Low Resolution

Don't place a graphically enhance pic up. Make valuable pics at a 100 x 100 pixels. This doesn't really insure anything. But what it does do ensure that the theft can't display it as a larger pic on their website as a huge display. It also insure that they cannot make any good prints, for enlarging it will make poor visual quality. Many people see images and sell them as prints, it's common. Their get a big pay off why you are getting nothing and you don't even know it. Always beware of people who are asking for large version or your pictures. Or my favorite large and high definition pictures.

Solution

Using low resolution picture with some kind of protection software that hides the files help. Using thumbnails that are protected by right click Java Script. When user click on the image they will find image protect with image encryption software.

Artist/web designer, users should only display images that they care nothing about. Original idea and pictures should not be displayed. If you display them then they will be stolen

Ebay Super Hero Artist

Stealing pics is very important matter to artists who place original art. First, most artist I find on ebay draw comic book hero art. A lot these artist get upset when someone takes their picture or make a reproduction and sell it. I even seen people that sold entire CD of art without the artist even knowing. Some ebay sellers will steal picture and make glossy prints out of them and sell.

But redrawing a picture an artist made and selling it to someone else isn't great evil. Many artist get up set at this and I do not understand why since 99.0 percent of the ebay comic artist that are drawing establish character that are copywrited and trademarked. Ninety-nine percent of the time ebay Superhero artist have not obtain permission from the Comic Companies or creators to redraw and sell them. So how can you be up set when someone redraw and sell their own work.

Summary

It's a lot of hard work has go in to protecting your images. It's out rages that one must go to these legist to protect their images. But the fact is that many people mistakenly think images are free for the taking simply because it appears on the Internet. Please, unless it is clearly stated that the images, graphic, animation, music is free or stock photos then ask for the owner permission to use them.

If you have something that means the world to you and you do not want stolen, then don't put it online. Place every image on line with full knowledge that it will be stolen. If your luck and if your have your images copyrighted or trademarked and you have lots of cash and resource then you may stand a chance to fight back. Along with the knowledge of the actual location of the business that is ripping you of then you might have a chance. Image stealing is bad. however it's something that cannot really be enforce. Even big business can't. They try, but it's all for nothing and makes them look petty. as the beat down on the little guy.

I hope this guide was use in some shape and form, it has been to me in the past. If anyone would like to add anything I missed to this guide then please let me know.