The basics of using ImageSafe

Creating applets

The interface for ImageSafe consists of basically two parts. The left side is a tabbed set of options which represent the security options to be applied to the image or images you are going to protect The right hand side consists of an image file chooser. When you select an image you want to protect and see a thumbnail then press the "Create applet". This encapsulates the image in an applet "JAR" file and ImageSafe saves this file plus an HTML file to run it.

An important note about browser caches

If you protect an image with ImageSafe and run the same image through ImageSafe again, perhaps because you registered the product or changed an option you may get a "Null pointer exception" message when you look at the new applet on your local PC. The reason is that your browser is retrieving the old applet out of the cache so the cache should be cleared to fix the problem. The public who view the applet on the net will never have this problem.

Maximum image protection and frustrating screen capture

The following is highly recommended for the maximum image protection:

The destination directory

The applet created will be placed in the directory currently specified at the top right in the "Destination directory" box. ImageSafe always creates the applet as a single ".jar" file which is accompanied by an HTML file that runs the applet. The name of the HTML file and the ".jar" file are always the same as the original image file. The HTML file title caption is also set as the image file name. Note that the destination directory can be anything on your PC and has no relevance at all to the eventual destination directory on the server.

Mutiple images on a single page

There's no problem putting multiple ImageSafe applets on a single page. To do this the HTML between the "Applet........./Applet" tags must be pasted into the new page. The JAR files stay separate, one for each image. See the HTML issues page for more on this.

Processing batches

Multiple selections of image files can be made either by (on Windows) holding down the "Ctrl" key while clicking selections or by using the "Select all" button. If more than one applet is being created at once then a progress box will display. Overwriting of existing applets with the same name always requires confirmation.

ImagesSafe can process many thousands of images in a batch however unless the main images are JPEGs then there may be memory problems. (Let the author know if you encounter any crashes while processing large batches).

Saving settings

The settings are always saved between ImageSafe sessions so their is no need to re-enter all the options. This includes the overlay image. Once the overlay image is set there is no need ever to re-select this image. Infact ImageSafe makes a copy of the overlay image in it's own directory.

Unregistered applet

While unregistered the applets you create will work for 3 days only before they expire. Once registered the applets will have no time limit. If you create unregistered applets and then register the product you will need to recreate the applets. It is not possible to use old HTML with newly generated JAR files.