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 "Server prefix" is specified to ensure applets can't
run locally or on another server
- That a second overlay image is used, preferably a GIF or piece of text and preferably moving
across the image, to
frustrate screen capture of the image. There's no way that ImageSafe can prevent access to
the screen bitmap so it's important to take measures to make sure that it's not possible
to get a "clean" shot of the image you are trying to protect. If the main image is large then
it's best use a the double image feature to better cover the main image. Alternatively use
the text option to put a continuous line of text across the image.
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.