CODEWITHSUNDEEP
php
emeraldhieu
emeraldhieu

Reputation: 9439

Display image without showing its file path

Is there any way to show an image without its path. I mean not using HTML tag, I'd like to use PHP to show image. Because if I use HTML, someone can save or share that image.

Edit: I'm sorry about my question is not clear. I don't mean preventing saving image. I mean not showing the file path "/path/to/image.jpg" on URI or HTML. Because I don't want user copy and share the link which contains that image right on my website. The only way to share that image is to "Save Image As" and share it. Anyway thank you all.

This is my solution:

<?php
$image = 'new.png'; 
$content = file_get_contents($image); 
header('Content-Type: image/jpeg');
echo $content; exit();

Upvotes: 4

Views: 6541

Answers (7)

Kapil Thakkar
Kapil Thakkar

Reputation: 870

You can give base64 of your image as src in <img> tag. Example:

<img src="data:image/png;base64,--your 64--" alt="Red dot" />

Upvotes: 2

emeraldhieu
emeraldhieu

Reputation: 9439

This is my solution:

<?php
$image = 'new.png'; 
$content = file_get_contents($image); 
header('Content-Type: image/jpeg');
echo $content; exit();

Upvotes: 3

dtbarne
dtbarne

Reputation: 8200

Even if you output the image with PHP, it will need to use HTML. There is no way to prevent a user from saving an image.

You could try using the image as a background-image with CSS, which will prevent non-advanced users from saving the image, but anyone who knows how to inspect the DOM or read CSS won't have any issue saving it.

Consider this - by the time a user sees the image on a page, their browser has already downloaded the file to the user's hard drive.

Upvotes: 3

adamsmith
adamsmith

Reputation: 5999

If the client can see your image, users can save it anyway.

Upvotes: 1

Joseph
Joseph

Reputation: 119847

rendering anything in the page needs HTML in some way. this also means that it IS visible somewhere in the code - some directly visible, some require a debug tool to intercept.

you can make it impossible for people to steal the image in the following ways (some not ideal but does the job)

  1. use flash/silverlight as a frame - though not ideal, it does help you prevent those who right-click and save. you can't view the flash source either.

  2. use a background image - size a div enough to fit the image in it (since divs rely on explicit dimensions or children's dimensions to stretch it). the url is viewable on the CSS (unless it's dynamically placed)

  3. use an image that has a "shield" - to do this, create a container div and place your image in it. in the same container, have a div that covers the image (absolute position, z-high z-index). this prevents the "right-click save" method. but the image path is in the source (unless it's dynamically placed as well)

you might think of canvas, but canvas is like a bitmap (therefore a picture still) so still a no-go from there.

all of which are not a fool-proof method. the only way you can avoid people from stealing owning images is to actually use a watermark. they may save but can't own it since it will have a watermark (like your name) across it.

Upvotes: 1

Niet the Dark Absol
Niet the Dark Absol

Reputation: 324630

If the browser can view it, the user can save it. There's no way around that rule.

The only exception to this is if you recreate the image using 1x1 pixel divs of the colour of each pixel in the image, which is extremely heavy-handed and only usable in the slightest when the image is very small.

Upvotes: 3

Prasad Rajapaksha
Prasad Rajapaksha

Reputation: 6190

As dtbarne explained any advanced user can get the image. However people do several things to prevent this form average users.

  1. Disabling right click
  2. Show in a popup with no tool bar
  3. Set images with CSS to hide the path in as we use in <img src = "">
  4. Load images using javascript
  5. Generate dynamic images using PHP. It need check authentication and timestamp before generating the image.

There may be other ways too. Just for your consideration.

Upvotes: 1

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