Many gallery users wish to protect some of their images/folders from the public. We therefore get many requests if the gallery can or will support password protected gallery folders. We are certainly looking forward to integrate some password protection in a future release - However, there are a few misconceptions about password protection, so please allow me explain a few key issues -
# There is only one way to truly protect a folder or image on your webserver from being accessed. It consists of setting a file called .htaccess on your server, and Imagevue or any other web gallery does not have access to change this file.
# In a future release of Imagevue, we will be utilizing a password system that is native to Imagevue. This means, that without the correct password, viewers will not be able to see the images in a password protected folder. However, we will not be able to guarantee that the images in your passowrd protected folders are 100% safe, because the images will still be available outside the Imagevue gallery, but the chances of someone being able to 'sniff' out the path and name of an unknown image, are minimal.
# Another action some users should consider for image protection, is watermarking. It consists of creating an overlay(logo etc.) over an image, and allthough it doesnt ehance the picture in any way, it will protect your image from being used by 3rd parties. Its the only way to display your images to the public at relatively good quality, without having to risk infringement.
# An independant but related issue: Some consider the fact that their photos are displayed in flash(SWF) as added protection for their images, and they are right. When viewing an image through SWF, there is no way for a user to right-click and save the image to his desktop. However, this is certainly no true way of protection, because images are allways loaded into the viewers browser cache, and a smart user will know that and be able to access the images from his cache folder. There is no way to prevent this.
If anyone has any comments or suggestions regarding the integration of passwords and image protection in a future version of Imagevue, please post a reply to this topic!