Is there a way to disable print/copy on a browser?

[Juniper]

I am working on a web based application. I don't want people to print or copy. Can I achieve this in Javascript?

 

[notfred]

no.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

You are sending the data directly to the person's computer, how could you ever hope to restrict them from it?

 

[rainypickles]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
You are sending the data directly to the person's computer, how could you ever hope to restrict them from it?

with javascript, too.

 

[Juniper]

Ok, is there any other way?

There must be some way to make the data viewable but unable to print/copy. Put print screen as an exception.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: Juniper
Ok, is there any other way?

There must be some way to make the data viewable but unable to print/copy. Put print screen as an exception.

The data is RIGHT THERE. You can't let the person see it _and_ make them unable to use it for other than just looking at. Find a way to do it and I'll show you how to get around it in a few seconds.

 

[MrChad]

You would need to have some sort of control over the way user's view data. You cannot add new restrictions on the way standard HTML is viewed over a standard web browser. You would need to develop your own proprietary data format along with a special browser plug-in (perhaps an applet) that allows the user to view (but not print or copy) that format. Of course, there's still the issue of print screen, but there's no way around that.

Incidentally, Microsoft is introducing digital rights management in Office 11, which will allow businesses to set up these types of restrictions.

 

[chemos]

there are a few ways to do this, Juniper.

1) Use an existing secure browser application
2) Create your own secure browser app with MS' browser dev tools.
3) Open the browser in kiosk mode (I believe the flag for IE is -k for Kiosk mode)
4) Use a new window as the target for a link (it should open without menus)

Note that you would also want to disable right-clicking to keep them from doing it that way. You can do this using javascript. Good luck!

 

[TheCorm]

I have seen sites that stop you from being able to right click so you cannot save and what not but I am not sure whether it stops you from printing as well.

BUT...if there is something on that page that a fairly computer savvy person wants, they are gonna get it...I simply use screen capture in MGI Photosuite...and voila....it's a very difficult thing to prevent.

Jamie

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Only IE lets you disable right click.

 

[ugh]

Perhaps you can write a Java applet and put whatever you need to display in it. By doing so, you *may* have more control on how you can manipulate the data inside. I believe my friend did something like this a while ago. He wrote an applet which somehow disallowed any printing of the images displayed on the applet.

 

[Juniper]

thanks guys.

i understand that there are always work arounds to copy data. I just needed to know if it was possible to only disable the copy function and the print function of a browser. I guess i was not clear in my plea. hehe..

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: ugh
Perhaps you can write a Java applet and put whatever you need to display in it. By doing so, you *may* have more control on how you can manipulate the data inside. I believe my friend did something like this a while ago. He wrote an applet which somehow disallowed any printing of the images displayed on the applet.

 

[Mavrick007]

What don't you want them to copy/print? The template, the code or both?

 

[Juniper]

Originally posted by: Mavrick007
What don't you want them to copy/print? The template, the code or both?

info on the webpage. basically i want to restrict people from printing or selecting and copying information onto their clipboard.

so i am looking for a way to disable the print/copy function of a browser.

 

[stndn]

if it's only text you're worried about, you can do this:
thisxlineqisanothcopy-able

then, you can put the bold texts as regular text
and use <font> tag to blend the gibberish (non-bold text in above example) with the background color
this way, they can still read it when they look at browser
yet if they try to copy/paste or print it, the gibberish (x q a h) will be included making the text not-so-readable

may be too much work, but who knows?

otherwise, you can use flash for the contents and go a bit further...

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Juniper

Originally posted by: Mavrick007
What don't you want them to copy/print? The template, the code or both?

info on the webpage. basically i want to restrict people from printing or selecting and copying information onto their clipboard.

so i am looking for a way to disable the print/copy function of a browser.

Is there any point to restricting printing as long as the print-screen button works? All they have to do is paste into Paint and print from that, though it will be at screen resolution (< 100 dpi) instead of 300+ dpi printer resolution.

Javascript should let you define a replacement for right-click and you can spawn a menuless window, though even then I think they can still use the mouse to highlight and control-C to copy.

 

[joinT]

you can do this in a PDF document. My boss downloaded one & asked for my help because he couldn't print. Turned out I couldn't copy the text either. Had to take a screenie to print it.

edit. nm - didn't read close enough. not possible for an app 😱