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Why is it so important?

Just think how you would feel if someone hooked their electricity up to your supply, so that you paid their bills as well as your own...

This is how you should do it

PC users: Right-click on the image and choose "Save Picture/Image As".
Mac users: Click and hold down over the image and choose "Save This Image As".

If you are using Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, first place the cursor above the image you want to copy. Next, if you are using a PC or Unix-based system, click the right mouse button; on a Mac, hold down the single mouse button. A small popup menu will appear after a few seconds, offering you a "Save as..." or "Download image..." option to save a copy of the image to your local hard drive.

AOL users: Your graphics can be read as compressed images, which may cause problems in displaying images. You'll need to make sure you are "in AOL." Now go to "My AOL," select Preference, and then select WWW. Turn off the Use-Compressed-Images option. Finally, select the Empty-Cache-Now button.

After you download a graphic, you will need to upload that graphic to your ISP so that it will appear on your Web site. Visit your ISP's online documentation to learn what steps are necessary for uploading graphics.

This is why you should do it

If you link to a graphic that is outside of your own Web site, you are linking directly to that file. A lot of people are charged for bandwidth use, the more data transferred, the higher the monthly fee. Direct linking is using someone else's bandwidth, for which they may be charged. So, unauthorized direct linking could cause higher server bills for some Web sites.

Now, some Web sites actually ask you to do this (usually for reciprocal links), so you paste their HTML code into your web page. Generally it would look something like this:

<IMG SRC="http://someone-else's-Web site.com/picture.gif">

Unless you have been specifically asked to do so you should not link images in this way, you should, instead, save them to your HDD & then upload them to your server.

This is what could happen if you don't

Your web pages will load much more slowly as it will take much longer to access the information.

The original site might be removed, or change its graphics & then you would have a broken link.

You might be in for a nasty shock. It is fairly common practice to replace an image which is being linked without permission with something completely different.

It is possible to tell if someone is linking directly. Usually, whatever replaces the original graphic clearly states that the Web site owner has been stealing bandwidth!

You can lose your own Web site account, as most web space providers take a very dim view of direct file linking & would likely be notified by the Web site you are linking from.

Of course, if you are using someone else's work & their bandwidth, without permission - you could find yourself facing legal proceedings!

Usage of WiredSafety graphics: Use of this information is in strict accordance with our Terms Of Use. Link graphics and/or text may not be modifed or altered in any way.