# Protecting your photos online > Practical ways to protect client galleries in CoreHue: passwords, download PINs, web-size downloads and expiry dates, plus the limits of any online gallery. Source: https://help.corehue.co/docs/gallery-sharing/protecting-your-photos/ You decide who can see each gallery and who can take the photos home, and the controls work best together. Here's how to combine them, plus the few things no online gallery can stop, so you can set your clients' expectations (and your own). ## Control who can see the gallery The first layer is who gets in at all. - **Add a gallery password** so only people you've told can open it. See [Password-protecting a gallery](/docs/gallery-sharing/password-protecting-a-gallery). - **Give your client private access** with a client password, and keep the most personal chapters client-only. See [Giving your client private access](/docs/gallery-sharing/client-access-and-private-passwords) and [Keeping chapters private to your client](/docs/gallery-sharing/client-only-chapters). - **Ask for an email** before anyone views, so you can see who's been looking. See [Collecting visitor emails](/docs/gallery-sharing/collecting-visitor-emails). - **Hide chapters** that aren't ready yet. See [Hiding chapters from visitors](/docs/gallery-sharing/hiding-chapters). The gallery link on its own isn't a secret. An address like yourname.corehue.co/smith-wedding is easy to guess, so anything private needs a password. ## Control who can download Seeing and saving are separate in CoreHue, so you can show a gallery widely and still keep the files close. - **Use a download PIN.** Visitors can look, but need a 4-digit PIN to download anything. Give it only to your client. See [Using a download PIN](/docs/gallery-downloads/download-pin). - **Offer web sizes instead of originals.** Pick **Web Size (2048px)**, **Standard (1024px)** or **Small (640px)** so the full-resolution file never leaves. See [Download sizes explained](/docs/gallery-downloads/download-sizes). - **Limit downloads to some chapters.** Let people download the final edits but not the proofs. See [Allowing downloads for some chapters only](/docs/gallery-downloads/downloads-by-chapter). - **Turn downloads off** entirely for proofing galleries. See [Choosing your download settings](/docs/gallery-downloads/download-settings). On the Free plan, clients can only download web sizes. Original downloads come with Plus and Pro. Every download is recorded on the gallery's **Activity** tab with the email attached, so you can see who took what. See [Seeing who downloaded what](/docs/gallery-downloads/seeing-who-downloaded). ## Control how long it's online A gallery that stays up forever is a gallery that can travel forever. - **Set an expiry date** under **Settings → Sharing → Auto expiry**. The gallery takes itself offline on that date. See [Setting a gallery expiry date](/docs/galleries/gallery-expiry-dates). - **Unlist galleries** once your client has their files. See [Unlisting a gallery to take it offline](/docs/gallery-sharing/unlisting-a-gallery). - **Turn off social sharing** for private work, so the gallery's share buttons don't appear. See [Slideshow, social sharing and the gallery guide](/docs/galleries/client-experience-settings). ## What CoreHue does automatically - **Right-click saving is switched off** on photos, and photos can't be dragged out of the page. Visitors have to use the download button, which follows your download settings. - **The gallery shows screen-sized versions** of your photos. Your original files only go out through downloads you've allowed. - **Password and PIN guessing is limited.** After several wrong tries, the gallery pauses attempts for about 15 minutes. ## What no online gallery can stop - **Screenshots and screen recordings.** Anyone who can see a photo on their screen can capture it. No website can prevent that, whatever it claims. - **People sharing what they've downloaded.** Once a file is on someone's phone, it's theirs to send on. - **People sharing passwords.** A password protects a gallery only as well as the people who have it. CoreHue doesn't add watermarks to photos. If you need watermarked images, add the watermark in your editing software before you upload, and consider uploading watermarked proofs to one gallery and clean finals to another. See [What CoreHue doesn't do (yet)](/docs/getting-started/what-corehue-doesnt-do). > **Put usage terms in writing** The strongest protection for your work is a clear agreement. Spell out how clients may use and share their photos in your contract, and credit requirements if you have them. ## A sensible setup for most sessions 1. Turn on a **Gallery password** and include it in the gallery email. 2. Keep a **Download PIN** on and send it only to your client. 3. Offer **Original** for the client's own keepsakes on Plus or Pro, or a web size if you'd rather keep originals back. 4. Set an **Auto expiry** date and tell your client when it is, so they download in time. ## What your client sees A gallery that asks for a password before it opens, lets them browse freely, and asks for the PIN when they download. For most clients that feels professional rather than restrictive, especially when the password and PIN arrive in the same email as the link. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I stop clients taking screenshots? No. Neither CoreHue nor any other gallery service can stop screenshots. Right-click saving is off in CoreHue, but anyone who can see a photo can screenshot it. Limiting access with a password and keeping originals back are what make the real difference. ### Does CoreHue watermark my photos? No. CoreHue doesn't add watermarks, so add them in your editing software before uploading if you need them. ### Is a gallery password enough on its own? Yes, for most sessions a gallery password is enough. For sensitive work, combine it with client access, client-only chapters, a download PIN and an expiry date. ### Can I see if someone downloaded photos they shouldn't have? Yes. You can see every download on the gallery's **Activity** tab, with the email the visitor gave. If something looks off, change the gallery password and regenerate the download PIN.