Protection Defaults

FlipBooks → Settings → Protection is where you set the default protection profile for every new FlipBook on your site. Per-FlipBook overrides take priority, but FlipBooks set to "Global" inherit whatever you configure here. This article covers each option and when to use it.

For per-FlipBook protection settings and what each protection feature actually does, see Protection and DRM.

When to bother with defaults

Set protection defaults when:

• Most of your FlipBooks need similar protection (e.g. all paid content has the same watermark).
• You want every new FlipBook to launch with sensible protection without re-configuring.

If protection needs vary wildly per FlipBook, leave global defaults minimal and configure per-FlipBook.

All Protection settings

Admin Bypass

Default: On.

When on, logged-in administrators see the FlipBook with no protection — no watermark, no copy block, no download disable.

Why this matters: while developing/testing, you can verify the FlipBook works without protection getting in your way.

When to turn off: if you want to test exactly what visitors see, or if your admin accounts should also be subject to protection.

Watermark

Type

• Text — type a string (e.g. "CONFIDENTIAL", "DRAFT", "© 2024 [Company Name]").
• Image — upload an image (often a logo).

Text watermark options

Setting

What it does

Typical value

Text

The watermark string

"CONFIDENTIAL", "DRAFT", company name

Font Size

Pixel size

18-32

Color

Watermark text color

White on dark theme, gray on light

Opacity

0-100%

5-15% for subtle, 20-40% for visible

Rotation

Degrees

0° (horizontal), -45° (diagonal)

Repeat

Tile across the page

On for anti-piracy patterns

Position

When not tiled

Center, bottom-right, etc.

Image watermark options

Setting

What it does

Image

Upload from media library

Image Width

CSS width (e.g. 200px)

Opacity, Rotation, Repeat, Position

Same as text

In Download / In Print

Setting

What it does

Include in Download

Burn the watermark into downloaded PDFs

Include in Print

Burn the watermark into printouts

Turn these on when your watermark needs to follow the content even after the visitor downloads or prints it.

Copy Prevention

A group of toggles. Turn each on to disable specific extraction methods.

Setting

Recommended

What it does

Disable Right Click

On for protected content

Blocks the context menu on FlipBook pages

Disable Keyboard Shortcuts

On for protected content

Blocks Ctrl+S, Ctrl+P, Ctrl+C, etc.

Disable Image Drag

On for protected content

Prevents dragging images out of the FlipBook

Disable Selection

On for protected content

Blocks text/image selection

Disable Download

Depends

Removes the download button from the toolbar

Recommended combinations:

• Public content: turn all off. Let readers use the content freely.
• Paid / gated content: turn all on. Combined, these make casual extraction much harder.
• Internal content: turn most on, leave Download enabled if your team needs to grab the PDF.

DevTools Detection

Setting

What it does

Enabled

Master toggle

Action

What happens when devtools open: Show warning, Blur content, or No action

Warning Message

Text shown when "Show warning" is the action

DevTools detection is unreliable across browsers — some bypass it entirely. Use it as a deterrent, not a hard block.

Print Protection

Setting

What it does

Enabled

Master toggle

Allow Print

Allow printing with a watermark instead of blocking entirely

Print Watermark

When Allow Print is on, this watermark text is burned into printouts

Three modes:

1. Print Protection off → readers can print freely.
2. Print Protection on, Allow Print off → readers can't print at all.
3. Print Protection on, Allow Print on → readers can print, but every page has the Print Watermark burned in.

Screenshot Deterrent

Setting

What it does

Enabled

Watch for screenshot keys and show a message

Message

Text shown when screenshot keys are detected

Doesn't actually prevent screenshots. Use as a "please don't" signal.

Source Path Security

Always on. PDF files are served through a REST proxy (/wp-json/tnc-flipbook-3d/v1/pdf/...) instead of direct media-library URLs. This hides the file path and makes it harder to fetch the PDF directly.

There's no toggle — this is on by default and can't be disabled.

Recommended default profiles

"Public content site"

• Admin Bypass: On
• Watermark: Off
• Copy Prevention: All off
• DevTools Detection: No action
• Print Protection: Off
• Screenshot Deterrent: Off

For sites where FlipBooks are public marketing material — make the experience frictionless.

"Selling premium content"

• Admin Bypass: On
• Watermark: Text "PROPERTY OF [BRAND]", diagonal, opacity 8%, tiled
• Copy Prevention: All on
• DevTools Detection: Show warning
• Print Protection: On, Allow Print off
• Screenshot Deterrent: On
• Watermark → In Download / Print: On
• Disable Download: On (gate downloads behind WooCommerce or Lead Capture)

Hard lockdown. Paired with WooCommerce gating or the Stamper Addon, this is a robust paid-content profile.

"Internal documents"

• Admin Bypass: Off
• Watermark: Text "INTERNAL — DO NOT SHARE", diagonal, opacity 10%, tiled
• Copy Prevention: All on
• DevTools Detection: Show warning
• Print Protection: On, Allow Print on (with watermark)
• Screenshot Deterrent: On
• Watermark → In Print: On

Staff can read and print (with watermark) but can't easily extract or share.

Per-FlipBook overrides

Each FlipBook has a Protection tab that mirrors these global defaults. To override per-FlipBook:

1. Open the FlipBook.
2. Switch to the Protection tab.
3. Each section has a Global / Custom toggle. Flip to Custom to override.
4. Configure individual fields.
5. Save.

The override is per-section, so you can have global watermark + custom copy prevention on one FlipBook, for example.

Full details: Protection and DRM.

Important caveats

• No protection is 100%. A determined user with technical skills can extract content. Protection raises the bar for casual users.
• Test in incognito mode — admins bypass protection. Always confirm in an incognito browser window.
• Some browsers don't honor disable shortcuts — Firefox in particular has settings that allow users to override keyboard shortcut blocking.
• Watermarks visible at low opacity may be invisible on screens with poor color accuracy. Test on multiple monitors.

Troubleshooting

Watermark doesn't appear on the front end.

• Confirm Watermark is on globally or on the FlipBook.
• Confirm Opacity is greater than 0.
• Clear caches and reload in incognito.

I'm an admin and I can still see the download button. That's expected — Admin Bypass is on by default. Test in incognito or with a non-admin account to confirm the protection actually applies.

Disable Download is on but readers can still grab the PDF from the address bar.

• Source Path Security should be on (it's on by default). The PDF URL on the front end goes through the REST proxy.
• Confirm by viewing the FlipBook page source — the PDF URL should be a /wp-json/... path, not a direct /wp-content/uploads/ path.

My watermark is too subtle / too aggressive.

• Subtle: bump opacity to 15-25%.
• Aggressive: lower to 5-10%, or turn off Repeat (Tile).

Watermark covers content unreadably.

• Lower opacity.
• Reduce font size.
• Avoid Repeat (tiling) for content-heavy pages.

Next steps

• Protection and DRM — per-FlipBook details
• Settings Overview — all global settings
• Stamper Addon — per-user watermarks
• WooCommerce Integration — purchase-based gating