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Show HN: The text disappears when you screenshot it

unscreenshottable.vercel.app

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Re: Show HN: The text disappears when you screenshot it

#141

Post by jlokier »

landgenoot wrote: post #129

I think there are usecases for this. Some countries switched to identity apps instead of plastic identity cards. You could make sensitive data non-screenshottable and non-photographable. A modern variant to the passport anti identity fraud cover: https://merk.anwb.nl/transform/a9b4e52a-9ba1-414b-b199-29085... The hotel you are checking in doesn't need to know your DOB, length, SSN, birth place, validity and document…

> You could make sensitive data non-screenshottable and non-photographable.

That made me curious, so I took a photo of my laptop screen running this page.

With default camera settingse, the text wasn't visible to me in the photo on my phone screen.

However, setting the exposure time manually to 0.5s, the text came out white on a noisy background and I could easily read it on the phone screen.

I would not be surprised if the default camera settings photo could be processed ("enhance!") to make the text visible, but I didn't try.

Re: Show HN: The text disappears when you screenshot it

#142

Post by apricot »

postalcoder wrote: post #86
axiolite wrote: post #46

You can take TWO screenshots, moments apart, open in GIMP, paste one over the other and choose any one of these laying modes: Lighten, Screen, Addition, Darken, Multiply, Linear burn, Hard Mix, Difference, Exclusion, Subtract, Grain Extract, Grain Merge, or Luminance. https://ibb.co/DDQBJDKR

Out of sheer curiosity, I put three screenshots of the noise into Claude Opus 4.1, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and GPT 5, all with thinking enabled with the prompt “what does the screen say?”. Opus 4.1 flagged the message due to prompt injection risk, Gemini made a bad guess, and GPT 5 got it by using the code interpreter. I thought it was amusing. Claude’s (non) response got me thinking - first, it was very on brand, second, th…

> pasting images of seemingly random noise into a sensitive environment is a terrible idea

BLIT protection. https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm

Re: Show HN: The text disappears when you screenshot it

#144

Post by landgenoot »

jlokier wrote: post #141
landgenoot wrote: post #129

I think there are usecases for this. Some countries switched to identity apps instead of plastic identity cards. You could make sensitive data non-screenshottable and non-photographable. A modern variant to the passport anti identity fraud cover: https://merk.anwb.nl/transform/a9b4e52a-9ba1-414b-b199-29085... The hotel you are checking in doesn't need to know your DOB, length, SSN, birth place, validity and document…

> You could make sensitive data non-screenshottable and non-photographable. That made me curious, so I took a photo of my laptop screen running this page. With default camera settingse, the text wasn't visible to me in the photo on my phone screen. However, setting the exposure time manually to 0.5s, the text came out white on a noisy background and I could easily read it on the phone screen. I would not be surprised…

I think it also depends on the response time of the display and even the temperature.

Re: Show HN: The text disappears when you screenshot it

#145

Post by CGMthrowaway »

milkshakes wrote: post #110
cloudbonsai wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can take TWO screenshots, moments apart, open in GIMP, paste one over the other and choose any one of these laying modes: You actually don't need any image editing skill. Here is a browser-only solution: 1. Take two screenshots. 2. Open these screenshots in two separate tabs on your browser. 3. Switch between tabs very, very quickly (use CTRL-Tab) Source: tested on Firefox

reminds me of this: https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/5jdzsx/lpt_use...

I went cross-eyed on my screenshot, and I couldnt read the word, but I did notice some artifacts

Re: Show HN: The text disappears when you screenshot it

#146

Post by dylan604 »

rkomorn wrote: post #51
viccis wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also not the parent but how the hell did you not understand what "long exposure" means ffs

Because the context is about screenshots and context matters "ffs".

You mean like all of the context I used describing something not a screenshot. Being able to pick up on context clues from the reading is a crucial skill one should have in life. It also makes one look less clueless in conversation when the topics shift quickly and one can keep up.

Re: Show HN: The text disappears when you screenshot it

#150

Post by viccis »

rkomorn wrote: post #51
viccis wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also not the parent but how the hell did you not understand what "long exposure" means ffs

Because the context is about screenshots and context matters "ffs".

Periods go inside of quotes, even mealy mouthed shock quotes because an internet abbreviation made you upset.
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