Protecting images

Clockwatchers ??
https://www.clockwatchers.com/htaccess_images.html

This has a tester too, just so you can be sure:
https://altlab.com/hotlinking.html

podz, you are my hero! Thanks!

Added to the FAQ.
Thanks.

Ok, I used the code and my images appear when viewing my site on Firefox, but they don’t appear on IE. Is there any way around this?

would thi prevent people from downloading pics from a photo gallery?

No.
You can use a trick involving a 1*1 transparent gif so that if someone right clicks and “Saves as” they will get an empty image, but even so, they can View Source and find the real URL.

Info on that trick here:
https://www.isdntek.com/noclick.htm

And how timely is this article ?
https://alistapart.com/articles/hotlinking/