How to save important photos and video from the web

We cannot know exactly why you want to save pictures, videos, social media posts or other types of information from the Internet. However, we can guess that you may have done so for personal, historical or accountable reasons. Whatever your goal is, getting these is easy – but knowing how to deal with them is tricky.

The Internet is transient compared to other types of recording and expression media. Two centuries ago, anyone who made inappropriate posts or sent “bad tweets” had to go beyond the post station knight or find a way to catch a very stubborn pigeon. Now, they just need to click to delete.

This is not to say that everything that disappears from the internet is a bad thing. Neglected websites are offline and technology is outdated, and some people just feel more comfortable knowing that they have not left behind digital footprints for many years. Regardless of the severity, any uploaded content will eventually disappear.

How to save pictures, videos and social media posts

Just as there are countless reasons to save data, there are almost as many social media sites. It is almost impossible to introduce one by one how to get information from each source, so we will introduce some well-known websites. You should also be familiar with video capture programs and the built-in website screenshot tools of the device, which are inconvenient to download. Simply recording what's on the screen may not be as good as getting the original file, but it is a reliable backup when you can't get the original file.

Download the picture directly

Saving images from a browser is usually simple. On Twitter and Facebook, just open the image you want to save and right-click it to bring up the menu that contains Save as Image. You may be able to save it directly, but if it suggests a file format that your computer cannot handle correctly (such as WebP from Google Chrome), you need a program that lets you open files from URLs, such as PhotoPea. Open the free browser-based image editor and click "File" , "Open More" and "Open from URL" . Then paste the URL and click "OK" . Finally, go back to "File", select Export as, and select the file type.

On your phone, you may be able to hold the photo until a menu appears with

"Save Photo" (iOS) or similar options. However, if you use Facebook from your browser, you may have to open the picture, open the menu (three dots) and click "View Full Size" . From there, long press and tap "Add to Photo" should work.

Download video directly

Save videos a little more complicated. For videos posted on Twitter, you must open a tweet, copy the URL, and go to sites like SaveTweetVid or Twitter Video Downloader. The two work the same way: paste the URL, click "Download" , and then click "Download Video" . If it opens in the browser tab, just right-click and select "Save as Video" . Facebook has a "Save Video" option under the three dots in the upper right corner of the post, but that just saves it in Facebook. The actual process itself is a complete story. It's similar to YouTube, which doesn't allow users to download videos.

Witness is a nonprofit that uses video and technology to defend human rights, and it also provides a complete guide on how to save live videos.

Screenshots and screen recording

For these and other sites (such as Instagram) without a direct save option, the easiest option is usually to save screenshots or record screens. On macOS, use

Cmd Shift 4 to bring up the screenshot tool. Then click and drag a box to surround the content you want to capture. Windows used to have screenshot tools, but now it is part of Snip & Sketch. Open the program, click "New" , and select "Shot Now" (or one of the other delay options). Click and drag the content you want to save. On iOS and Android, options vary by the type of phone you have and the operating system you run. These tools are also the easiest way to save social media posts.

To record the screen on macOS, press

Cmd Shift 5 to bring up the screenshot toolbar, and follow Apple's detailed guide. On Windows, you can use the Xbox Game Bar to record any open app (not just games). Apart from that, you may want to consider one of the many free screen recording platforms available.

How to process data you save for personal purposes

Whether you are saving your own tagged photos from Facebook or building an impressive library of memes, redundancy is the main consideration. Backup. All content. twice (or more) if you want. This way, if a hard drive fails, you have a copy elsewhere. We cannot provide any further guidance. You decide for yourself.

How to handle data you saved for historical reasons

Even if we are not living in "unprecedented times", we still live in history. You might think photos of small demonstrations, buildings, demolitions or other events in your neighborhood or town pale in comparison to events with national or global impact. However, your local historical association or museum may have a different view.

Sometimes, these agencies will issue a message or record a request. But if you have something that may be historical, you can also contact yourself.

Online, there are Internet Archives, which is a non-profit website and other media library. One of its most famous tools is Wayback Machine, which displays historical snapshots of billions of web pages. It won’t save everyone’s social media accounts, but it does save some (for example, it has saved President Donald Trump’s Twitter account nearly 50,000 times over the past 12 years). If you find that a page has not been saved, you can ask the organization to archive it. Go to the Wayback Machine home page, find "Save Page Now", enter the URL of the target page, and click "Save Page".

Save historical videos and images, especially those of politicians, public figures and television speeches, may also be crucial in the future to combat deep falsification. These modified videos and images are becoming more popular and they are becoming more realistic.

How to deal with pictures and videos of suspected criminal activities

After the riots in the U.S. Capitol, social media is flooded with people trying to publicly identify participants. Not only can this be problematic due to the possibility of misidentification, but it can also put you in danger.

Ethical issues of using video to report potentially illegal acts or human rights violations must also be considered. Witness provides a downloadable PDF file detailing our responsibilities to the person being photographed, the creators of the video and the audience. You may not want the subject of a video to relive abuse, defamate the person who shot the video, or cause wider trauma.

Once you have assessed the risks to yourself and others and still think it is worth submitting potential evidence to the appropriate authorities, then take a strategy. While you might be tempted to quote a seemingly destructive video with "uh, @FBI??", this isn't the best way to do it. In fact, the agency’s Twitter profile directly states “Don’t report tips here.” They want you to submit information online, or (in case of an emergency) call 911. For example, regarding violence at the U.S. Capitol, the agency has a dedicated information submission portal. Local police departments may even be less willing to screen their social media mentions for possible evidence of harassment, xenophobia, or other crimes.

The above is the detailed content of How to save important photos and video from the web. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!