Firefox add-on behind! lets you download any image that is behind the cursor

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 4, 2020
Firefox, Firefox add-ons
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30

It is sometimes difficult to download certain elements from websites. Some sites use code that actively prevents the use of save options of the browser that is being used; many use Javascript for that, others try to force you to sign-up for an account before some functionality becomes available.

The new Firefox add-on behind! has been designed as a workaround. It allows you to display and then download any image that is behind the cursor, even on sites that try to prevent this from happening.

All you need to do is install the extension in the browser, right-click on the image that you want to display fully or download, and select the behind! option of the right-click context menu. The extension opens a new tab and loads the selected image in that tab.

save images websites

The extension may display multiple versions of the image on the opening page; this is the case if the site uses multiple versions, e.g. a small resolution one that it displays on the page and a larger one that it links to.

You can look at the images and use built-in functionality to zoom the content or to save it. To save one of the images, right-click on the image and select the "save image as" option of the context menu to do so.

firefox save image

The developer of the extension lists a number of cases where the extension may help users. It can reveal:

  • Background images
  • Images under layers of nonsense (e.g. clickable surfaces designed to hide the image from you)
  • Embedded images / base64-encoded image chunks
  • Alternative resolutions
  • Vector images (even when they are inlined)
  • Images in shadow DOM

The extension has no options at the time of writing. It worked really well on all tested websites but a set of options would certainly make it more useful or flexible. An option to select the target action when selecting the behind! option comes into mind, e.g. to open the image in a foreground tab instead of  a background tab, or to download all images or the smallest/largest right away.

Other than that, it is a great extension for Firefox users who sometimes or often encounter sites that somehow block them from displaying or downloading images.

Now You: Do you use download extensions?

Summary
software image
Author Rating
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4 based on 18 votes
Software Name
behind!
Software Category
Browser
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Comments

  1. WinFan said on July 21, 2020 at 2:21 am
    Reply

    Anyone porting this to XUL?

  2. Karen said on July 8, 2020 at 3:28 am
    Reply

    Doesn’t even work. Why do you recommend stuff that doesn’t work? I see this all over the Internet. People recommend stuff they don’t even check!

    1. the what. said on July 20, 2020 at 4:35 pm
      Reply

      Don’t you think you should be a little more specific?

  3. Dump Trump said on July 6, 2020 at 6:38 am
    Reply

    Does this work on OnlyFasn?

  4. Shawn said on July 5, 2020 at 9:57 pm
    Reply

    https://github.com/kubuzetto/behind

    Well if this ain’t the source code what the hell is it?

  5. BM said on July 5, 2020 at 4:59 pm
    Reply

    Is there any extension to clear those overlays?

    Used to be able to consistently do so with uBlock Origin, but nowadays it seems that more often than not removing those layers also removes the content they are covering.

  6. Kirk said on July 5, 2020 at 2:05 pm
    Reply

    Only 3 users… I find that very odd. Think I’ll wait before installing.

  7. jimbob said on July 5, 2020 at 1:09 pm
    Reply

    this looks really useful. shame there is no access to the source code though. im done installing things like this that need permissions without allowing you to see what they are actually doing behind the scenes. its just not worth it

    1. Van said on July 7, 2020 at 5:30 am
      Reply

      I keep the thing disabled until I need it. Then I disable it again until next time.

  8. Belga said on July 5, 2020 at 9:08 am
    Reply

    “… and select the behind! option of the right-click context menu”
    The option don’t appear in Waterfox Classic (last version)

    1. Anonymous said on July 13, 2020 at 9:53 pm
      Reply

      Hi Belga, all now 100%, test the latest version of behind! 0.2.5 with the latest version of Waterfox Classic 2020-07. Obviously I’m still also using pinterest-guest 3.2.1.

      Thank you Martin for this neat topic.

    2. royce said on July 10, 2020 at 6:48 pm
      Reply

      Also running Waterfox Classic and using extension pinterest-guest 3.2.1, different but you can surf without logging in.

    3. Belga said on July 7, 2020 at 6:06 pm
      Reply

      After contact with the developer, the problem is resolved. It seemed to concern only the Classic version!

  9. Dave said on July 5, 2020 at 7:39 am
    Reply

    If you see it on your screen, you’ve already downloaded it.

    I have to explain this fact to computer illiterate people all the time but I never expected to run across that misconception in an article here.

    1. Anonymoose said on June 6, 2021 at 7:03 am
      Reply

      I read it as the difference between downloading [and saving as a discrete file on disk] and downloading [temporarily into RAM or cache, while page is loaded], myself.

    2. Trey said on July 5, 2020 at 10:08 am
      Reply

      @Dave

      “If you see it on your screen, you’ve already downloaded it.” – This really isn’t true. Images are shown in a browser but not cached all the time.

      This addon is an elegant and useful solution. Even useful to those droves of computer illiterate people you know.

    3. Martin Brinkmann said on July 5, 2020 at 7:51 am
      Reply

      While that may be the case it is a) not necessarily the highest quality version of the image and b) more cumbersome in my opinion.

  10. Rnk said on July 5, 2020 at 3:06 am
    Reply

    I use Image Max URL, in addition to letting me popup and download images and videos, it also tries to find the larger version available using rules, even find images without a watermark for certain sites. Really useful, specially in combination with reverse image search.

    1. owl said on July 6, 2020 at 2:23 am
      Reply

      @Rnk,

      I checked the extension “Image Max URL” you mentioned:
      https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-max-url/
      maxurl: Finds larger/original versions of images | GitHub – qsniyg
      https://github.com/qsniyg/maxurl
      I tried using it, it’s certainly very useful!
      I thank you.

  11. Steve said on July 4, 2020 at 10:07 pm
    Reply

    An article on an add-on which you provide no link for? Martin, you’re slipping!

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on July 5, 2020 at 7:50 am
      Reply

      The link is as always in the Summary box below the review.

    2. The Equestrian said on July 5, 2020 at 7:48 am
      Reply
  12. Anonymous said on July 4, 2020 at 9:54 pm
    Reply

    Almost no users and no link to source code..

    1. d said on July 5, 2020 at 4:54 pm
      Reply

      Author here. Thanks for the heads-up! I completely forgot to release the source code… yeah I know

      Repository link: https://github.com/kubuzetto/behind

      1. Passed by said on July 11, 2020 at 8:17 pm
        Reply

        It would be great the exact same extension, but for the video.

    2. TheFox said on July 5, 2020 at 3:09 pm
      Reply

      XPI files are just ZIP files. extract the 4 JS files and read them. The code is trivial and short enough to understand.

      But I agree with your point.

  13. Addy T. said on July 4, 2020 at 6:24 pm
    Reply

    Thank you for this tip. I do use a number of image-related extensions, including Double-Click Image Downloader and twitter-image-helper.

    I also use Personal Blocklist, which I have happily used to block Pinterest for spamming Google’s search results with annoyances and dead links.

  14. chesscanoe said on July 4, 2020 at 5:31 pm
    Reply

    I would love to see this developed for Chromium based browsers. It would make life easier for sure.

  15. happysurf said on July 4, 2020 at 5:25 pm
    Reply

    Very useful tool, but will be great open the images in a new active page and not in background.
    Thanks Martin.

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