DD Images Documentation

Platform: macOS 13.0+ | Type: Safari Web Extension | License: Paid, one-time purchase

1. Introduction

What is DD Images?

DD Images is a native Safari Web Extension for macOS that allows you to discover and download images from most websites. Instead of hunting through DevTools or right-clicking images one by one, DD Images presents every image on the current page in a clean gallery with filtering and bulk download tools.

The extension consists of two components that work together:

Safari Extension (browser side): Scans the page, displays the gallery popup, handles filtering and selection
Native macOS App (host): Handles the actual file downloading and saves files to the Downloads folder

Key Capabilities

Detects images from <img>, <picture>, data-src (lazy-load), and CSS backgrounds
Filter by minimum width, height, and format
Sort by dimensions or URL
Download individual images or all selected images in parallel
Remembers your chosen download folder between sessions
Zero data collection — completely private

2. Getting Started

Installation

Purchase DD Images from the Mac App Store
Launch the DD Images host app — it will show instructions for enabling the extension
Go to Safari → Settings → Extensions
Check the box next to DD Images to enable it
Grant website access when Safari prompts you (choose "All Websites" for seamless use, or per-site)

Tip: If you grant access only to specific websites, you'll need to grant permission each time you visit a new site. For convenience, grant access to "All Websites" in Safari Extension settings.

System Requirements

Operating System: macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
Browser: Safari (bundled with macOS)
Processor: Any Intel or Apple Silicon Mac
Storage: Minimal — plus space for downloaded images

3. Interface Overview

The Popup Gallery

Clicking the DD Images toolbar button opens the popup. It contains:

Image Gallery: Grid of all detected images with thumbnails, dimensions, and format
Filter Bar: Controls for minimum width, height, and format
Sort Controls: Sort the gallery by various attributes
Selection Controls: Select All / Deselect All buttons
Download Button: Downloads all selected images
Folder Indicator: Shows the current download folder; click to change

Image Card Information

Each image card shows:

Thumbnail preview
Dimensions (width × height in pixels)
File format (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG)
Aspect ratio

4. How Image Scanning Works

What Gets Scanned

Click the Scan Page button in the popup to start scanning. DD Images will collect image references from the current page, including:

<img src="..."> elements, including srcset for responsive images
<picture><source> elements
Lazy-loaded images stored in data-src, data-lazy, and similar attributes
CSS background-image properties on elements

CORS and Access Restrictions

Technical Limitation: Some websites implement Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) restrictions that prevent external scripts from making requests to their image servers. Additionally, some CDNs use hotlink protection that blocks direct image access. In these cases:

Downloads may fail with an error
These are intentional restrictions by the website owner — not a bug in DD Images

Dynamic Content Limitation

DD Images scans the page at the moment you open the popup. Images that load after the scan (e.g., images that appear only after scrolling, or images loaded by JavaScript interactions) will not be included. To capture these, scroll the page fully and re-open the popup.

5. Downloading Images

Selecting Images

Click any image card to select it (highlighted border). Click again to deselect. Use the Select All button to select every currently visible image (respecting active filters). Use Deselect All to clear the selection.

Download Folder

Downloaded images are saved to your Downloads folder. The download location cannot be changed.

Parallel Downloads

When downloading multiple images, DD Images fetches them in parallel using macOS URLSession. Each image is saved with its original filename (derived from the URL). If a filename cannot be determined, a descriptive name is generated.

After Download

Successfully downloaded image cards are visually marked with a green indicator. Selected cards are automatically deselected after a successful batch download, giving you a clean state for the next selection.

6. Filters & Sorting Reference

Filter	Description
Min Width	Hide images narrower than the specified number of pixels
Min Height	Hide images shorter than the specified number of pixels
Format	Show only selected formats: JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, SVG

Sort Option	Description
By Dimensions	Sort by pixel area (width × height), largest first
By URL	Alphabetical sort by image URL

7. Privacy & Security

Zero Data Collection

DD Images collects absolutely no data.

No analytics or tracking
No usage statistics sent to developer
No crash reports (unless manually submitted via email)
No browsing history recorded

Local Storage Only

The only data stored by DD Images is your preferences (chosen download folder, filter settings, sort order) — saved locally in browser storage on your Mac. This data never leaves your device.

Permissions Used

Active Tab: To read image references from the page you are viewing
Native Messaging: To communicate with the macOS host app for file saving
Storage (local): To persist your preferences between sessions

DD Images does not request access to all open tabs, browsing history, bookmarks, form data, or passwords.

8. Copyright Responsibility

Legal Notice — Read Before Use:

The ability to technically download an image using DD Images does NOT grant you any legal right to use, reproduce, or distribute that image. Many images on the internet are protected by copyright law. You are solely responsible for ensuring you have the legal right to download and use any image before doing so. The developer accepts no responsibility for copyright infringement or any other unlawful use of this extension.

Before downloading any image:

Check whether the image is in the public domain or licensed under a permissive license (e.g., Creative Commons)
Read the website's Terms of Service regarding image use
Obtain explicit permission from the copyright holder if needed
If in doubt — do not download

9. Troubleshooting

Extension is not scanning the page

Check that you have granted Safari permission to run DD Images on the current website. Click the extension icon in the toolbar — if Safari shows a permission prompt, grant access. Some banking or highly restricted sites may block all extensions regardless.

Images are missing from the gallery

Scroll the page fully to trigger lazy-loading, then re-open the popup to re-scan. Images inside cross-origin iframes or rendered to Canvas elements cannot be detected.

Downloads fail

Common causes:

CORS / hotlink protection: The server actively blocks direct image access — no workaround available
Expired signed URLs: CDN-served images with time-limited tokens may expire between scanning and download
Authentication required: The image requires a login session — only accessible while logged in via Safari, but download may still fail depending on the server's policy
Network issues: Check your internet connection

Extension does not work with local files (file:///)

Technical Limitation: Safari extensions cannot access pages opened via file:/// URLs. If you open a local HTML file directly in Safari, DD Images will not be able to scan it — this is a Safari security restriction, not a bug.

To use DD Images with local HTML files, serve them through a local web server and open http://localhost:8080 in Safari instead:

Python — open Terminal, navigate to the folder with your files, and run:
python3 -m http.server 8080
See Python documentation for details.
Homebrew — install additional servers such as nginx or caddy via Homebrew.

After starting the server, open http://localhost:8080 in Safari and use DD Images normally.

10. Legal Information

License

DD Images is proprietary software sold as a one-time-purchase personal license. Resale, sublicensing, or redistribution is prohibited. See the Terms of Service for full details.

No Warranty

DD Images is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. The developer makes no guarantee that the extension will work on any specific website, produce any specific result, or remain compatible with future macOS or Safari versions. Use at your own risk.

Limitation of Liability

The developer is not liable for any damages arising from the use of DD Images, including but not limited to: inability to download specific images, copyright claims resulting from your use, data loss, or any other direct, indirect, or consequential damages. Total liability is limited to the amount paid for the application.

DD Images — User Guide