How to Copy Text From Copy-Protected Web Pages

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Awesome Tips about Chrome Series

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The Problem

Sometimes we want to copy some text/code from a website, but find out that it disables copy text or even completely disables right click, right context menu. It’s annoying, but we can fix it easily.

Using Proxy Sites

• hidester
  • javascript is disabled by default.
• hideme

Specific Chrome Extensions

We can use the following Specific Chrome extensions to make us able to copy text.

• Simple Allow Copy
• Quick Javascript Switcher
• Related: Enable Right Click

Reader View Chrome Extensions

If we don’t want to install the above specific Chrome extensions, then we can use the more general reader view chrome extension which can also make us able to copy text.

Read here for more must-have google chrome extensions

Reader View

• This opens the page in chrome-extension:// and we have to wait until (at least) the main content of the page is loaded.
• The greatest thing is it reduces the memory usage a LOT for pages that load a lot of flashes, ads.
  • e.g. reduces this page from around 450+ mb to 87mb.
• This also works well together with The Great Suspender: the page in reader view will not be suspended as it runs in extension mode.
• Assign shortcut Ctrl+Shift+R to Toggle the Reader View
• Print and save the reader mode version, show or hide image.
• Able to change the speed of text-to-speech
• The Cron is it doesn’t work with other extensions, e.g., Chrome Vimium
  • as It opens the page in chrome-extension.

Tips

• Before Ctrl+Shift+R to enter reader view:
  • Copy the url Ctrl+l then Ctrl+c or yy from Chrome Vimium
  • Cmd+down to scroll to the end of page first to make sure the page load completes.
• It adds the page url to the first line from there we can copy the page url

Just Read

• Able to change theme(dark or light), width, font size and save the config.
• Assign Ctrl+Shift+L to Open the Just Read format for the current page
• Assign Ctrl+Shift+K to Enable user text selection mode using Just Read, then choose which part you want to select then enter (it will automatically try best to choose), it will show the section in read mode.
• When it doesn’t work(e.g. in quip), use View this selection in Just Read.
• Works with Chrome Vimium

Clearly

• Assign shortcut Ctrl+Shift+C to Toggle Clearly
• Make not easy to copy text easier to copy
• Support outline, different themes, fullscreen, text-to-voice
• Cron: Can’t change the width
• Distill Page from Chrome
• the result is not that good, and hard to run the command.

Mercury Reader

• can’t change width

Summary

• Use Reader View when the page(website) is slow: load lots of ads, flash, uses a lot of memory and you will take time(2+ mins) to read it.
• Use Just Read in other case.
• Use Clearly to check the outline.