C2PA Metadata Checker For AI Images

C2PA is an open standard for attaching a signed record of an image's history, called Content Credentials, to the file. It's backed by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, founded in 2021 by Adobe, Microsoft, the BBC, Intel, Arm and Truepic. A record can say which camera or app made the image, whether AI was used, and what edits followed.

Who adds Content Credentials

• AI tools: OpenAI's image generators, Adobe Firefly and Microsoft's Designer add them to generated images.
• Editing apps: Photoshop and Lightroom can add them, including a note when Generative Fill was used.
• Cameras and phones: some newer models from Leica, Sony, Nikon and Google's Pixel line can sign photos as they're taken.

So Content Credentials don't automatically mean AI. They mean the file has a recorded history, which you need to read.

How to check them properly

1. Download the original image file, or copy its address.
2. Upload it to Content Credentials Verify, the free checker run by the Content Authenticity Initiative.
3. Read the history: who signed it, which tools were used, and whether it says AI generated the content.
4. Check whether the signature is valid; a broken one means the file was changed after signing.

Adobe's Content Authenticity extension for Chrome can also show credentials on images as you browse.

A quick first pass in your browser

AI Image Detector (made by Patrick Bushe, who runs this site) spots when an image's metadata contains a C2PA or Content Credentials entry, alongside other AI signals such as generator names and IPTC tags. It doesn't read the full record or check the signature, and it currently counts any Content Credentials as a strong AI signal, so confirm with Content Credentials Verify before drawing a conclusion.

What C2PA can't do

Credentials are easily lost: screenshots, re-saving and most social media uploads remove them. An image without them could be anything. They're useful when present, not proof when absent.

See checking image provenance in Chrome.