How to tell if a photo is edited

Quick checklist

1. Ask for the original file. Request the file straight from the camera, not a screenshot or a forwarded copy. Messaging apps and social networks strip metadata and recompress images, which destroys most evidence either way.
2. Check for a signed record. Look for Content Credentials (C2PA) or a capture app’s verification, such as a CaptureSeal QR code. A valid signature is the strongest evidence a file hasn’t changed since capture.
3. Read the metadata. Look at the capture date, camera model and editing software in the file’s EXIF data. Missing or inconsistent metadata is a reason to look closer, not proof of editing.
4. Run a reverse image search. Search the image with Google Lens, Bing Visual Search or TinEye to find earlier or uncropped versions.
5. Inspect the image itself. Zoom in on edges, shadows, reflections, text and repeating textures. Look for smudged boundaries, mismatched lighting, warped straight lines and garbled lettering.
6. Weigh the context. Compare the weather, daylight, signage and other photos from the same time and place. Ask who took it, when, and why it’s being shared.

1. Why the original file matters

Almost every check works better on the original. A screenshot, a WhatsApp forward or a social-media download has new pixels and usually no metadata, so it can neither prove nor disprove editing. If the photo matters (a deposit dispute, a claim, a news story), ask the sender for the file exactly as their camera saved it, by email, AirDrop or a file link.

2. Is there a signature or Content Credentials?

A growing number of cameras and apps sign photos when they’re taken:

• Content Credentials (C2PA) is an open standard. Google Pixel 10 phones sign every photo by default, and Samsung Galaxy S25 signs AI-edited images. You can inspect credentials with the Content Authenticity Initiative’s Verify tool at contentcredentials.org. C2PA listed 54 conforming products from 31 companies in May 2026.
• Apple Reference Image (announced September 2026) signs still photos from the iPhone 18 Pro’s main camera. It isn’t available in the EU or China at launch, and Apple hasn’t described a web verifier.
• Capture apps like CaptureSeal sign each photo and video on the phone and let anyone check it in a browser (see below).

A valid signature shows the file hasn’t changed since the signing device or app saved it. It doesn’t show the scene was real.

3. Read the metadata (EXIF)

On iPhone, open the photo in Photos and swipe up, or tap the info button. On a Mac, use Preview → Tools → Show Inspector. On Windows, right-click → Properties → Details. Look for:

• Software fields naming an editor such as Photoshop, Lightroom or Snapseed.
• Dates that don’t fit the story, or a modified date long after the original.
• Camera model and lens that don’t match the claimed device.
• GPS that places the photo somewhere else.

Metadata is easy to strip and to fake, so its absence proves nothing and its presence proves little.

4. Reverse image search

Search with Google Lens, Bing Visual Search or TinEye. Finding the same scene earlier, at a higher resolution, uncropped or with different details is strong evidence of reuse or editing. Not finding anything doesn’t mean it’s original.

5. Inspect the image

• Edges: blurred or haloed outlines around people or objects that were pasted in or removed.
• Light and shadows: shadows falling in different directions, or a subject lit differently from the scene.
• Reflections: mirrors, windows and glasses that don’t match the scene.
• Straight lines: door frames, tiles and horizons that bend near a subject, a sign of liquify or warp tools.
• Text and fine patterns: AI-generated images often garble lettering, hands, jewellery and repeating textures.
• Noise and sharpness: one region noticeably smoother or sharper than the rest.

Tools such as error level analysis can highlight areas compressed differently, but they’re easy to misread, and every re-save changes the result.

6. Check the context

Does the weather match records for that day and place? Do shop signs, cars and seasons fit the date? Is there another photo or video from the same moment? Who first shared it, and what do they gain? Many misleading photos are unedited but miscaptioned.

Proving your own photos weren’t edited: CaptureSeal

If you’re the one who needs to be believed, the most useful step happens before anyone asks: take the photo with a camera that signs it. CaptureSeal, a timestamp camera app coming soon to iPhone and Android, stamps the date, time, address and GPS coordinates into each photo and video and seals it with a key held in the phone’s secure hardware (Secure Enclave on iPhone, StrongBox/TEE on Android). Anyone can scan the QR code in the stamp, or drop the file on the verifier, to check in their browser that it matches the sealed original. An edited or re-saved copy won’t. It will be free for unlimited photos. See how it works, or get notified at launch.

What no method can prove

No check, signed or not, proves that what a photo shows is what someone claims. A real photo can show a staged scene or a screen. Use these tools to establish whether a file was altered, then judge the content on its context.