Artwork is harder than photos — here's why
Photo detectors lean on camera traits: sensor noise, lens blur, natural lighting. Paintings and digital illustrations have none of those even when a human made them, so a model trained mostly on photos can misfire on art. That's why this page puts extra weight on the file's own evidence — and why you should treat the pattern model as one input, never a ruling, for artwork.
What counts as evidence for art
| Evidence | What it tells you | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Content Credentials saying generative AI | The tool that made it declared it — e.g. Adobe Firefly, OpenAI, many others sign their output | Strong |
| Credentials showing a painting app and edit history | Supports human creation, especially with a long list of edits | Strong for the recorded steps |
| Metadata naming Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI… | Generator left its name in the file | Strong hint (editable) |
| Pattern model score | Statistical resemblance to generated images | Weak on its own for art |
| Process files (layers, sketches, timelapse) | The artist can show the work in progress | Strongest of all |
If you run a contest or take commissions
- Ask for the original file, not a screenshot or a social repost. Originals keep Content Credentials and metadata.
- Run it here. AI credentials or a generator name in the metadata end the conversation quickly.
- If it's unclear, ask for process:a layered file, early sketches or a timelapse. Real artists usually have these; generated pieces don't.
- Write the rule down in advance.“AI-assisted” covers a lot — upscaling, generative fill, reference images. Decide which uses you allow before entries arrive.
If you're an artist accused of using AI
False accusations happen, and a single detector score is not proof. Your best defence is the same evidence list in reverse: keep your layered files, export with Content Credentials if your app supports it (Photoshop and other Adobe apps do), and save timelapses. A Pro PDF reportrecords what was checked and the file's SHA-256 fingerprint, which helps show the file you submitted is the file that was examined.
Buying prints or digital art
Marketplaces are full of generated images sold as hand-made. Check the listing image, look at the seller's other work for a consistent hand, and be wary of shops that add dozens of polished pieces a day. For the visual tell-tales, see is this image AI?
Related: AI image detector · image metadata viewer