If someone says your artwork, composite or retouch came after theirs, the layered Photoshop file is often your best witness: it shows how the image was built. The question is whether anyone else can trust when that file existed. Here is what a PSD records about its own dates, where that falls short, and what to freeze.
Short answer: A PSD’s internal dates come from your own computer and Photoshop, so they are easy to change. To show artwork existed before a date, save the layered PSD and timestamp it with TimeBinder before you post or send the finished image. A TimeBind shows that the exact file existed no later than the recorded time and still matches its fingerprint. It doesn’t show who made it or what a court will make of it.
Disclosure: I’m Inna Hall, co-founder of TimeBinder, the file timestamping tool this guide uses. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Table of Contents
Where a PSD keeps its dates
- XMP metadata. Photoshop stores a create date, a modify date and a metadata date inside the file. You can see them under File > File Info.
- Save history. The XMP history usually lists save and conversion events with times, and a document ID that stays the same across versions of the same document.
- Document ancestors. When you place or paste other Photoshop documents, their document IDs can be listed in the new file. That can help show which earlier files a composite drew on.
- The optional History Log. In Photoshop’s preferences you can turn on a History Log that records sessions or each edit into the file’s metadata or a text file.
- Cloud document versions. If you save as a Creative Cloud document, Adobe keeps a version history for a limited time.
Why those dates are easy to challenge
All of the in-file dates are written by Photoshop using your computer’s clock, and metadata editors can rewrite them. The other side only has to say “those dates were typed in” for them to lose most of their weight. Cloud versions belong to an Adobe account and expire. The layered file is valuable because it shows process, but its timing needs an outside record.
What to freeze
- The layered master (PSD or PSB) at each milestone: first comp, the version you send for approval, the final.
- The flattened export you actually send (JPG, PNG or PDF). This is the file a client or publisher will have, so its fingerprint is the easiest to match.
- Source material: your own photos, scans and sketches that went into the composite. If you shot them, see how to date RAW photos.
- Linked smart objects. Use File > Package to collect linked files and fonts into one folder, zip it once, and TimeBind the zip.
A simple routine
- At a milestone, use Save a Copy so the working file stays separate from the frozen one.
- Put the copy and its flattened export in a folder named with the project and stage.
- Open TimeBinder and TimeBind both files together (one Pooled TimeBind covers up to 10 files).
- Save the Proof of Time Certificate in the same folder and never re-save the frozen files. Any later save changes the fingerprint.
Which plan fits
The free plan gives you 1 Token a month, which is one Pooled TimeBind of up to 10 files. No credit card is required for the free plan. A Pooled TimeBind is usually recorded within 24 to 48 hours, and often sooner, depending on Bitcoin network activity; an ASAP TimeBind costs 3 Tokens and gets its own Bitcoin transaction straight away.
For more milestones, Essential is US$20 a month for 5 Tokens (5 Pooled, or 1 ASAP plus 2 Pooled). Expert is US$50 a month for 15 Tokens (15 Pooled or 5 ASAP), and unused Tokens roll over. Verification is free. See pricing.
What a timestamp does and doesn’t do
TimeBinder anchors each file’s SHA-256 fingerprint to Bitcoin and gives you a Proof of Time Certificate. That is verifiable evidence of when a file existed: it shows the file existed no later than the anchor date, and any later change to the file is detectable. An ASAP TimeBind can be checked directly on the Bitcoin blockchain without relying on TimeBinder; a Pooled TimeBind is verified through TimeBinder. Your file is hashed in your browser and never uploaded.
It doesn’t show who made the work or who owns it, it doesn’t stop copying, and it doesn’t cover a version you didn’t timestamp. Who owns commissioned artwork usually depends on your contract. See protecting your design before sending it to a client and design file timestamping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a PSD file record when it was created?
Usually, yes. Photoshop writes XMP metadata into the file, including a create date, a modify date and often a history of save events. These come from your computer’s clock and can be edited, so they are useful context rather than independent evidence.
Will re-saving a PSD change its timestamp match?
Yes. Saving again rewrites metadata even if you change nothing you can see, so the file’s fingerprint changes. Keep the exact file you TimeBound and work on a copy.
What about linked smart objects?
Linked files live outside the PSD. Use Photoshop’s Package command to collect them into one folder, then zip that folder once and TimeBind the zip.
My PSB is over 4 GB. Is that a problem?
No. The file is hashed in your browser and nothing is uploaded, so large files only take longer to hash.
Plan details were checked against timebinder.io/pricing on 29 October 2026.
