If you’re falsely accused of using AI art, don’t rely on an AI detector to clear your name. Detectors disagree and get real art wrong. Instead, show your process: two or three messy work-in-progress stages, a screenshot of your named layers, your sketch and references, and a short timelapse if your app records one. Share crops and recordings, not your full source file. If the claim comes from a client or a competition, send them a short, dated summary. For future pieces, timestamp the sketch, a mid-stage and the final file with TimeBinder before you post. Each timestamp shows that exact file existed no later than a recorded time. It doesn’t show who drew it or whether AI was used, but a dated trail of stages is hard to fake afterwards.
Disclosure: I’m Inna Hall, co-founder of TimeBinder, the file timestamping tool mentioned in this guide. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Table of Contents
- The first 24 hours
- Process evidence that helps
- What to post when you’re falsely accused of using AI art
- Why detector screenshots backfire
- Content Credentials and timestamps
- How the options compare
- If it’s a client or a competition
- A habit for next time
- Which plan fits
- What a timestamp does and doesn’t do
- FAQ
The first 24 hours
- Don’t argue in the comments. It rarely changes minds and can be screenshotted out of context.
- Gather your files first. The source file, earlier saves, sketches, reference images, your timelapse and any posts where you shared progress.
- Don’t re-save or edit the originals. Copy them into a folder and work from the copies.
- Write down dates you remember: when you started, when you shared progress, when you posted.
Process evidence that helps
- Layered files. A PSD or .procreate file with named layers, flats, line art and shading passes shows how the piece was built. See proving a Procreate illustration existed before a date and proving a Photoshop file existed before a date.
- Sketch stages. Thumbnails, rough sketches and abandoned versions are hard to invent after the fact.
- Timelapse. Procreate and many other apps can record one. Even a short clip helps.
- References and studies. Photo references, colour studies and practice pieces in the same style.
- Your earlier work. A body of work in the same style, posted over months or years, gives context.
What to post when you’re falsely accused of using AI art
Keep it short and calm. One post with three to five images usually does more than a long thread:
- A rough sketch or thumbnail.
- A mid-stage with flats or line art.
- A screenshot of the layers panel with sensible layer names.
- A 15 to 30 second clip of your timelapse.
- One sentence: “Here’s my process for this piece. Happy to answer questions.”
Share crops, screenshots and recordings rather than your full-resolution source file, which could be reused by someone else.
Why detector screenshots backfire
AI image detectors are unreliable on real artwork, especially clean digital styles, and different tools disagree. Posting a “99% human” screenshot invites someone to post a different tool saying the opposite. Process images are much harder to argue with.
Content Credentials and timestamps
Content Credentials (the C2PA standard) can attach a signed record of how an image was made and edited, if your app supports it and the platform keeps it. A timestamp does something narrower: it records that an exact file existed no later than a time. They can work together. See Content Credentials vs a timestamp.
How the options compare
| Timelapse recording | Layered source file | Content Credentials (C2PA) | Timestamped stages (TimeBind) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shows the process | Yes | Yes | Partly (edit history, if supported) | Indirectly (a dated series of files) |
| Independent date | No | No (file dates can be changed) | Depends on the signer | Yes, no later than the recorded time |
| Easy for the public to understand | Very | Moderately | Not yet widely | Moderately (certificate) |
| Shows who made it | No | No | Shows the signer’s claim | No |
| Best for | Social replies | Clients, judges | Platforms that read C2PA | Records made before any dispute |
If it’s a client or a competition
Ask what they need to see and send it privately: a one-page timeline, stage images, a layers screenshot, your timelapse, and an offer to share the source file with them directly or on a call. If you have TimeBinder certificates for any stage, include them and explain plainly what they show. Ask the organiser how they decide, and keep your messages polite and factual.
A habit for next time
- When the sketch is done, export it and save a copy of the working file.
- At a mid-stage, do the same.
- Before you post, export the final and save the layered file.
- Open TimeBinder and TimeBind each stage. Your files are hashed on your device (the app works out a fingerprint of each file) and never uploaded.
- Keep the certificates with the frozen copies, and carry on working in a new file.
Which plan fits
The Free plan is $0 and gives you 1 Token a month. A Pooled TimeBind costs 1 Token, covers up to 10 files and 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. Checking a file is always free, and no credit card is needed for the Free plan.
If you TimeBind more often, Essential is US$20 a month for 5 Tokens ($4 per Token, against $5 pay-as-you-go) and Expert is US$50 a month for 15 Tokens (about $3.33 per Token). A paid plan replaces the Free plan’s monthly Token, so Essential gives you 5 Tokens a month in total, not 6, and Expert gives you 15. See pricing.
What a timestamp does and doesn’t do
TimeBinder anchors each file’s SHA-256 fingerprint to the Bitcoin blockchain 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 time, and any later change to the file is detectable. Your file is hashed in your browser and never uploaded. ASAP TimeBinds can be checked independently from the certificate and the Bitcoin blockchain; Pooled TimeBinds are verified through TimeBinder.
It doesn’t show who created the file, whether its contents are true, or whether AI was used to make it, and it can’t tell you how a court or anyone else will treat it. It also doesn’t cover versions you didn’t TimeBind. Pooled TimeBinds are verified through TimeBinder; ASAP TimeBinds can also be verified independently from the certificate and the Bitcoin blockchain. See also creative work verification for artists and why a file’s date created proves little. If you need to save posts or comments as evidence, see screenshot timestamping.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I prove my art isn’t AI?
You can’t prove a negative. What you can show is your process: sketch stages, named layers, references and a timelapse, plus any dated records you made before the accusation.
Should I share my PSD or Procreate file?
Usually not the full file. Share screenshots of the layers panel, small crops and a short recording instead, and keep the source file private. If a client or competition needs to inspect it, send it to them directly.
Does a timelapse help?
Yes, it is one of the most persuasive things for the public. But it’s a recording you made yourself, so dated, independent records of your files make it stronger.
Can a timestamp show I drew it?
No. A timestamp shows that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time. It doesn’t show who made it or how. A dated series of stages is what helps.
What if the accusation came from a competition?
Ask what their process is and what they need to see, then send a short evidence pack: a timeline, stage images, a layers screenshot and your timelapse. Keep your reply factual.
Should I reply to the accusation in the comments?
Usually not straight away. A calm post with a few process images, made once you’ve gathered your files, tends to land better than arguing in the replies.
Plan details were checked against timebinder.io/pricing on 30 October 2026.
