How to Prove a Figma or Sketch Design Existed Before a Date

UI and product designers rarely have a design “file” in the old sense. Work lives in Figma, Sketch or Penpot, changes every hour and is often owned by someone else’s workspace. That makes it surprisingly hard to show later that a concept, a flow or a design system existed before a certain date. Here is what these tools record and how to freeze the moments that matter.

Disclosure: I’m Inna Hall, co-founder of TimeBinder, the file timestamping tool this guide uses. This page is general information, not legal advice.

What Figma and Sketch record

• Figma version history: automatic checkpoints plus named versions you save. Starter plans show 30 days; paid plans show unlimited history.
• Figma local copies: File > Save local copy exports a .fig file. It is a snapshot, dated only by your computer.
• Sketch documents: a .sketch file is a zip of JSON and image assets. Documents in a Sketch workspace also have a version history.
• Comments and handoff: comment threads and developer handoff show activity dates inside the platform.

Why that is hard to rely on

• The history belongs to the workspace owner. Freelancers and agencies often design inside the client’s team and lose access when the project ends.
• Showing it to an outsider means screenshots or asking the platform, and screenshots are easy to doubt.
• Local files carry only computer dates, which change on copy and can be edited.
• Pitches are the risky moment. Spec work and pitch decks are shown before any contract, often from a link the client can keep.

For CAD, BIM and engineering drawings, see how to prove a CAD or BIM file existed before a date.

What to freeze

• A local copy (.fig or .sketch) at each milestone you would want to point to: first concept, pitch, approved design, handoff.
• A PDF export of the key frames, readable by anyone without a design tool.
• The pitch deck or presentation file exactly as you sent or showed it.
• Design system assets such as tokens, component libraries and icon sets before you publish or sell them.

Exporting the same file again later can produce a different file, so keep the exact exports you TimeBound.

A simple routine

1. In Figma, save a named version, then Save local copy and export the key frames to PDF. In Sketch, save the document and export the same.
2. Put the files in a folder named with the client or project and the stage.
3. TimeBind them together in TimeBinder before the pitch or handoff.
4. Keep the certificate with the files, and keep a note of who you showed them to and when.

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 design work usually depends on your contract and whether you were paid. See what to do if a client used your design without paying and design file timestamping.

Plan details were checked against timebinder.io/pricing on 29 October 2026.