Should I timestamp flash before posting it?

Yes. Timestamp the sheet, then post.

What about the stencil I cut for the appointment?

If the stencil file differs from the approved drawing, timestamp the stencil too.

Does a healed photo need a timestamp?

Only if that photo is a file you may need to date (for example a portfolio exclusive). The drawing you sent still matters most for design timing.

Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, with no credit card required. After that, from US$5; ASAP is US$15. See plans and pricing

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Tattoo or commission art: timestamp before you send the drawing

Inna Hall

November 10, 2026

November 12, 2026

Guides

Flat illustration of a paint palette, a framed artwork and a signed licensing agreement, with a teal timestamp badge

Before you send a custom tattoo drawing, flash sheet or commission to a client, timestamp the exact file. TimeBinder^® makes a fingerprint in your browser. The file stays on your device. You get a checkable Proof of Time Certificate that shows this exact file existed no later than a recorded time. It does not show who drew it, who owns it, or that a client must pay. Free to start.

The routine: timestamp before you send the art
Commissions, deposits and portfolios
Client uses the design elsewhere
What a TimeBind shows, and what it doesn’t
Frequently Asked Questions

The routine: timestamp before you send the art

Export the drawing you will send (PNG, PDF, or Procreate export). Do not re-export after timestamping.
Optional. Check the hash with the free SHA-256 hash checker.
Timestamp the file (add references or colour variants up to 10 files). Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, with no credit card required.
Save the Proof of Time Certificate with your studio copy.
Then send the preview to the client or post the flash.
Edits after feedback are new files. Timestamp the approved version before the appointment or final delivery.

See how to timestamp a file, prove a Procreate illustration existed before a date, and timestamping for illustrators.

Commissions, deposits and portfolios

Custom work often moves from sketch to stencil to healed photo. Date the sketch you send for approval and the final linework you use. Keep deposit messages and the brief. If you post flash online, timestamp the sheet before it goes public so you can show what you posted and when. Posting alone is a weak date; see does posting online prove you made it first?.

Client uses the design elsewhere

If a client takes an unused custom drawing to another shop or prints it, your dated send file and messages help show what you delivered. A timestamp does not by itself decide ownership under your contract. Pair it with clear written terms. See client used your design without paying.

What a TimeBind shows, and what it doesn’t

A TimeBind shows that this exact file existed no later than the recorded time. It does not show authorship, ownership or copyright, and it does not stop tracing or reposting. Keep contracts and chat records. This is general information, not legal advice.

Your file’s fingerprint, anchored to a global network secured by real electricity and cryptography.

Editing a file—including with AI—changes its fingerprint, not its existing network record.

How this works

Your file’s SHA-256 fingerprint, a short code worked out from its exact contents, is made in your browser, and the file itself stays on your device. A cryptographic commitment to that fingerprint, which may be combined with others, is then anchored in a block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin is secured by proof of work: computers around the world spend real electricity to add each block, and changing an earlier block would mean redoing that work faster than the rest of the network. Until that block is confirmed, your proof is pending. Once the Bitcoin anchoring is confirmed, you can verify the proof against that recorded commitment. The confirmed record can then be checked; Pooled TimeBinds are checked through TimeBinder, while ASAP TimeBinds can also be checked independently. If you check the file later and its fingerprint still matches, that shows the file existed no later than the recorded time. The record doesn’t show who made the file, whether AI was used, or that its contents are true.

Your filestays on your device
FingerprintSHA-256
Network timestampon Bitcoin

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I timestamp flash before posting it?

Yes. Timestamp the sheet, then post.
What about the stencil I cut for the appointment?

If the stencil file differs from the approved drawing, timestamp the stencil too.
Can I timestamp a whole flash pack as a zip?

Yes. Keep that exact zip.
Does a healed photo need a timestamp?

Only if that photo is a file you may need to date (for example a portfolio exclusive). The drawing you sent still matters most for design timing.
What does it cost?

Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, with no credit card required. After that, from US$5; ASAP is US$15. See plans and pricing

More guides for designers and illustrators are grouped on the timestamping page for designers and architects.

Timestamp your next commission free

Show that this exact file existed no later than a recorded time. Files stay on your device. Get a checkable Proof of Time Certificate. Free to start. Open TimeBinder

Inna Hall

Inna Hall is an Australian lawyer admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia in 2013. She has worked across government and private legal practice and is the director of TimeBinder, focusing on document authenticity, evidentiary risk, and blockchain-based proof of existence.