Frequently Asked Questions

An invisible watermark is a mark hidden inside the image or video itself. You can't see it, but our checker can read it and show who marked the file — even after the file has been edited, compressed or re-uploaded. Unlike a visible logo, there's nothing to crop out or blur.

We make tiny changes across the whole picture — far too small to see — that together spell out a code linked to your account. Because the mark is inside the picture, not in the file details or a corner logo, it travels with your content through screenshots, re-uploads and most edits. Our checker reads the code back and looks up who it belongs to.

No. The changes are far too small to see. On our How It Works page you can compare the original and the watermarked version side by side, and switch on a view that exaggerates where the mark sits.

File details — camera info, captions, or Content Credentials (C2PA, a signed label stored with the file) — sit alongside the picture, and most social apps delete them on upload. A watermark is inside the picture itself, so it stays. File details help when everyone plays fair; a watermark helps when they don't.

Yes — surviving screenshots and screen recordings is one of the main things it's built for. Because the mark is spread across the whole picture, a screenshot carries it along. Our public test results show how often we still find the mark after screenshots, re-compression and other changes.

AI editing weakens any watermark, and heavy AI regeneration can destroy one — no company can honestly promise otherwise. Our mark is built to survive everyday AI edits: upscaling, relighting, enhancement and repainting part of the picture. In our published tests it was still found after AI upscaling and after up to about half of the image was repainted. Redrawing an image completely from scratch is the hardest case, which is why we also match copies by how they look, without relying on the mark at all.

The mark is repeated across the whole picture, so crops, platform compression and re-uploads usually leave enough of it to find. Extreme combinations — a tiny crop of a heavily AI-edited image — make it harder. Our test results page shows exactly how it holds up, change by change, so you don't have to take our word for it.

Yes. The mark is in every frame, so it survives trimming, re-uploading and platform re-compression. We also catch common ways video gets stolen: cropping to vertical, shrinking your video into a corner of someone else's, and side-by-side reaction videos.

Content Credentials (C2PA) attach a signed label to the file — useful when apps keep it, but most social platforms delete it today. An invisible watermark is the backup the C2PA standard itself recommends: it stays inside the picture, so the content can still be identified after the label is gone. The two work together; they don't compete.

Google SynthID marks images and video made by AI, so people can tell they were AI-generated. It started with Google's own tools, and since May 2026 OpenAI adds it to images made with ChatGPT too — so it's becoming a common label for AI-made media. It only marks content an AI produced. HALLMARK.AI marks your own original photos and videos, so you can prove they're yours and find where they end up. Similar technology, opposite purpose: SynthID says 'an AI made this'; HALLMARK.AI says 'this is yours.'

No — and be skeptical of anyone who claims it can. A watermark doesn't prevent scraping or training. What it gives you is detection and evidence: if your marked content resurfaces — reposted, edited, or AI-modified — you can prove it started as yours and act on it.

Document first, act second. Save the URL, take screenshots with timestamps, and capture the account name. If the copy carries your watermark or matches your original, that is your ownership evidence. From there the usual path is: a takedown request on the platform (all major platforms have copyright forms), a DMCA notice to the site's host, or a direct license conversation if it's a brand using creator content commercially.

A recovered watermark is strong evidence the file came from you — evidence a platform reviewer or a lawyer can check for themselves. It doesn't replace registering your copyright (which unlocks bigger damages in the US), but it makes takedown requests and licensing claims much stronger. This is general information, not legal advice.

Use the checker — upload any image or video and it tells you whether the file carries a HALLMARK.AI mark, and whose. It's free with an account, and your file is never stored.

Article 50 of the EU AI Act requires companies that make AI tools to label AI-generated content in a way software can detect, starting August 2, 2026. Korea's AI Basic Act, in force since January 2026, has a similar rule. These laws target AI companies rather than individual creators — but they're making invisible marks on content a normal part of the internet.

Watermarking (MARK) is free, forever. TRACK — continuous monitoring that scans for your content across platforms and alerts you with evidence — is $29/month. There's a 14-day money-back guarantee on initial purchases.

Your files are processed and then discarded — what we keep is a record that you marked the file, not the file itself. We never use your content to train AI. Details are in the privacy policy.