How to check whether your artwork was reposted without permission

• Have your original file and a web-sized copy of it ready.
• Write down where and when you first published the work (your shop, portfolio or post, with the date). Dates help later if you have to show that it was yours first.
• Note the words you used: the title, the tags, your shop or artist name, and any caption.

Reverse image search tools such as Google Lens, Bing visual search and TinEye take a picture and look for pages that show it. Each one uses its own collection of the web, so they return different pages. Use at least two, and repeat the search in these ways:

• With the whole image.
• With a smaller version of it, in case the copy online is a reduced one.
• With a cropped detail (a face, a corner, a distinctive shape), in case the copy was cropped.

None of these tools promises to find every copy. A page that was never indexed, or that is not public, cannot be found by any of them.

Some copies are easier to find by their text than by their image. Search for the exact title, a distinctive phrase from your caption, and your artist or shop name together with words like “print”, “poster” or “download”. If you sell on a marketplace, also search that marketplace for your title and tags.

Not every match is a problem. For each page, ask:

• Is it really your work, or only something similar?
• Is it your own listing, a licensed use, or a repost that credits you and that you are happy with?
• Is someone selling it, or is it shown on a personal page or a social post?
• When did it appear compared with your first publication?

A match is a possible match, never proof. You review it and decide what, if anything, to do.

• The page address.
• A screenshot that shows the page, the address and the date.
• Your original file and the date you first published it.
• A short note of what you found and when.

Do not contact anyone yet. First decide what you want, and look up how the site or marketplace handles reports of unlicensed use: each one has its own process.

It is encouraging, but it is not proof that no copy exists. Search tools only see public web pages that a search engine has indexed. Private groups, closed apps and some social networks are out of reach, and an edited or heavily cropped copy may not be matched to your image. Repeat the check from time to time, because the web changes.

The manual check works, but it has to be repeated by hand. TraceMyAssets runs the search for you on a schedule you choose, using two different sources, compares each result with your original by how it looks and by your invisible watermark, and emails you a count and a link when a scheduled scan finds something new. You see both images side by side and decide what to do; we never contact anyone for you. It has the same limits as above: public, indexed pages only, and a match is a possible match.

Read what the invisible watermark can and cannot do in what an invisible watermark survives, and see the plans.

Is a reverse image search free? Each tool has its own terms, limits and prices, and they change, so check them when you use one.

Will it always find my copies? No. It finds pages that are public and indexed, and it can miss changed or cropped copies.

Does a match mean someone copied my work without permission? Not by itself. It is a lead for you to review, not legal proof.