Help and FAQ

You register your artwork, and we search the sources we support for pages that show an image like yours. Each possible copy is compared with your original (and with your invisible watermark) before it is shown to you as a match. You review the matches and decide what to do. We never contact anyone on your behalf.

Press Upload artwork at the top of the dashboard, choose your image and give it a title. Your original stays private. You also get a protected copy with an invisible watermark: share that one instead of the original.

A pattern woven into the protected copy that you cannot see. If a copy of that file turns up online, the watermark can link it back to your artwork. It is designed to survive everyday changes such as resizing, but how well it survives heavy editing is still being tested, so treat it as one signal among several.

Always the protected (watermarked) copy, never your original. Only the protected copy can carry your watermark.

A Standard scan is free and also runs on the schedule you choose for each artwork. You can also start one by hand; a Free account has 5 of those a month (the count resets on the 1st, and scheduled scans do not use it). A Deep scan looks further, using an additional image-search source, and uses 1 credit. Matches a deep scan recorded carry a small Deep scan tag.

Either way, every result is checked against your original before it counts as a match.

Credits pay for Deep scans: one credit per scan. During the private beta every account starts with a few free credits, given once your email address is confirmed. If a Deep scan could not run at all (for example the search service was unavailable), the credit is returned automatically. If you run out, contact us.

Each artwork has its own monitoring settings: you choose the frequency (Free accounts: weekly or monthly) and the similarity level at which a result is worth flagging. You can also run a scan yourself (within your monthly allowance of hand-started Standard scans). To save resources, automatic scans of a Free account pause after 60 days without opening the app, and resume as soon as you sign in again.

We can only look where our sources can see. A copy on a page that no search engine has indexed cannot be found, and a result whose page does not actually show your image is left out on purpose. No match is encouraging, but it is not proof that no copy exists. A Deep scan sometimes finds what a Standard scan missed.

Search sources return different results from day to day, and the web itself changes. That is why monitoring repeats the scan on a schedule.

Each card shows your artwork next to what was found, how similar they are, and how sure we are:

• Watermark verified: the invisible watermark in your protected copy was found in this image. The strongest signal.
• Strong visual match: the images match closely in both overall look and detail.
• Possible visual match and Limited visual similarity: similar, but not conclusive. Compare by eye.

The card also says what kind of page it is (an item page, a general web page, a search or category page, or just an image). The same picture found on several pages is shown as one card with the other pages listed under it.

Not by itself. Matches are technical signals for you to review. They are not legal proof of copying, and they do not by themselves establish ownership or infringement.

• Review: you are looking into it. Afterwards press Mark reviewed to move it to the Confirmed tab.
• Ignore: not a problem, for example your own listing. It moves to the Ignored tab.
• Archive: keep a record but take it out of your to-do list.
• Delete: remove the match entirely. You can select several cards and delete them together.

They tell us whether a result was right. Your answers help us see where the checker is wrong and improve it. They do not change the match itself.

Some plans show that a match exists and how strong it is, but not which page it was found on. The page address is shown on plans that include sources.

Report it directly to the marketplace or website concerned; each has its own copyright or intellectual-property process. TraceMyAssets does not send notices or contact anyone for you. Keep the match card and the comparison as a record.

On plans that show where a match was found, open What can I do about this? at the bottom of a match card for a short step-by-step guide and three letters you can copy: a polite message to the poster, a report to the platform, and a notice to the website's host. Fill in the brackets and send only what is true. They are starting points, not legal advice.

If you spot something suspicious, upload that image on the Check an Image page and see how it compares with your registered artwork, including whether your watermark is in it.

On the sign-in screen choose “Forgot password” and enter your email. We send a one-time link that works for an hour. Resetting your password also signs you out everywhere else.

Yes: choose “Continue with Google” on the sign-in screen. If you already have an account with the same email address, it is the same account.

Open the account menu (the round button with your initial at the top right) and choose Sign out of all devices. Do this if you used a shared computer or lost a device.

Only you. Originals are never public, and matches are visible only to your account. For how data is handled in detail, read the Privacy page.

Use Delete on the artwork in your dashboard: it permanently removes the artwork, its files, scans and matches. To delete your whole account, open the menu at the top right, choose Account and data and use Delete my account permanently. Your artworks, files, scan history, matches, credits and feedback are removed straight away. On the same page you can first download a ZIP with a copy of all your data.

Email alerts are on the way. Until then, the bell at the top of the page and the Matches page show anything new.