Methodology

How ImageTrace works

ImageTrace turns one uploaded image into a list of where it appears online, and turns each match into evidence you can act on. Here is the whole process, start to finish.

1. You upload your work

Upload a JPG or PNG, up to 20 MB, one image or a batch. Your image is processed for the scan and removed afterwards. The only exception is monitoring: if you turn it on, we keep the image encrypted in EU storage so we can re-run the scan on your cadence, and it is removed when you cancel the watch.

2. We search the open web

ImageTrace runs a visual reverse image search across public web pages, and crucially across marketplaces, print-on-demand stores, and social feeds that general search engines often do not surface. The matching is resistant to common changes: crops, resizes, re-encoding, recolors, filters, most watermarks, and other light edits. It is looking for copies of your actual image, not just pages that happen to mention it.

3. You review each match

For every match you get the source URL, a full-page screenshot, and the date it was first seen. You decide what each one is: a licensed use, a repost with credit, or unauthorized use. We do not judge that for you, because only you know who you have licensed to.

4. You get a ready-to-send evidence report

Each match can be exported as a report containing the source URL, the screenshot, and a timestamp, together with an editable demand letter in Dutch or English. This is evidentiary material you can send yourself or hand to a lawyer. Whether it is sufficient for a specific legal proceeding is something you decide with your own lawyer.

5. Optional monitoring

Instead of a one-off scan, you can monitor an image. ImageTrace re-scans on a schedule and sends you a digest of new matches, so a portfolio stays watched without you re-running anything.

Where your images are handled

Everything runs inside the EU and operates under the GDPR. Images are removed after the scan unless you have monitoring on, in which case they are kept encrypted only for as long as the watch is active.

What we deliberately do not do

We are not a law firm and not a collection agency. We do not send takedowns, negotiate licenses, or pursue payment on your behalf, and we never take a percentage of what you recover. ImageTrace finds the matches and gives you the evidence. Every decision about what happens next stays with you.

Start with a free first scan

Start with a free first scan. No credit card, no subscription, no percentage taken later.

Have a question about the process? Get in touch.