Why Lumethic
Verification based on the camera's own data
Most tools that judge whether an image is real read the finished picture and estimate the odds. Lumethic works from the RAW file the camera recorded and compares it against the published photo, so the answer rests on the sensor data the camera captured.
© meine-foto-welt.deThe core idea
Physical evidence against statistical guessing
The two approaches sound similar but work in opposite ways, and the difference decides how much you can rely on the result.
Lumethic checks physical evidence
A camera sensor leaves traces that a generated image does not have, including noise patterns specific to the sensor and the interpolation a colour filter array produces. Lumethic looks for these in the RAW file and compares them with the published photo. The result follows from the data, so the same inputs give the same answer.
Detectors estimate from pixels
An AI detector studies the finished image and reports how likely it is to be generated. It has no access to the original sensor data, so it works from statistics that generators keep learning to imitate. The result is a probability that shifts as models improve, and it flags genuine photos when they have been heavily processed.
What the check covers
The comparisons behind every result
Verification runs a set of independent checks against the RAW file and the export. They fall into four groups, each looking at a different way a photograph can fail to be a genuine, unaltered capture.
Sensor authenticity
The noise profile and sensor characteristics are checked against the stated camera and settings. These are traces a generated image does not carry.
Visual consistency
The export is compared with a reference built from the RAW. Normal edits pass, while added, removed, or swapped content does not.
Recapture detection
The system looks for the patterns left when an image on a screen is rephotographed, a route used to fake a real capture.
Metadata validation
Embedded data such as timestamps and camera details is reviewed for internal consistency rather than taken at face value.
How it relates to other methods
Where Lumethic sits next to the alternatives
Several other methods aim to establish trust in an image, and they solve different parts of the problem. Here is how Lumethic relates to each.
Capture-time signing
Some systems record authenticity at the moment of capture through a controlled app or signing hardware, an approach taken by tools such as Truepic. It is strong at the source but needs a specific app or new camera, so it does not reach existing equipment or older photos. Lumethic verifies after capture from the RAW file an ordinary camera already records, which covers that larger body of work.
Signature infrastructure
Services that sign and timestamp files, such as CertNode, prove a file has not changed since signing. They do not inspect the image, so they sign a generated picture as readily as a real one. Lumethic adds the missing step by checking the photo against its RAW source before it signs.
AI detectors
Detectors estimate from pixel statistics how likely an image is to be generated. They lose ground as generators improve and flag real photos that have been heavily processed. Lumethic compares against the camera original instead, so its result does not depend on spotting a generator's artefacts.
Watermarking at the generator
Watermarks like Google SynthID mark content that cooperating AI models produce, which helps label known synthetic output. A missing watermark does not prove a photo is real, since it could come from a model that does not participate. Lumethic approaches that side directly, by checking a photograph against its camera original.
Verify, then sign
The credential reflects a checked image
A C2PA credential records that a file has not changed since it was signed. On its own it says nothing about whether the original was a real photograph, because a tool that signs whatever it receives will sign a synthetic image just as readily.
Lumethic runs its checks first and signs only when they pass. The credential therefore stands for an image that was checked against its source. It is attested by Lumethic, and the report behind it shows what was checked.
Read about verify then sign
© meine-foto-welt.deWhat the result does not say
A passing result covers the capture
A passing result says the exported photo is consistent with the RAW file the camera recorded, within stated thresholds, and that the file has not changed since it was signed. It says nothing about whether the scene in front of the camera was real or correctly described. It does not decide whether a photograph is admissible anywhere.
When the evidence cannot support a finding either way, the result is unrated. Only a flagged result asserts tampering. The report lists the scores and thresholds, so anyone relying on it can read what was established.
Read what a Lumethic record containsYour files stay yours
Verification without keeping your originals
Processing runs on infrastructure in the EU. Your files are used for the verification you asked for and for nothing else, and the receipt and report you receive verify on their own, without an account and without Lumethic.
Read about data handlingSee the difference for yourself
Run a photo through the check and read what the credential records.