Keep three things for every project: unchanged original files for generated candidates, a record linking the chosen deliverable to its source candidates, and a separate log explaining the selection and edits. Where your tools support C2PA Content Credentials, retain and inspect them too—but treat them as provenance evidence, not a complete editorial history. Credentials may record a tool and actions without recording your prompt, candidate comparisons, or reason for choosing one version.
What to preserve for each generated asset
Start by separating the files and records that answer different questions. An original helps you establish what you received from a generator; provenance information can describe a file’s relationship to prior assets and recorded actions; a project log captures choices and context that the file may not contain.
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- Original candidate: Keep the downloaded or exported file unchanged, along with its original filename and a stable asset ID. Save it before opening and resaving it in an editor.
- Selected deliverable: Identify the version approved for use and link it to the candidate or candidates from which it came.
- Decision and edit record: Log who selected the version, why it was chosen, and what meaningful edits or combinations followed.
- Content Credentials, if supported: Preserve the delivered file and inspect its credential. A screenshot of a credentials panel can provide context, but does not replace the file and its manifest.
For a project where alternatives matter—for example, an approval or audit process—retain the entire candidate set. Keeping only the winner makes it harder to reconstruct what was compared.
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Use a project log for prompts, choices, and edits
A provenance standard or product may record some file history, but there is no universal selection-log format established by the sources discussed here. The fields below are a practical editorial record, not C2PA requirements. Record only information your policy permits, especially for prompts or briefs that may contain confidential material.
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| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Asset ID | A stable identifier for the candidate or deliverable. |
| Original location | Repository path or other location of the unchanged original, plus its original filename. |
| Creation date and time | Record them if known; do not imply precision the available record does not support. |
| Generator and model | The tool and model or version shown by the product, when available. |
| Prompt or brief | Include it when policy permits and it is useful to preserve. |
| Status and decision | Mark the candidate selected or not selected, and identify the decision maker. |
| Selection rationale | Write a concise reason for the choice, such as fit with the brief or a required visual detail. |
| Derivatives and relationships | Link edited or combined deliverables to their parent candidate IDs and note the sequence of meaningful edits. |
This log is where to preserve the reasoning behind a choice unless your specific product explicitly records it. Do not assume that a credential includes the prompt, all candidates, or why one was preferred.
What C2PA Content Credentials can tell you
The C2PA 2.4 specification describes provenance using assertions, a claim, a signature, and content bindings. It also models assets derived from existing assets and composed from parts of one or more assets. A binding connects provenance information to content; the standard includes hard cryptographic hashes and softer bindings such as fingerprints or invisible watermarks. These mechanisms do not, by themselves, prove that every claim is complete or that editorial decisions were recorded. Read the C2PA 2.4 specification.
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Whether relationships between source assets and a derivative are actually written and preserved depends on the product and file path. A standard’s support for a relationship is not a guarantee that every application or export will retain it.
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Adobe’s Firefly documentation, updated August 25, 2026, says Content Credentials are automatically applied to assets when 100% of the pixels are generated with Firefly, with Text to Image given as an example. Adobe says automatically included information can include the issuer, issue date, app or device, AI tool, and general actions. Other details are not included unless the user opts to add them through supported Content Credentials features. Adobe says credentials are attached to files and may also be stored in its public credentials cloud; Inspect provides recovery tools, not a gallery or search service. See Adobe’s Firefly Content Credentials overview.
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Adobe’s Creative Studio documentation, also updated August 25, 2026, describes a particular workflow in which generated or generative-AI-edited content receives C2PA metadata and its provenance chain is preserved when an image is downloaded or sent to be served in an ad. The page says that metadata can include the AI system and version, model, whether the asset was generated or edited, date and time, and a unique identifier. This describes that product workflow; it does not establish behavior for other tools, export routes, or platforms.
Verify the file you actually deliver
- Retain the original first. Save the generated candidate in its original downloaded or exported form before editing or resaving it.
- Connect versions in the log. Give candidates stable IDs and record which one became the deliverable. For an edit or composite, record parent candidate IDs and meaningful changes.
- Inspect the delivered file. Use a suitable provenance inspector on the actual file being handed off, then compare it with the retained original. A credentials screenshot is supporting context, not a substitute for either.
- Record what inspection found. If no credential is detected, write “no supported credential detected in this copy.” Do not turn that result into a claim that the file is human-made or that AI was not used.
- Check attribution carefully. When attribution matters, inspect the issuer and validation state and corroborate them with project records.
OpenAI’s provenance guidance recommends verifying the original file where possible. Compression, cropping, screenshots, metadata removal, and format conversion can erase or weaken provenance signals. A detected result is evidence of a particular supported signal, not a complete history; a result with no detected signal is absence of detected evidence, not proof of human creation or non-use of OpenAI. A verification result also does not establish a prompt, account, or individual creator. Read OpenAI’s content provenance guide.
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Keep the two records distinct
Use Content Credentials for whatever provenance details the actual tool records and preserves. Use the project log for the candidate set, permitted prompt or brief, selection rationale, and any other editorial context not explicitly captured. At handoff, keep the unchanged original, the final delivered file, and the log connected by stable IDs. That combination gives reviewers a clearer account of what was generated, what changed, and why the team chose the final version than any one file or credential alone.
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