IPFN — International Pinned File Number
Instant verification.
IPFN connects your name to your work through an identifier that resolves web-wide. Anyone can open it to find the creator and check a file against the registered original.
Public lookup. No account required. Open the record to inspect what was registered and what can be checked.
Document authorship. Identify the source.
Open the interactive demonstration ›Read the IPFN white paperIPFN's instantly verify creative works anywhere on the internet:
The attribution gap
How do you keep your name attached to your work?
Copyright belongs to the creator without registration. But finding the person behind an image is still harder than it should be. A file can lose its caption, its metadata, and its connection to the person who made it.
IPFN gives the work a name you can open on the web. That address connects the image to its registered claimant, its file fingerprint, and a certificate with evidence others can inspect. The artist can share that address wherever the work appears.
With Blinding Visuals Press, IPFN is developing image-similarity research to help find possible copying. That research is separate from exact-file verification; it does not yet offer a validated plagiarism-detection service.
Follow one real photograph to its blockchain receipt The European proposal, technical paper, and live evidenceWhat is an IPFN?
A public, verifiable address for creative work.
An International Pinned File Number identifies a registered claim about a work. The record exposes the claimant, available file fingerprint and completed pin or ledger receipts. It does not independently establish copyright ownership or the truth of the claim.
Inspect the same image at four times its displayed size.
A wooden ladder climbs between pale, eroded banks. Y(our) National Parks, printed page 240.
Read more
Tags
- Y(our) National Parks
- Printed page 240
- National Parks
Creator-supplied labels do not verify AI use or Content Credentials.
These are registration details. Camera fields may be imported from the original or edited by the creator; they are not verified assertions.
Content Credentials (C2PA)
Not inspected
Keeping identical original bytes can preserve embedded Content Credentials. This registration does not inspect, validate or issue C2PA credentials.
About originals and Content CredentialsCheck the file, not just the picture.
SHA-256 identifies the exact file bytes. Two images can look identical and have different fingerprints.
Registered SHA-256 fingerprint
85c08ce5dbc4a396050d016cf4906416d406326d2bd3a78edee4f3b6dd458f05
Checked on your device; the file is not uploaded. Up to 32 MB. A downloaded preview may differ from the registered original. A match identifies the file; it does not decide who created it.
Built for artists and authors — provenance for the new internet.
Books too — the ISBN names the edition, the IPFN certifies the work
The record, explained
Five questions. One place to start.
An IPFN is an International Pinned File Number. It opens a public record about a work. These five questions explain what to look for in that record.
IPFN
A work and its recorded claim
- WHO
Who is making the claim?
The named author and the registration authority. A recorded name is a claim to examine, not an identity investigation.
- WHAT
What work is on record?
Its title, type and available file fingerprint. An image file and a book metadata record are different things.
- WHERE
Where can I find the source?
The public record, linked author or publication, and any pinned manifest. A missing source link stays missing.
- WHEN
When was it recorded?
Registration and completed anchor dates. A declared creation or publication date is not a blockchain timestamp.
- HOW
How can I check it?
Compare the exact file or ledger hash with the published evidence. Open the receipt rather than trusting a badge.
Different verbs. Different steps.
Finding a number is a lookup. Pinning is not anchoring. Checking record integrity is not deciding who owns the work.
01
REGISTER
An authority records the claim and assigns an IPFN.
Registered
02
PIN
The manifest is stored on IPFS and has a content identifier, or CID.
Pinned
03
ANCHOR
A daily ledger commitment has a completed Base transaction receipt.
Anchored
04
VERIFY
A reader compares the available fingerprints, ledger entry and receipt.
Checked against evidence
Read the number and check the evidence
<TYPE>-<IDENTIFIER>.3pfn.xyz is the address convention. LENS and ART are image registration types; BKS and MAG are publication types. The type describes the record, not a finding that its claim is true. Previously issued legacy numbers remain valid.
The IPFN identifies the registration. SHA-256 fingerprints exact bytes. A CID identifies the pinned manifest. A Base transaction records a ledger commitment. These identifiers do different jobs and are not interchangeable.
For an anchored ledger, download the canonical JSON, calculate its SHA-256, compare it with the commitment in the linked Base transaction, and locate the IPFN in that ledger. Where a file fingerprint is present, hash the exact file being checked and compare it separately. A matching ledger does not automatically establish a matching image.
An anchored record can show that a particular claim was recorded by a particular time. Authorship, ownership, originality and human creation require other evidence and may require legal judgment. A publication record does not imply that a hash of the complete book file exists.
FileChain
Daily volumes. Public anchor receipts.
Eligible registrations are grouped into dated volumes. A completed volume records a hash and its Base transaction. Compare the stored bytes and previous-anchor links to check the chain. Registration, pinning and confirmed anchoring are separate steps.
The registered manifest’s content address. Availability depends on providers retaining and serving its pinned bytes.
A fingerprint of exact bytes. Changing pixels, metadata or encoding changes the digest; a display copy may differ from the original.
The public chain holding the daily ledger commitment. Compare it with the ledger’s hash to check whether those ledger bytes changed.
7 volumes · 0 breaks · recorded production anchors
Registered manifests use IPFS content addresses; availability depends on maintained pins. C2PA compatibility: preserve the original. Original-byte preservation is distinct from validating a credential. Edited or compressed exports are separate, unsigned derivatives; IPFN does not currently validate or issue C2PA credentials. Blinding Visuals Press is a member of the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI).
Where to register your work
Interested in serving as a registration authority for another medium? Contact IPFN ›
Give your work a record.
Create
Make the work. Keep the originals, drafts and details that tell its story.
Register
Put your authorship claim on record. Follow its pinning and anchoring status through the published evidence.
Connect
Share the IPFN link or QR with the work. Give people a direct route to its source and registration.