Digital Signatures

Zoner Photo Studio contains a degree integration of digital signatures that is unique among digital photography applications.

You can use digital signatures to secure a photograph against changes to its picture data and metadata (EXIF, IPTC, etc.). Photographs that have been digitally signed cannot be "silently" changed or edited in any way. That is, if a photograph with a digital signature is saved after edits, the "seal" on it is broken, and anyone can verify this fact. Digital signatures are not protection of a photograph's authorship*, protecting the contents against false claims of authorship for the photograph. But they are a "seal" guaranteeing protection against covert interference in photographs' contents.

Digital signatures are a godsend for every type of user that needs a guarantee that a photo has remained unchanged, like insurance agencies, police offices, archivists, news agencies, etc.

* You can, however, achieve some degree of authorship protection by watermarking your images. For more on this, see the information on the Image Overlay function under the section about enhancing photos.

Case Study: Insurance Claims Adjuster

Insurance is one of the fields where the importance of a photo staying unedited is the greatest. And the difficulty of finding a guarantee that data has not been edited has often made insurance companies take a reserved stance towards digital photography.