Spotting A Tampered Or Removed Watermark
Launch library · evergreen read
Watermarks exist to mark ownership, and removing or covering one is a reasonably reliable sign that someone wanted an image's original origin obscured from view. Look for faint colour mismatches, oddly smooth patches, or blurred rectangles sitting in the corners where a logo or username would typically appear on the original file.
Cropping is the crude version of this trick, simply cutting the watermarked edge away entirely from the frame, which is one more reason an unusually tight or asymmetric crop deserves a second look before trusting the image. More careful attempts blur or clone over the mark, leaving a texture that looks subtly different from the surrounding image around it.
None of these signs prove intent to deceive on their own, since watermarks are sometimes removed for entirely ordinary, mundane reasons. What a removed watermark reliably tells you is that the image's stated source cannot be confirmed through the image itself, so any claim resting on it needs another, independent form of support before it earns your trust.