Verification field guides
Your screenshot is evidence of a screen—not the original photo.
A screenshot is useful for documenting what you saw. For checking how an image was made, seek the image file that existed before the screenshot.
Give each file a job
Use the screenshot to preserve a post’s wording, account name and visible context. Use the downloaded original to inspect supported production records. Store them together with their source URL, but name them so another reviewer can tell them apart.
If only a screenshot is available, say that at the start of the review. You can still investigate captions and matching images. You simply have less direct evidence about the source file.
Ask for a useful original
A practical request is: “Please send the file as an attachment, before any crop, resize or screenshot, and tell me where you obtained it.” Ask for the source link as well. Do not ask someone to post a private original publicly just to help your review.
- Save the screenshot without drawing over the only copy.
- Record the source post URL and the date you accessed it.
- Obtain the original image if available and keep its bytes unchanged.
- Inspect and compare the files, labeling each result by filename and role.
Read differences without inventing a history
Different dimensions or metadata tell you the files differ. They do not automatically tell you who changed them or why. A compare result is an observation to add to the source record, not a complete chain of custody.
isGenAI’s controlled Image Metadata Lab offers examples designed to make these distinctions inspectable. Use those examples to learn the workflow before drawing conclusions about someone else’s image.
Put the next question to the file.
Choose the supported tool that fits your question. Keep the original source and save the output with your notes. Frame extraction, file-record inspection and still-image checks answer different questions; none alone authenticates a complete video or its audio.
Our methodology explains supported checks and result limits. Found a factual error or a newer primary source? Use our corrections process and include this article’s URL.