To check that a PicAnchor photo has not changed, enter its 16-character code at verify.picanchor.com (opens in a new tab), then drop the original photo file onto the page. If the page says the file matches the registered fingerprint, the file is unchanged since it was registered.
What you need
You need two things: the photo file as it left the camera, and the photo code.
The code is burned into the picture. It is 16 letters and digits, printed in groups of four, for example T5KW-2NQX-8DRH-4FVU (a made-up example: real codes never contain U, so it can't match a real photo). In a PicAnchor report, the same code sits beside each photo as a QR code, which you can scan instead of typing.
The short code that starts with # (for example #PN7K2H) is a photo reference, not the registry code. The check page tells you if you enter it.
Step 1: find the code on the photo
Look for the code in the stamp on the photo. Zoom in if you need to. Upper or lower case both work, and spaces and hyphens are fine.
The letters I, L, O and U are never used in a code. The page reads I and L as 1, and O as 0. If you typed a U, it is usually a V.
Step 2: look the code up
Open verify.picanchor.com (opens in a new tab), type the code and press Check. No account and no sign-in are needed. If you have a report, scan the QR code beside the photo instead.
Step 3: read the result
A code that is in the registry shows as Registered. The page gives two times: when the photo was captured, which is claimed by the device, and when it was registered, which comes from the registry's own clock. It also says whether the capture time came from an internet time server or from the phone's own clock.
The record holds a digital fingerprint of one file and those two times. It holds no location, no names, no note and no image.
Step 4: compare the file
Below the result, drop the photo file onto the page, or choose it from your device. The page works out the file's fingerprint inside your browser and compares it with the registered one. The file is never uploaded.
Step 5: understand the answer
If the file matches, it is the same file that was registered, byte for byte, and it has not changed since. That shows the file is intact. It does not show that what the photo depicts is true.
If the file does not match, the most common reason is that the photo was shared through an app that recompresses images, such as WhatsApp, email or social media. Recompression rebuilds the file, so its fingerprint changes even though the picture looks the same. This is not evidence that the photo was altered, and it is not evidence that it was not. Ask the sender to send the original as a document or file attachment, not as a photo, and compare again.
If the page says the code is not in the registry, that is usually about reading the code: a misread character, a photo taken offline that has not been registered yet, a photo from an older version of the app, or a code that is not a registry code. None of these says the photo was altered. No record means there is nothing to compare against.
A worked example
This example is made up. Priya Nair, a letting agent at a fictional company, Eastbrook Lettings Ltd, photographs a signed check-out sheet at 16:20 on 22 September 2026. The stamp shows the code T5KW-2NQX-8DRH-4FVU and the note "Keys handed over, checklist signed".
The tenant wants to check the photo. They type the code at verify.picanchor.com (opens in a new tab). For a photo like this, the page would show Registered, with the capture time 16:20:38 and a registration time three seconds later, and say that the capture time came from network-verified time.
Priya emailed the photo as an attachment, so the tenant drops that file onto the page and sees: "This file matches the registered fingerprint." Had the tenant received the photo through a chat app instead, the page would show "This file does not match", and the tenant would ask Priya to send the original as a document. The check would then be repeated with that file.
