Documentation
What is C2PA?
The open standard behind every Content Credential Krusade attaches when you sign.
C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity) defines how a file can carry a cryptographically signed Content Credential—a manifest bound to the media that records who signed it, when, and what claims travel with it. Adobe Content Credentials, c2patool, and other conformant verifiers all speak this format. That interop is the point: proof should travel with the file, not depend on Krusade remaining online.
When you use Sign & protect, Krusade is not inventing a private badge. It builds a C2PA manifest, signs it with our claim-signing infrastructure, and embeds (or sidecars) that credential with your asset. Anyone can verify the result without a Krusade account.
C2PA is the container; other standards are claims inside it
Think of the Content Credential as an envelope. The envelope itself is C2PA: signature, hash binding to the bytes, and core provenance actions. Optional fields on the sign page—IPTC, EXIF, XMP, AI training preferences, licensing, Web3 references, signer identity—are assertions packed into that envelope. They only appear when you enable them (or when author/org data applies).
So if the sidebar lists IPTC and EXIF but not “C2PA,” that is intentional: C2PA is not an optional toggle. It is the base credential every successful sign produces. The toggles choose which extra claims ride along.
Why this is the base standard
Open and inspectable
The specification is public. Independent tools can validate the same file without talking to Krusade.
Tamper-evident
The credential is bound to the asset bytes. Edit the file after signing and verification fails or reports a break in the chain.
Industry adoption
Publishers, platforms, and creative tools are standardizing on Content Credentials so provenance survives upload, resize, and redistribution.
Composable metadata
Existing metadata standards (IPTC, EXIF, XMP, CAWG training prefs, and more) can live as assertions inside one signed manifest instead of competing silos.
What happens when you sign
- 1You choose a file and any optional standards claims.
- 2Krusade builds a C2PA manifest (plus selected assertions) and signs the claim.
- 3You download a signed file (or a sidecar zip). The Content Credential travels with it.
- 4Anyone can check it on /verify, via the public verify API, Adobe Content Credentials, or c2patool.