AuditImage
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Midjourney metadata traces

Midjourney does not write C2PA, but a picture downloaded from the site carries a distinctive XMP and EXIF block with the prompt and a job ID.

What a direct download contains

A PNG or JPEG downloaded from midjourney.com or Discord usually carries:

  • EXIF ImageDescription: the full prompt, followed by Job ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx. The UUID is Midjourney's internal job number.
  • XMP dc:description: the same text.
  • XMP xmp:CreatorTool or Author: sometimes the Midjourney username or user.
  • XMP Iptc4xmpExt:DigitalSourceType: newer exports write http://cv.iptc.org/newscodes/digitalsourcetype/trainedAlgorithmicMedia, the IPTC standard value for "AI-generated".

No camera model, no aperture or shutter, no GPS. A "photo" with a prompt and no capture parameters is itself the strongest signal.

How AuditImage detects it

AuditImage looks in ImageDescription and the XMP description for Job ID: followed by a UUID and lists a hit under "AI generation traces" as a Midjourney job ID. Any field mentioning Midjourney, or a DigitalSourceType of trainedAlgorithmicMedia, gets its own entry.

When it disappears

  • Shared through WeChat, QQ, Weibo, Xiaohongshu or Instagram: everything stripped.
  • Screenshots: everything stripped.
  • Opened and re-saved in Photoshop: the EXIF description usually survives, XMP is rewritten but dc:description normally remains, and CreatorTool becomes Photoshop. AuditImage then shows both the Midjourney trace and the Photoshop edit record.
  • Re-downloaded from an image host: depends on the host; most strip.

Manual check

exiftool -ImageDescription -Description -CreatorTool -DigitalSourceType photo.png

Note

Midjourney has joined the C2PA coalition but, at the time of writing, does not embed a signed manifest in exports. If that changes, the C2PA section on AuditImage will show it directly.