What happens to a C2PA-signed photograph after it leaves the camera and enters a fast-moving editorial workflow?
At the online IPTC Photo Metadata Conference 2026 on 3 September, our president and founder, Dennis Walker, will answer that question live as part of “Metadata Safari: standards in the wild.” This is part of our ongoing work to bring C2PA content authenticity features to Photo Mechanic®.
Using Photo Mechanic, Dennis plans to ingest C2PA-signed photographs transmitted from C2PA-enabled Sony cameras, quickly cull and edit their IPTC metadata, and deliver selected images, all during his ten-minute demonstration.
“I want to recreate the pressure of a real event workflow, with photographs arriving from multiple cameras while the event is still happening,” Dennis says. “The aim is to get from capture to a delivered, verifiable photograph in just a few minutes.”
The demonstration will show Camera Bits’ patent-pending Provenance Locker™ technology in action. It enables metadata changes to be applied without losing the original camera photograph’s provenance, allowing that original to serve as a parent ingredient when the edited image is subsequently signed.
“My working folder may contain only modified versions of the photographs, but Photo Mechanic can still maintain their full provenance,” Dennis explains. “C2PA is integrated throughout Photo Mechanic’s output workflow, not just bolted on”
Dennis will also demonstrate validation and briefly show how an IMATAG watermark can be added. The result promises to be an ambitious, real-world test of how standards can support speed, metadata quality and authenticity at the same time.
The free, online IPTC Photo Metadata Conference runs from 15:00 to 18:00 UTC on Thursday, 3 September 2026. See the event details and register.