Authentication Registry · Est. 2026

The trust layer
for
photo art.

The permanent record art collectors
have been waiting for.

A limited edition should mean exactly that. For the next hundred years. Photo Art Ledger permanently locks every edition on an immutable public registry, automates royalties to photographers on every future sale, and gives collectors an authenticity certificate that can never be falsified or lost.

€65B
Global art market
value annually
35%
Annual growth in art
authentication technology
0
Existing authentication
registries for photo art only
Years the registry
persists on-chain
The problem we solve

Photo art has a
trust problem.

You declare a limited edition. You sign a certificate. You hand over the print. And from that moment, there is nothing stopping someone from printing another. The entire value of scarcity rests on a promise and a piece of paper.

Collectors know this. It's why the secondary market for photo art underperforms. It's why serious collectors hesitate. It's the problem every photographer, every gallery, and every serious buyer has quietly lived with for decades.

For Photographers

Your prints are your legacy. Nothing protects it.

You declare an edition of 8. But what stops someone from printing a 9th in 20 years? What stops your estate from reissuing after you're gone? The answer today: a handwritten number and a hologram that costs €2 to replicate.

"I want collectors to know that when I say 8, I mean 8. For the next hundred years."

For Galleries

You sell trust. But you can't guarantee it beyond the sale.

Your collectors trust your word. But once a work leaves your gallery, that trust depends on documentation that can be lost, damaged, or disputed. When the work sells again in ten years, you earn nothing, despite building its value from the start.

"Every work I've ever sold has increased in value. I've earned zero from that appreciation."

For Collectors

You pay for scarcity that can never truly be proven.

The value of a limited edition rests entirely on a number someone wrote on a piece of paper. There is no public register, no independent verification. The hologram? Reproducible. The certificate? Printable. The market discounts for this doubt. Always.

"I need to know with absolute certainty that I own one of 8 in the world. Not one of 8 so far."

The solution

Five steps.
Permanent results.

01
Register & Lock

The photographer declares the edition. Once, forever.

The photographer registers the work: title, year photographed, available sizes and the edition limit for each. The moment this is confirmed, those numbers are cryptographically sealed on a public blockchain. Nobody can change them. Not the photographer, not the gallery, not us. This is the fundamental guarantee that no certificate has ever been able to provide.
TITLE · YEAR PHOTOGRAPHED · SIZES · EDITION TOTAL: 8 · STATUS: LOCKED · HASH: 0x3f4a...c29d · CHAIN: POLYGON
02
PAL Certified: at the moment of sale

Each print is certified when it is sold and produced.

When a specific print is sold, the full physical record is completed: the paper and medium used, the year printed, the edition number (e.g. 3 of 10). A PAL Certified certificate is generated and a unique one-time ownership key is issued to the buyer. Two timestamps exist on-chain: the edition lock and the print certification. Together they tell the complete provenance story of this specific object.
PAL CERTIFIED · PRINT: 3 of 8 · YEAR PHOTOGRAPHED: 2019 · YEAR PRINTED: 2026 · MEDIUM: Archival Pigment · Hahnemühle Photo Rag · OWNER KEY: one-time
03
Universal Verification

Anyone, anywhere, can verify any registered work in seconds.

No account required. No specialist knowledge needed. Enter the certificate code on our verification page, or scan the QR code on the physical work. The full authenticated record appears instantly. Edition size, print number, ownership history, medium. All of it. Permanently.
VERIFICATION TIME: <2 seconds · ACCOUNT REQUIRED: no · AVAILABLE: always, indefinitely
04
Secure Ownership Transfer

When a work changes hands, the registry updates. The record grows.

Every ownership transfer is recorded in the immutable public chain. Each new owner receives a new unique code. The full provenance history becomes part of the permanent record, adding value rather than obscuring it.
TRANSFER CODE: one-time use · NEW CODE: generated at transfer · HISTORY: immutable, public
05
Automatic Royalty Distribution

Every future sale pays the photographer. Automatically. Forever.

Smart contracts embedded in the registry automatically distribute royalties on every registered resale. 10% to the photographer. No invoicing, no chasing, no human intervention. It runs on code that cannot be changed or intercepted.
RESALE: PHOTOGRAPHER 10% · OWNER 89% · PAL 1% · DIRECT SALE VIA PAL: PHOTOGRAPHER 80% · PAL 20% · DISTRIBUTION: automatic
Built to outlast everyone

The registry survives
anyone. Including us.

The data doesn't live on our servers. It lives on a public blockchain: a distributed network that no company, government, or individual controls. If Photo Art Ledger ceased to exist tomorrow, every registration would remain publicly verifiable forever.

We are the interface. The record is permanent. This is by design, not reassurance. It's what makes this categorically different from every existing authentication system.

  • Edition data stored on Polygon blockchain. Publicly verifiable by anyone, at any time, indefinitely
  • Ownership is pseudonymous. Names never appear in the public record, only unique codes
  • Smart contracts execute royalties automatically. No human can interrupt or redirect them
  • One-time transfer codes. A work can only change hands with the current owner's unique key
  • Photo art only: in case of verified destruction, a replacement print process is documented on-chain
  • Admin-held encrypted backups for inheritance and loss scenarios. Never exposed to the public
  • GDPR by design: no personal names are ever stored on the immutable chain
Live Registry Record · PAL-00847
Work Winter Forest, Dawn
Photographer Hans Bergström
Year Photographed 2019
Edition Total 🔒 8 prints, sealed permanently
This Print 3 of 8
Year Printed 2026
Medium Archival Pigment · Hahnemühle Photo Rag
Dimensions 80 × 120 cm
Ownership Changes 2 (full history in chain)
Chain Reference 0x3f4a8bc9...d2e7
Certificate PAL-00847-001-X9K2
PAL Certified · Verified by PhotoArt Ledger
"The edition you register today cannot be changed tomorrow. Not by the photographer, not by the gallery, not by us."
Photo Art Ledger · Founding Principle
Benefits by role

One system.
Everyone wins.

Your legacy.
Mathematically guaranteed.

You've spent years building your artistic reputation on the integrity of scarcity. For the first time, you can back that integrity with something no certificate, no hologram, and no gallery contract can match: a mathematical guarantee that your declared edition is final.

  • I
    Permanent Edition Lock
    Declare your edition once. Cryptographically sealed on the public blockchain. Impossible to modify by anyone, including us.
  • II
    10% Royalty on Every Resale, Forever
    Smart contracts pay you automatically every time your work changes hands on the secondary market. No invoicing. No chasing. Permanent.
  • III
    Verified Replacement Prints
    Unique to photo art: if an original is destroyed, you can authorise a replacement. Fully documented and permanently recorded on-chain.
  • IV
    Global Marketplace Visibility
    Registered works with available prints are discoverable by collectors worldwide in a curated, authenticated gallery.
  • V
    Start With Just Your Icon Work
    You don't need to register your entire catalogue. Begin with the one image that defines your practice — the work you believe commands the most attention and value. Register more when you're ready. Not before.
Optional add-on service
Not sure which image to start with?
Our curators and advisory board gallerists can review your portfolio and help you identify your icon images — the works most likely to generate collector interest and establish your market position. This turns PAL into a genuine quality portal, not just a registry.
Winter Forest, Dawn
Hans Bergström · Photographed 2019 · Printed 2026
Print3 of 8
Edition Status🔒 Permanently Sealed
MediumArchival Pigment · Hahnemühle
Dimensions80 × 120 cm
CertificatePAL-00847-001-X9K2
Edition Lock Hash0x3f4a8b...c29d
Print Cert Hash0x9e2b1f...a84c
✓ PAL Certified

Sell with proof.
Command what it's worth.

You've always been the guarantor of quality and authenticity. Now you can make that guarantee technically unbreakable. And charge accordingly.

  • I
    Charge More With Confidence
    Proven, verifiable scarcity commands premium prices. Your collectors pay on certainty, not trust.
  • II
    Attract a New Tier of Collector
    Institutional collectors, sophisticated buyers, and the emerging generation of art investors demand provenance documentation. You'll have it.
  • III
    Strengthen Your Artists
    Offer your photographers something no competitor can match: a permanent, mathematical guarantee that their edition is final, and that they earn automatically on every resale.
  • IV
    Full Portfolio Management
    Register your artists' works, manage editions, track ownership history. Your entire programme, one authenticated system.
Edition Value Projection
Verified scarcity. Rising value. Permanent record.
Initial Sale · 2026 €9,500 Verified edition
Resale · Year 3 €16,000 +68% value
Resale · Year 8 €26,000 +174% value
Resale · Year 15 €44,000 +363% value

Collect with
absolute certainty.

When you invest in limited edition photo art, you're paying for scarcity. With Photo Art Ledger, that scarcity is provable. Verifiable. Permanent. Not a matter of trust. A matter of mathematical fact that will remain true for as long as the internet exists.

  • I
    Verify Any Work, Anywhere, Always
    Enter a certificate code. Confirm full authenticity in under two seconds. No account. No specialist knowledge. Available indefinitely.
  • II
    Complete, Verified Provenance
    See the full authenticated ownership history. Anonymised, but complete. Know exactly how many hands a work has passed through, and from where.
  • III
    Insurance & Estate Documentation
    Blockchain provenance is recognised documentation for insurance claims. Photo art is also the only medium where a verified replacement print is possible if the original is destroyed.
  • IV
    Sell Into a Trusted Secondary Market
    When you sell, the registry transfers with the work. Your buyer inherits the full authenticated history, which commands better prices.
PAL Certified
Verified by PhotoArt Ledger · Registered on Polygon
Edition Status🔒 8 of 8, Permanently Sealed
This Print3 of 8 in existence globally
Year Photographed2019
Year Printed2026
Ownership History2 transfers (full record in chain)
Registry StatusPERMANENT · ON-CHAIN
Record will remain verifiable indefinitely
Transparency

We answer the hard
questions directly.

What if Photo Art Ledger shuts down?
The registry lives on a public blockchain, not our servers. If we ceased to exist tomorrow, every record would remain publicly verifiable forever. We are the interface; the data is permanent. This is by design, not reassurance. It is the most important promise we make.
How does privacy work with a public blockchain?
Owner names are never stored on-chain. Ownership is represented by a unique cryptographic code only you hold. The public record confirms authenticity and transaction history without ever revealing who owns what. GDPR compliance is built into the architecture, not bolted on after.
What about inheritance and estate transfers?
When an owner passes away, the estate can apply for an ownership transfer using standard legal documentation (bouppteckning or equivalent). Admin-held encrypted backup codes allow us to facilitate verified estate transfers, with the event recorded permanently in the ownership chain.
What is the environmental impact?
We operate on Polygon, a Proof-of-Stake blockchain that uses approximately 0.001% of the energy of older Proof-of-Work networks. A single artwork registration uses less energy than sending an email. We have chosen the most environmentally responsible blockchain available for this purpose.
Early Access

Be among
the first
to register.

We are opening early access to a carefully selected group of photographers, galleries, and serious collectors. Early access partners register up to five works at no cost, work directly with our founding team, and receive permanent Founding Partner recognition on the platform.

Photographers Galleries Collectors Press & Media

Founding Partner Benefits

  • Free registration of up to 5 works during the early access period
  • No platform fee on first 10 sales via PAL
  • Direct access to the founding team throughout early access
  • Permanent "Founding Partner" status on the platform
  • First mover advantage in a field with no established competitor

Request Access

We will be in touch within 48 hours.

Your information is kept strictly confidential. No unsolicited communication.

Thank you.

We’ve received your request and will be in touch within 48 hours. Welcome to the future of photo art authentication.