Check a photo for a swapped face
Face-swap tools paste one person's face onto another image. Upload a still photo and Maat Scan scores the seams and inconsistencies they tend to leave.
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Best photos for analysis
Scores are statistical descriptions by AI and do not definitively determine whether an image was edited or generated.
Where face swaps show
Seams around the face
Where a swapped face meets the hair, ears and neck, the boundary is often softer or sharper than the rest of the photo.
Mismatched texture
A pasted face can differ from the neck and hands in skin texture, sharpness or noise.
Proportions
Facial landmark geometry may not match the angle of the head or the body.
Lighting and depth
A vision model rates whether the light on the face agrees with the rest of the scene.
What to check yourself
- Compare the lighting direction on the face with the shadows elsewhere in the photo.
- Look closely at the jawline and hairline, where blending often shows.
- Compare the skin tone of the neck with the face.
- Search for the original scene. Swaps often reuse a well-known photo with a different face.
Limits of a photo score
- Maat Scan does not analyse video. A screenshot of a video frame can be scanned, but video compression weakens the signals.
- Well-made swaps can score as natural, especially at small sizes.
- A low score indicates signs of generation or editing in general. It does not confirm that a face swap in particular took place.
- Do not use a score to publicly accuse or shame someone. If you believe a manipulated image of you or someone else is being shared, report it to the platform where it appears.
Questions
Is a face swap the same as a deepfake?
People often use "deepfake" for any AI-altered face. A face swap specifically replaces one face with another. Fully generated faces are a separate case.
What if the image shows me?
Most platforms let you report manipulated images of yourself. Maat Scan does not remove content from other sites, but a score can help you describe what you found.
Does it work on group photos?
Crop to the person you want to check. One clearly visible face gives the clearest result.
Further reading
Other photo checks
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