Straight‑Talk Q&A

Is the watermark truly impossible to remove?

No. A determined, skilled thief could strip or destroy any digital watermark given time and motivation. What we add is hard‑to‑notice, time‑consuming to remove, and often ruins the file if they try. For 95% of casual resellers it's not worth the hassle.

Will Cerbotrace find every stolen copy of my design?

Also no. We monitor sites you tell us to check, using your keywords + image similarity. If a thief renames everything, changes artwork colors, or sells on an obscure forum, we may miss it. But we catch a large chunk of low‑effort copies on mainstream marketplaces, which are where most sales leakage happens.

Do I still have to file DMCA notices myself?

Yes. We generate the evidence pack and pre‑fill the forms, but you— as the copyright holder— must hit "submit." We're a tech tool, not your law firm.

Will this stop people from buying my file and sharing it in Facebook groups?

It discourages them (badge + hidden ID). If your materials are found elsewhere, our watermark can identify the platform it leaked from (when using the full watermarking service). We can't prevent screenshots or screen‑capture exports. No one can.

Can Cerbotrace scan the entire internet?

No. We focus on the platforms that actually affect your revenue (Etsy, eBay, Creative Fabrica, DesignBundles, etc.). Full‑web crawling would cost more than most creators want to pay.

How often do you scan?

Weekly by default. Daily costs more but is available. Realistically, most infringing listings stay up for days or weeks, so weekly usually catches them in time.

What's the false‑positive rate?

Roughly 1–3% of flagged matches need manual dismissal. That's why you get a "Confirm / Dismiss" button before any takedown paperwork is generated.

Could watermarking break my customers' files (e.g., laser‑cut paths)?

We're testing on common tools (Glowforge, LightBurn, Cricut, Silhouette, PrusaSlicer, etc.). Still, you have both the protected and the original files—if a buyer reports an issue, you have a clean fallback.

How much does it really cost me?

We strive to keep costs low because, for us, it's not about building a fortune—it's about helping fellow creators keep money in their pockets, while earning enough to cover infrastructure and our work to support and build the service.

Why Cerbotrace is a no‑brainer:

‑ Manually policing 50 products costs you ≈ 30 hours every month—three full workdays spent typing keywords, scrolling pages, and screenshotting proof.

‑ Cerbotrace cuts that to ≈ 1 hour of quick dashboard review.

That's 28+ hours regained for designing new items, marketing, or just taking a break—while your files stay watermarked, monitored, and ready for one‑click takedowns.

For example, if your hour of work costs $40, then Cerbotrace saves you around $1120/month in lost revenue because you were too busy Googling around. Our subscriptions are around 20 times less expensive than that.

Why should I trust you over just Googling stuff weekly?

Because (1) we don't forget to check, (2) we store proof chains and timestamps, and (3) every hour we save you is an hour you can spend designing new products and earning money.

Are you scraping Etsy/eBay in a way that could violate their TOS and get my shop banned?

We query only public search endpoints with rate limits well below platform thresholds, or use their official APIs when possible. Our scans are entirely independent of your shop, and platforms will only see what we scan for—they won't even know it's related to your shop.

What if Etsy changes its search layout tomorrow and your crawler breaks?

It happens. We monitor scanner health and patch within 24–48 h. Even a short outage won't affect results—most thieves operate for days or weeks, giving us plenty of time to catch them. While a crawler is offline, you miss new alerts but watermarking still works. We don't bill or credit extra during an outage.

Will the watermark bloat my file size or slow download times for buyers?

The typical size increase is <1%. We don't disclose our algorithms to avoid compromise, but you'll experience no measurable slowdown for customers.

Could a thief just re‑save the file in Inkscape/Photoshop and strip the watermark?

Simple "Save As" or copy/paste removes obvious metadata but won't hurt our main marks that survive most editing. Yes, a patient pro could still break it, but 90% won't bother.

Do you store my original, unwatermarked designs? What if you get hacked?

We don't store your original nor your watermarked files. We only store fingerprints and watermark related metadata used to find copies.

Think "currency serial‑number ink," not a photocopy.

The U.S. Mint uses a system of serial numbers and unique microscopic patterns to deter counterfeiting. While the Secret Service doesn't archive images of the entire bill, they do track serial numbers and use the microscopic pattern to verify the authenticity of currency. When a forged note appears, agents read the dots, match the serial, and prove it's counterfeit.

That's what Cerbotrace does:

- We alter your file very slightly—invisible changes that behave like the bill's micro‑dots.

- We save only the information about modification ("serial number"), never the content itself.

Anyone can duplicate the file, but they duplicate the hidden serial too, so we can spot it—yet nobody, including us, can rebuild your design from the serial number alone.

Is this GDPR/CCPA compliant?

Yes. We process only the data you upload, plus marketplace listing URLs—no personal buyer data. EU users can request deletion at any time, and we sign a standard DPA (Data Processing Addendum).

If my competitor uses Cerbotrace too, can they "see" my watermark or track my customers?

Our every client has access to their own products and data and never to data of other clients. Unless you disclose your usage of Cerbotrace with a badge, there's no way for them to know that you're using it. Every customer receives a watermarked copy of the product, but the watermark contains no information about you or your customers. Even if someone knew what the "serial number" looks like and where to find it, it would be completely meaningless to them.

What happens when GPU prices spike or AI APIs raise fees?

Monthly costs are locked for 3 months. Price changes are announced transparently, and current subscribers keep their rates until the 3-month cycle ends.

Could Cerbotrace itself ever get blocked by Etsy or eBay? Then what?

You'd get a notice about reduced coverage until full service resumes.

Does watermarking degrade photo quality (color banding, compression)?

We watermark below a visible threshold. Side‑by‑side A/B tests on 300‑dpi prints and RGB screens show zero perceptible difference—unless you crank exposure to extremes no buyer uses.

Can thieves automate removal by running your "serial number" algorithms in reverse?

The "serial number" is stored server‑side and changes per product. Publicly distributed software can't remove what they don't know. Obfuscation buys time; legal proof remains even if they eventually figure it out.

Bottom line: Cerbotrace won't eliminate piracy or do your legal work for you. It will watermark every file in seconds, watch the big marketplaces for copycats, hand you proof, and scare off the lazy thieves who cost you the most sales.