How VQS certification works: the run, the badge, the register.

VQS certification is automatic and measured. You subscribe for US$9.99 a month or pay US$129 for a single run, upload 12 to 20 original JPEGs from a daytime shoot, and the SVL canonical runner scores every image; a certifiable composite earns its tier badge on the spot. The badge is a live embeddable widget linking to a public verification register, and it expires 12 months after the last certified run.

There is no application form and no review panel. Standard Vision Lab publishes the standard, the runner is deterministic, and the badge is issued by measurement alone. What follows is the whole journey in order, from payment to public register.

Step one: choose a plan

There are two ways in.

• Subscription, US$9.99 a month. One measurement run is included each month. Your mark stays live while you remain subscribed, with a recertification run required at least every 12 months.
• Single run, US$129. One measurement run, with the badge valid for 12 months.

Both routes use the same canonical runner and produce the same certification record. The subscription suits photographers shooting week in, week out who want the mark continuously live. The single run suits certifying one body of work or testing the water.

Step two: upload 12 to 20 originals

A run measures a set of 12 to 20 original JPEGs from a daytime shoot. Twilight and dusk sets come with v2 of the standard; the releases page tracks versioning. Upload the set and the runner takes it from there.

Step three: the run

The SVL canonical runner scores every image from 0 to 100 across the full set of measured checks, covering exposure, white balance, colour, geometry, artifacts and semantic checks, plus set consistency. Each check, and each image, carries a status: PASS at 90 or above, FLAG from 70 to 89, FAIL at 69 or below.

The runner is deterministic. The same image gets the same score, byte-identical, every time. There is nothing to negotiate and nobody to persuade. If you want the checks in plain English before running anything, read the guide, or put a shoot through the demo first.

How the set is scored

The SET score is governed by the lowest image, because a listing is only as good as its worst photo. Set-level gates apply on top of that. The combination matters, and it means a set can fail despite a high composite. One worked example: all 19 images pass, the mean is 98, the lowest image scores 93, yet two soft frames trip the focus gate and the set fails. No badge. A failing set never certifies, regardless of composite.

Step four: automatic certification

If the composite is certifiable, the tier badge is earned automatically the moment the run completes.

• Platinum: composite of 100.
• Certified: 90 to 99.
• Provisional: 70 to 89.
• No mark below 70, and no mark for a failing set, whatever its composite.

The badge: one line of HTML

The badge is not an image file you download and paste. It is a live embeddable widget served by SVL. One line of HTML places it on a website, a listing page or a portfolio, and because it is served live it always shows the current state of the certification. Anyone who sees it can click through to the public verification register.

The register: public by design

Every certification has an entry on the verification register showing the tier, the composite, the covered files and the dates. From the certificate, anyone can open the full annotated report: every image in the set, every measured value on every check. Reports are permanent parts of the certification record. To see the level of detail before committing, look at the sample report.

The 12-month clock

A badge expires 12 months after the last certified run. On a single run, the badge you earn today is valid until this time next year. On a subscription, the mark stays live for as long as you stay subscribed, and a recertification run is required at least every 12 months. Certification is a statement about recent, measured work, not a permanent title.

Expired, suspended, revoked

A mark that lapses does not quietly vanish. Wherever the badge is embedded, an expired, suspended or revoked mark visibly says so. The same live widget that showed Certified will show its true state. This is what makes the badge worth trusting. A mark that could go stale silently would tell a viewer nothing.

Fingerprints and duplicates

Every image in every run is fingerprinted with SHA-256. Duplicates are removed automatically, both within a set and against earlier runs, so every test measures fresh work. A set cannot be padded with frames that have already been certified, and last year's best images cannot be resubmitted as this year's evidence.

Start with a shoot you already have

The fastest way to understand VQS is to run it against real work. Pick a recent daytime shoot, select 12 to 20 originals, and put them through the demo. If the numbers hold up, a US$129 single run puts a live badge on your site, or the US$9.99 monthly subscription keeps one run a month in the cycle and the mark continuously live. Everything the badge claims is checkable on the register, which is the point.