Every design tool you already pay for keeps a diary of your work. Version history in Figma writes a checkpoint every half hour whether you ask it to or not. Adobe cloud documents do the same on every save. Most designers open that panel once, to recover something deleted by accident, and never think about it again.
That is a waste, because the same panel is the cheapest proof of authorship you will ever own. When a client claims the logo was "basically their idea", or a registrar asks how much of a piece was generated, the history answers in a way the final file cannot. The catch: no tool keeps the record for long by default, and none will produce it in a form a third party can read unless you do that part yourself.
The short answer. Version history is a timestamped, per-editor log of a file's evolution, kept automatically by Figma and by Adobe cloud documents. It proves sequence, time and participation, which a flat export never can. It is only useful if you name versions at milestones, export the log at handoff, and keep the native file for the limitation period.
Why the final file proves almost nothing
A finished PNG, PDF or SVG tells the world what a thing looks like and nothing about who made it. Metadata strips in one click, and two people holding identical exports are, as far as the file is concerned, equally the author.
What separates the author from the copyist is the mess that came before: the eleven discarded marks, the wrong typeface that lasted a week, the client comment that killed the blue. That material lives in the working file and its history, and it is what how to prove a design is yours comes down to.
There is a newer reason. Generated imagery arrives whole. A history that shows a mark being drawn, adjusted and rebuilt over four days looks nothing like one that shows a single large paste followed by cropping. The absence of that paste is now evidence in its own right, and the United States Copyright Office's 2023 registration guidance, which asks applicants to describe the human contribution to a work containing generated material, is one place it is asked for.
Version history: Figma checkpoints, named versions and the 30-day limit
Figma records an autosave checkpoint every 30 minutes while a file is being edited. Each entry carries a date, a time, and the name of the main contributor for that stretch of work. You can name any checkpoint, restore it, duplicate it into a fresh file, or copy a link to it. Checkpoints cannot be deleted; only the name you attach can be, according to Figma's version history documentation.
The retention limit is the part that catches people. Files in Drafts and in free Starter teams expose only the last 30 days of history. Paid plans keep the full history back to the file's creation. Do client work from a free seat and the first month of a three-month project is invisible before you invoice for the last.
The contributor shown is whoever's account made the edits, so a client with edit access who moved one frame appears next to your name for that window; give clients comment access unless the contract says otherwise. A duplicated version starts a new file with no history, so a client who receives a duplicate does not receive your record.
Adobe cloud documents: 60 days unless you mark it
Photoshop, Illustrator, Fresco and InDesign cloud documents add a version on each save. Autosaved versions are deleted after 60 days. Versions you name or bookmark move to a Marked versions list and are kept indefinitely, and unmarking one puts it back on the 60-day clock, per Adobe's versioning FAQ.
Adobe adds one thing Figma does not. On export, Photoshop and several other apps can attach Content Credentials, a signed manifest recording the exporting tool, the editing actions and, if you enable it, your identity. It travels with the export and complements the history. What it does and does not prove is the subject of Content Credentials for designers.
What each tool keeps, for how long, and whether it leaves the building
If you work in Affinity, Sketch, Procreate or a local Adobe file, nobody keeps the log, so you keep it: dated exports in a folder, Git for anything text-based such as SVG, and a checksum pasted into a dated email as a third-party timestamp.
| Tool or method | What it records | How long it keeps it | Can you export the record? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figma | 30-minute checkpoints, named versions, contributor name | 30 days free; full life of the file on paid plans | No native export; print the panel to PDF |
| Adobe cloud documents | Version on each save, marked versions, Content Credentials on export | 60 days unmarked; marked versions indefinitely | Open any version and save a copy; manifest travels with the export |
| Local PSD, AI, Sketch, Affinity | Nothing, unless you save-as | As long as you keep the files | Yes, they are your files |
| Dated exports in a folder | A flat snapshot per day | As long as you keep the folder | Yes, and anyone can open them |
| Git repository | Every change, author, timestamp, message | Indefinitely | Yes, the whole repository |
Cloud tools keep an excellent record and give you no button to export it. Everything file-based is worse at recording and better at surviving.
Habits that turn a log into a record
Name a version at every milestone. In Figma, Command Option S on a Mac or Ctrl Alt S on Windows saves a named version; use the same vocabulary every time, such as "Round 1 sent" or "Final approved". In Adobe, mark the version, which also stops the 60-day deletion. Twelve named milestones read like a project timeline; two hundred unnamed autosaves read like noise.
Export the history at handoff. Open the version panel, expand every autosave group, and print the page to PDF, then do the same for the comments. It is the only form of the record that does not depend on your account still existing.
Keep the native file after the contract ends, for at least the limitation period for contract claims where you are: six years in England and Wales, three to six years across US states. Check your jurisdiction, then set a reminder for the date you may delete.
Write the retention rule into the contract. If the client owns the final files, say in the same agreement that the working files and their history remain yours. A clause that sits next to the AI disclosure clause most contracts now need:
The Designer will retain the native working files, version history and process records for this project for not less than six years from final delivery, and may rely on those records as evidence of authorship and of the work performed. Ownership of final deliverables under this agreement does not transfer ownership of, or require destruction of, the working files or their history.
Use it in any agreement that assigns copyright to the client; adjust the period to your jurisdiction.
What to capture at project close
Before you archive a project, put the following in one dated folder.
- A PDF print of the full version history panel, autosave groups expanded.
- A PDF print of the comments thread, including resolved comments.
- The native working file, downloaded rather than left in the cloud.
- The signed contract, the brief and every scope change email.
- The final exports, with Content Credentials attached where the tool supports them.
- A plain-text note of any generated material used and which version it entered in, matching what you disclosed under the AI and the Designer terms.
- A SHA-256 hash of the native file, pasted into a dated email to yourself.
That folder is your design record. It makes a case study believable, the subject of portfolio provenance, and it makes the labour visible, which is most of what the rates, contracts and scope argument has ever been about.
Frequently asked questions
Does Figma version history show who made each change?
It shows the main contributor for each checkpoint, by account name, rather than a per-layer edit log. If several editors worked in the same 30-minute window, one name is shown. For a clean authorship record, limit edit access to yourself and merge contractor work from duplicates.
Can I export Figma version history as a file?
There is no export button for the history itself. You can duplicate any version into a new file or copy a link to it, but the timeline with its names and timestamps lives only in the panel. Print the panel to PDF with every autosave group expanded and treat that as the exported record.
Is version history legal proof of copyright?
Treat it as evidence rather than proof. A timestamped history showing the work being created by your account is strong evidence, weighed alongside the contract, the correspondence and the exports. It is far stronger than a final file with no history, which is what most designers hold.
Does a large paste from an image generator show up in the history?
Yes, as a checkpoint where a full asset appears with no preceding drawing steps. If you disclosed the generated material, the history simply matches your disclosure. It becomes a problem only when the history contradicts what you told the client, which is why the two should be filed together.
What to do on Monday
Open the oldest client file you still have access to and look at its version history. On a free Figma seat you will see 30 days and nothing before it. Name the milestones you can still identify, print the panel to PDF, download the native file, and file the lot with the contract.
Then add the retention clause to your template. The Proof of Work hub covers the rest of the record, and why the free pitch got faster to ask for explains why it is needed now. Version history in Figma or Adobe is the part you already have. Stop letting it expire.