Forensic check

HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION

HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION appears on 7.1% of modified results in our corpus. A marker is evidence about the file, not a judgement about the person who sent it.

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Marker profile

Incremental Update History

A post-creation revision consistent with targeted alteration.

Share of modified results

7.1%

Frequency rank

Among the 56 markers seen in modified results

Certain confidence

23.2%

Of results with this marker rated certain rather than high

Fires alone

Results where it is the only marker found

Marker profile

What HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION tells you

HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION is one of the named findings returned in modification_markers when a PDF is reported as modified. It belongs to the Incremental Update History group of checks. These checks look at the saved revision history of a file and what it says about changes after the original was produced.

On 0% of the modified results that carry HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION it is the only marker. A result with this marker carries 4.0 markers on average. It is most often found together with HTPBE_MULTIPLE_REVISION_LAYERS, on 100.0% of these results.

Example API response

How it appears in a result

When a PDF is reported as modified, HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION is listed in modification_markers next to the verdict and its confidence. Each marker is a named, actionable finding – not a score.

GET /api/v1/result/{id}

{
  "id": "9f3a2c1d-8b47-4e6f-a012-3d5e7f890123",
  "status": "modified",
  "modification_confidence": "high",
  "modification_markers": [
    "HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION"
  ],
  "creator": "Adobe Acrobat Pro DC",
  "has_incremental_updates": true,
  "page_count": 3
}

Full schema in the API reference →

Distributions

What ships alongside HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION

The tools, formats and document traits that appear on the modified results carrying this marker. Shares are of those results.

Common Producers

Microsoft Word writes 26.0% of these results – and 25.7% of all modified results naming it carry this marker.

Microsoft Word25.7% of its modified26.0%

Scrive AB100.0% of its modified11.8%

iText7.8% of its modified10.1%

macOS Print to PDF4.3% of its modified3.4%

Microsoft Print to PDF10.5% of its modified1.5%

iOS Print to PDF3.3% of its modified1.3%

Microsoft Reporting Services8.5% of its modified1.1%

Adobe Acrobat4.4% of its modified0.8%

Common Creators

Microsoft Word is the Creator on 26.8% of these results.

Microsoft Word18.0% of its modified26.8%

PDF Driver100.0% of its modified11.8%

Microsoft Reporting Services2.3% of its modified1.1%

PDFium2.9% of its modified0.9%

Chrome (Print to PDF)5.3% of its modified0.8%

Adobe Acrobat3.8% of its modified0.7%

JasperReports3.9% of its modified0.7%

Preview3.3% of its modified0.7%

Often found together with

HTPBE_MULTIPLE_REVISION_LAYERS sits next to HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION more often than any other marker.

HTPBE_MULTIPLE_REVISION_LAYERS100.0%

HTPBE_IDENTITY_BLANKED34.6%

HTPBE_EDITING_TOOL_FINGERPRINT34.2%

HTPBE_MIXED_TOOLING_CLASSES33.6%

HTPBE_DATES_DISAGREE22.9%

HTPBE_TOOL_VS_STRUCTURE_MISMATCH18.8%

HTPBE_PAGES_FROM_MULTIPLE_SOURCES14.8%

HTPBE_TIMESTAMP_LAYERS_DISAGREE11.6%

Document origin

Consumer software35.5%

Unknown34.9%

Institutional25.7%

Scanned2.6%

Analysis incomplete0.8%

Online editor0.5%

Creator → Producer pairs

Microsoft Word → Microsoft Word26.0%

PDF Driver → Scrive AB11.8%

Microsoft Reporting Services → Microsoft Reporting Services1.1%

PDFium → PDFium0.8%

Adobe Acrobat → Adobe Acrobat0.7%

Preview → macOS Print to PDF0.7%

Chrome (Print to PDF) → macOS Print to PDF0.4%

Chrome (Print to PDF) → Skia/PDF0.4%

Detected origin software

Microsoft Word26.8%

macOS / iOS (Quartz)4.2%

Microsoft Print to PDF1.5%

Browser (Print to PDF)1.3%

Google Chrome0.4%

Microsoft Excel0.4%

Confidence of the verdict

Certain23.1%

High76.4%

When these results were checked

March 20260.3%

April 202684.7%

May 20263.1%

June 20261.5%

July 20262.0%

August 20261.7%

September 20262.7%

October 20262.4%

November 20261.6%

Document length

1 page20.6%

2–5 pages28.0%

6–20 pages38.1%

21–100 pages12.9%

File size

Under 100 KB11.0%

100 KB – 1 MB72.0%

1 – 5 MB15.7%

Over 5 MB1.2%

PDF versions

PDF 1.771.3%

PDF 1.411.7%

PDF 1.510.0%

PDF 1.34.3%

PDF 1.62.3%

Year the document says it was created

20230.7%

20241.1%

20252.3%

202659.8%

Long tail

Notable observations

Smaller cuts of the results carrying HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION – useful context, but treat each row as a single data point rather than a strong signal.

Digitally signed

12.2%

Of files carry at least one digital signature

Saved revisions

99.6%

Of files contain earlier saved revisions

Embedded JavaScript

0.3%

Of files contain JavaScript code

Embedded files

12.1%

Of files have attachments inside

Avg pages per document

9.9

Markers per result

4.0

Average number of markers on these results

Related checks

Other Incremental Update History checks

Checks from the same group. Each card links to its own reference page.

HTPBE_MULTIPLE_REVISION_LAYERSSaved revisions showing the document was modified after creation

Share of modified21.5%

Seen together100.0%

HTPBE_FLATTENED_EDIT_HISTORYSigns the file was rebuilt after its original production

Share of modified1.3%

FAQ

HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION: common questions

What does HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION mean?

HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION is a named finding in an HTPBE? result: a post-creation revision consistent with targeted alteration. It is returned in the modification_markers list of a modified result and belongs to the Incremental Update History group of checks.

Does HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION mean the document is fake?

No. A marker is evidence about the file, not a judgement about the person who sent it. It records that the file shows this pattern; it does not say why, and it does not assess what the document states. Read it together with the verdict and any other markers on the same result.

What should I do when a result contains HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION?

Ask the sender for the original file straight from the issuing system, or request a fresh copy from the issuer. Check whether the document went through a later step such as re-saving, merging or converting, and verify it with the issuer before relying on it for a decision.

How common is HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION?

HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION appears on 7.1% of the modified results in the HTPBE? corpus. The corpus consists of PDFs people chose to submit for checking, so it skews towards documents someone had a reason to doubt and is not a sample of all PDFs.

Where do I see HTPBE_METADATA_ONLY_REVISION?

In the modification_markers list of the result returned by the HTPBE? API, and on the result page of a modified document. Other checks in the Incremental Update History group are listed below on this page; all 63 checks are listed on the how-it-works page.

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