Mara is an architect in Basel. Her studio is entering an open design competition, and the entries are anonymous. The jury will not see her name, only a code number on each sheet. The deadline is a fixed date and time. On the last evening her drawings are ready, but one worry stays with her. If a question ever comes up about when her design existed, how would she show it? Her name is hidden, so a plain signature does not help here.
Why the deadline matters so much
In a competition, being ready before the closing time is often what decides whether your entry counts at all.
Competitions run on a strict clock. An entry that arrives after the deadline is usually refused, no matter how good it is. The closing time is not a soft target. It is the line between a valid entry and a rejected one. So being able to show that your work was finished and fixed before that moment can matter a great deal if a question comes up later. A dated proof gives you a calm, factual answer instead of a guess.
What sealing a file does
Sealing takes a fingerprint of your file and locks it to a trusted date and time.
When you seal a document, the platform makes a cryptographic hash. A hash is a short fingerprint of the file. Change one line or one pixel, and the fingerprint changes completely. Only this fingerprint is sent to a timestamp authority, not your drawing itself. The authority adds a qualified electronic time stamp. This follows the rules for a qualified electronic time stamp in Article 42 of the eIDAS Regulation and the RFC 3161 timestamp standard. The result is proof that this exact file existed at that moment.
Proof that stays private until you need it
You can hold your sealed proof quietly and show it only if someone ever questions your timing.
Anonymity is a core rule in many design and architecture competitions. The jury must not know who sent which entry. Sealing does not break that rule. The seal sits on your own copy of the files. You do not send it to the jury, and it does not appear on your entry sheets. Later, if you ever need to, you can open a public verification link. Anyone can check it without an account. The check shows the file and its date. A seal shows who sealed the file and when. It does not show who drew it.
Read your own competition rules first
Your competition brief, not this guide, decides what you submit and by when.
Every competition sets its own rules. Read the brief with care. It tells you the format, what to hand in, and the exact closing time. A sealed copy is for your own records. It sits next to your official entry. It does not replace the competition's own submission process. You still submit through the official channel, on time, in the exact form the rules ask for.
What to seal, and when
Seal the version you actually submit, at the moment it is final.
The useful proof is the one that matches your entry. So seal your files once they are truly done, just before you hand them in. If you seal an early draft, you only prove the draft existed, not the final design. Many entries are more than one file: boards, a written report, a model photo, a cost sheet. You can seal each one, or bundle them and seal the bundle. Either way, seal what the jury will receive, in the same form.
A short routine before you submit
A few steps on the last day give you a dated copy without slowing down your real submission.
- Finish your entry files in their final form.
- Seal each final file, or seal them together as one package.
- Save the verification link and the certificate with your project records.
- Submit the official entry through the competition's own channel, before the deadline.
- Keep the sealed copy. You may never need it, but it is there if you do.
What a seal cannot do
A seal is evidence about timing, not a shield for your idea or a sign of who made the work.
A seal does not protect an idea. A timestamp cannot lock an idea, only a fixed file. A seal does not prove authorship either. It shows who sealed a file and when, not who created the design. It does not make a late entry on time, and it does not change the jury's decision. What it gives you is one clear thing. It shows that a fixed version of your work existed before a certain moment.
Back to the last evening
Before she uploads anything, Mara seals her final drawings and saves the verification link.
She then submits her entry through the official channel, under her code number, well before the deadline. The jury still sees only an anonymous entry. But Mara now holds a dated proof of her final files, kept on her own side. If a timing question ever comes up, she has a clear answer. If it never does, she has lost nothing but a few minutes.
If you enter a competition this season, seal your final files before you submit them. It takes a few minutes and gives you a dated copy you can prove, long after the jury has moved on. You can start at swisstrustlayer.com.
