CarStudio terms of use

Scene mode uses artificial intelligence to replace what surrounds the vehicle with a studio, a showroom or a landscape, keeping the vehicle in your photo's own framing, and can put your logo on the wall and on the plate, or make the plate unreadable. Reveal mode corrects the light, colour and sharpness of your own photo, without changing its framing. Hide plates makes the plate in your photo unreadable, inside the plate itself, without touching the rest. The Poster creates, from your photo, a poster of the vehicle to print, with the texts you write.

CarStudio is not for hiding the condition of the vehicle. In Reveal mode and Hide plates, scratches, dents, dirt and wear stay exactly where they were. Scene mode is tuned to preserve the vehicle as it is, but the image is redone and we cannot guarantee every mark appears exactly as it is on the vehicle - see the next section.

In Scene mode the processing does not just paste the vehicle onto a new background: the image is created by CarStudio's technology, which uses artificial intelligence, from the photo you uploaded. We do not promise the vehicle comes back identical in every detail, because we cannot. We promise what is within our reach: CarStudio is built and tested to keep the vehicle faithful to the original and in the same place, we check every image before delivering it, and we always show the before and after so that you decide.

Scene mode handles exterior photos, even with the vehicle cut off by the frame, and leaves it cut off: we never invent the missing part. Interior and detail photos are refused before processing, with the reason and at no cost in credits.

We add nothing visible to the photo beyond what you ask for: no watermark, no badge. The only exception is the sample photos of Scene mode, which carry the CarStudio mark until they are unlocked. Every photo created with artificial intelligence carries an invisible, machine-readable marking that identifies it as such. Anyone can ask us to confirm it, free of charge, as explained on the Check an image page, in the site footer. Since that marking cannot be seen, when you use these images it is up to you to disclose that they were edited with artificial intelligence.

From four exterior photos of the same vehicle, one of each side, the 360 spin creates a 360° turn that rotates by dragging, a video of that turn and the four photos in a white studio. The spin is created with artificial intelligence from your photos: it can differ from the real vehicle - in shape, details, wheels, reflections or colour - and signs of use may not show. Watch the spin before you use it. By default, the licence plate is made unreadable in the spin, the video and the four photos, and a plate with the dealer's name stays as it is. You can turn this off before creating the spin. The plate is found automatically and detection can miss: check the result before you use it.

It costs 60 credits per vehicle, with the four studio photos included. A photo that will not work for the spin is refused before creating, without spending credits. If creating fails on our side, the credits go back to your balance automatically.

For the 360 spin, the four original photos are sent whole to our artificial-intelligence providers, which process them on servers outside the European Economic Area. With “Hide the licence plate” turned off, the plate may be kept by one of our providers and used by it to improve its services. This involves an international data transfer, and we recommend the same as for Scene mode: do not upload photos with identifiable people. The spin and the video are deleted from our storage on the same schedule as the photos. The downloaded video and photos carry the same invisible marking as Scene mode. Since that marking cannot be seen, when you use the spin or the video it is up to you to disclose that they were created with artificial intelligence.

You can share a spin with a link, or show it on your own website with a code. A shared spin is a separate copy that does not follow the photos' deletion schedule: it stays available until you take it down from the history, and a private seller's shares are taken down if they delete their account. The player shows the CarStudio name, linked to our website; the spin carries the same invisible marking as the photos, and telling whoever sees it that it was created with artificial intelligence is up to you. Anyone who opens the link or sees the spin on your website receives it from our servers, without cookies. Where you show it and who you send the link to is your decision, and so is the responsibility for what the spin shows of the vehicle. Anyone who sees a shared spin can report it, as explained under "Reports and contact".

The Poster creates, from an exterior photo of the vehicle, a poster to print: the vehicle in a studio designed for the wall, framed by the model you choose, with the texts you write. Some models ask for one or two more photos of the same vehicle. The studio is created with artificial intelligence from your photo: the vehicle may differ from the real one and signs of wear may not show. The framing and the format are the model's, not the photo's. Look at the poster beside the original before printing it.

It costs 15 credits per poster, with one free new version. Hiding the plate is optional and adds 2 credits per poster with a plate. Changing a poster's style and texts does not use credits. A photo too small to print, or one that does not show the outside of the vehicle, is refused before creating, without using credits. If the creation fails on our side, the credits go back to your balance automatically.

The texts on a poster are your responsibility. The vehicle's name and the names of the details come filled in so you can change them; the values only appear if you write them. By writing them, you authorise CarStudio to draw them on the posters it creates for you, and only for that. Do not write texts you have no right to use or other people's data. The Poster's models, scenes and styles are shared by all users.

In the Poster, the original photo and any others the model asks for are sent whole to our artificial intelligence providers, which process them on servers in the United States, as in Scene mode, and we recommend the same: do not upload photos with identifiable people. The poster's texts are kept with it and deleted with the photos, on the same schedule. The downloaded poster carries the same invisible marking as Scene mode, and saying it was created with artificial intelligence is up to you.

The plate is found automatically, and detection can fail: a plate that is small, tilted, dirty or partly covered may not be found, and the plate of another vehicle in the background may be left visible. Always check the before and after of each photo before you use it. If CarStudio finds no plate in a photo, the credits for that photo are refunded. In Scene mode and the 360 spin, making the plate unreadable is included in the price, and a plate with the dealer's name stays as it is.

CarStudio runs on a prepaid credit balance, with no subscription. The price of a credit and the credits each mode uses are on the pricing page, and the cost is always shown before you confirm. Credits never expire.

Your first 20 photos in Reveal mode are free, all at once or a few at a time, once you have confirmed the account's email. In Scene mode, if you have no credits, you can try up to 3 photos for free, once your email is confirmed and subject to the day's availability: they carry the CarStudio mark over them, and to use one without it you unlock it at the mode's normal price. Adjustments made after processing - crop, light and colour - use no credits.

A photo refused before processing uses no credits. If processing fails on our side, the credits return to your balance automatically.

Credits are bought on the Credits page, in packs or any other quantity. Before paying, you ask for the credits to be usable immediately. The withdrawal and refund conditions are in the next section and come with the confirmation email of each purchase.

This section applies to anyone who buys credits as a consumer, that is, a natural person acting outside any business activity.

Right of withdrawal. You have 14 days from the purchase to withdraw from it, without giving any reason and without penalty. An unequivocal statement sent to apoio@carstudio.pt is enough, and you may use the model form at the end of this section, which we also send you with the purchase confirmation.

Credits already used. Within that period, we refund all credits not yet used, at the price paid. Credits already used correspond to digital content whose supply began at your express request, made at the time of purchase, and with your acknowledgement that you would lose the right of withdrawal in respect of them.

Refunds. Any refund is made within 14 days of receipt of the withdrawal notice, using the same means of payment as the purchase and at no cost to you.

Lack of conformity. If paid digital content does not match what was contracted, you also have your statutory rights, namely bringing it into conformity, a price reduction, or termination of the contract. These rights are independent of the right of withdrawal and are not subject to the 14-day period.

Dispute resolution. You can turn to a consumer alternative dispute resolution entity: CNIACC (www.cniacc.pt) or the consumer arbitration centre for your region (list at www.consumidor.gov.pt). We are bound by these centres where the law requires it (mandatory arbitration).

CarStudio claims no rights over what it creates from your photos. You may use it, modify it and publish it wherever you like, including for commercial purposes, with no time limit and without crediting CarStudio. To the extent CarStudio holds any right over that result, it grants you a free, irrevocable licence for all of those uses.

CarStudio's scenes are shared by all users: the same studio, showroom or landscape may appear in other people's images. A custom scene stays in your account only.

The rights in your original photos stay with whoever held them: processing them in CarStudio does not change that.

Scene mode sample photos may only be used without the CarStudio mark once unlocked: removing the mark any other way is not permitted.

What you download is only used where you decide. By using a processed photo, you accept that it represents the vehicle it shows. If the colour, equipment or condition of the vehicle do not match reality, responsibility towards the buyer and the law lies with the seller - not with CarStudio.

Only upload photos you have the right to use, of vehicles you are authorised to advertise or show. Third-party photos, photos carrying watermarks from other platforms, or photos of vehicles you are not authorised to show must not be processed in CarStudio.

For these photographs CarStudio acts as a processor: we handle them on your behalf and for the purpose you asked for, which is enhancing the images.

Where the photo is processed depends on the mode. In Reveal mode and Hide plates, processing happens on our own servers and the photo is not sent to third parties. In Scene mode and the Poster, the original photo is sent whole to our artificial intelligence providers, who process it on servers in the United States. This involves an international data transfer.

In Scene mode and the Poster the photo goes as it is. If a plate, people in the background, an address or the place where it was taken are visible, they go with it. We recommend not uploading photos with identifiable people.

The providers that receive the original photos do not use them to train models and may only keep them for a limited period, for security and abuse prevention, with the exception set out in “The 360 spin”.

On our side: photos are deleted from our storage after 90 days, processed or not. We email you a week before, so you have time to download them. You do not have to wait for the 90 days: you can delete photos from your History whenever you want, and they leave our storage there and then. Backup copies, kept only to restore the service, delete themselves within 30 days. Your logos, the text you chose and the photo of each custom scene are kept for the following photos, until you delete them.

What is in this section covers the photos you process in CarStudio. Your account data - what we keep, for how long, and how to exercise your rights - is in the privacy policy.

When the photos you upload show other people's personal data, such as the licence plate of a customer's vehicle or someone in the background, you are the controller of that data and CarStudio is your processor. This section is the processing agreement between the two.

Subject and duration. We process photos of vehicles and of the places you choose for your scenes, and whatever appears in them, such as licence plates, people and places, and the texts you write on posters, only to produce the images, posters and spins you ask for, for as long as you use CarStudio and until those photos are deleted.

Instructions. We process the photos only on your instructions, which are the requests you make in CarStudio, including the international transfers described in these terms. If an instruction seems to us to breach data protection law, we tell you.

Confidentiality and security. Anyone on our team who can access the photos is bound by confidentiality and does so only when needed, for example to answer a support request. Photos travel encrypted and access to storage is restricted.

Sub-processors. You authorise us to use storage and artificial-intelligence providers to process the photos; we impose on them the same data protection obligations as this section imposes on us, and we remain answerable to you for their compliance. If you process other people's data through us, you can ask us, from your account's email address, to tell you who these providers are and to notify you before any change, which you may object to. That information is confidential and may be used only to meet your data protection obligations.

Help for the controller. We help you answer requests from the people the data is about, and you can delete any photo from your History at any time. If a data breach affects your photos, we tell you without undue delay, with the information we have.

End of processing. Photos are deleted on the schedule and in the situations described in “Your photographs and your data”.

Demonstrating compliance. We make available the information needed to demonstrate compliance with these obligations and cooperate with reasonable audits, requested in advance at apoio@carstudio.pt.

By writing a line of text or uploading a logo, you authorise CarStudio to reproduce it in the images processed for you - on the showroom or scene wall, on the plate and, if you place it, over the photo. We use it for nothing else. You can change or remove it at any time in the editor; photos already processed do not change.

The CarStudio point of contact, for users and for authorities is apoio@carstudio.pt. You can write in Portuguese or English.

Anyone can report a shared spin they consider illegal or contrary to these terms, through the "Report" link on the spin itself or on the Report a shared spin page, giving the link, the reason, their name and email, and declaring that they do so in good faith. We confirm receipt by email.

Every report is reviewed by a person on our team: we do not use automated decisions. If the spin breaks the law or these terms, we take it down, tell whoever shared it the reason, the ground and how to contest it, and reply to whoever reported it. You can contest a decision by replying to the email that tells you about it.

Write to us and we will answer. Use the help form or write to apoio@carstudio.pt

CarStudio is provided by João Carlos Bacalhau, NIF (Portuguese tax number) 251842991, Rua do Príncipe, 18, 2100-174 Coruche. Contact: apoio@carstudio.pt or show phone number.