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Participating Frequently
Aug 25, 2026 12:44 AM UTC
Question

My photos I upload are what looks like to me are high quality but Adobe rejects almost every one.

Can someone explain what I'm doing wrong or what I can do to fix this issue? I'm not too fimialr with all they terms like pixels, dps, etc. Appreciate any feedback.

    16 replies

    Jill_C
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 25, 2026 1:32 AM UTC

    Both are quite underexposed. If you can’t see that on your monitor, perhaps you need a monitor calibration?

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    Jill C., Forum Volunteer
    Participating Frequently
    Aug 25, 2026 1:37 AM UTC

    Like for my pictures, why do I have to alter the appearance (exposure) to make it acceptable? I like the current state and look. 

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    daniellei4510
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 25, 2026 1:42 AM UTC

    This is stock. It’s not always about what you like. It’s about getting your assets accepted by the moderators and then sold by the buyers. Under and overexposure won’t fly on Adobe Stock. Maybe some sites, but not Adobe. 

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    Adobe Community Expert | I have miles to go before I sleep, but I'm all done on this end.
    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 25, 2026 1:10 AM UTC

    Both images are too dark for commercial use. 

    This looks like crumpled aluminum foil and contains many artifacts.

     

    What is it supposed to be?

    What would buyers use this for commercially?

     

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    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    Participating Frequently
    Aug 25, 2026 1:34 AM UTC

    Why would lighting make a difference in commercial use? Its a shot of rocks. 

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    daniellei4510
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 25, 2026 1:49 AM UTC

    And how do you imagine these being purchased and used commercially, even if perfectly exposed? Lack of commercial value is also a reason for rejection and moderators can only selected on reason when there might be many.

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    Adobe Community Expert | I have miles to go before I sleep, but I'm all done on this end.
    daniellei4510
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 25, 2026 12:57 AM UTC

    Check your histogram. Severely underexposed. The sky image has a lot of noise and color cast is kind of odd. Too blue/over-saturated.

     

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    Adobe Community Expert | I have miles to go before I sleep, but I'm all done on this end.
    Participating Frequently
    Aug 25, 2026 12:59 AM UTC

    Oh wow! I edit in LightRoom. What do I need to do to correct it? Lower the histogram? Thank you for your quick replies. 

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    daniellei4510
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 25, 2026 1:11 AM UTC

    Make sure the two boxes on either side of the histogram are active and turned on (click them to turn them on or off). The left side represents the dark areas of an image, the right, the brighter areas.

    Then adjust the Curves as needed to adjust the exposure. I’m sure there are some YouTube tutorials that go into detail with regard to the histogram, curves, and exposure in general.

     

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    Adobe Community Expert | I have miles to go before I sleep, but I'm all done on this end.
    daniellei4510
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 25, 2026 12:46 AM UTC

    You need to post a couple of the rejected assets here. 5MB file size limit. We have no access to your rejected images.

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    Adobe Community Expert | I have miles to go before I sleep, but I'm all done on this end.
    Participating Frequently
    Aug 25, 2026 12:50 AM UTC
    Here are two of my photos that were rejected. They are both in sRGB. 

     

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    Participating Frequently
    Aug 25, 2026 12:50 AM UTC

     

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