Rejected for quality – what exactly is wrong with this image?

Question

This photo was rejected for “quality issues,” and I’d really appreciate honest feedback.

I’m trying to understand what the main problem is: focus, lighting, exposure, print quality of the answer sheet, composition, or overall commercial value.

The concept is an exam answer sheet with a pencil marking a multiple choice answer. I thought the idea was clear, but maybe the printed sheet looks too low quality or the image is not sharp enough.

Is this something fixable in post, or not worth saving?

This is a real photo, not AI-generated.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jill_C · Accepted Answer

The DOF is too shallow, resulting in very little being in sharp focus.

Nancy OShea · Answer

I could be wrong but IMHO this should have been refused for IP reasons.

SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) sheets are protected intellectual property.

A search of Adobe Stock yields these results:

https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=sat+exam

Draw your own conclusions.

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