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Similar images already submitted!!!

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
March 30, 2025
71 replies
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Hello there,

I went from a 95% acceptance rate to 20% or less. Almost all of my submissions are being rejected for the "similar image" reason.

The quality of the images is really good and doesn’t have any issues.

I am uploading at most 2 or 3 variations of each object ,PNGs only and a variety of different items across many categories. I also make sure not to upload similar content that I’ve previously submitted. I am 100% certain that my entire account doesn’t have more than three variations of any given item.

Sometimes, I upload the same object in different styles.

for example, a car in a 3D style and another version in watercolor or clay, so they are still distinct. (2 to 3 variations for each style)

Is this a general issue that will be resolved soon, or is it only affecting me?

Contributors

Correct answer daniellei4510

Hello everyone. Adobe Stoke made a reject of my photo under the pretext that I posted a similar picture. But this is not true. Can anyone explain what is happening?

hanks for giving us the chance to consider your image. Unfortunately, during our review we found that it's similar to another image(s) you've already uploaded, so we can't accept it into our collection.

Images must be different enough to provide additional value to our customers. We can't accept more than three color variations of the same image or similar images, and models must appear in different situations or with different expressions to be considered. Please be selective and submit only the very best from each image series.

..

File ID: 1370485346

Original name: IMG_3779 3.jpg

(moderator merging this with similar thread)

A number of contributors are having assets rejected for being too similar when in fact they are not. We don't know why. Our only option is to wait things out until the situatioin is explained or fixed. Some have ceased to submit new assets in the meantime.

robertm49297337

Inspiring

Here are my observations, FWIW:
Things like closeups of desserts almost ALL get through. I submitted 300 different desserts and candies and I think basically all of them made it.

Generic background images like asbtract watercolors, gradients, or textures do pretty well. If I submit 10 variations, 5 to 9 will get through. I submitted 15 creative variation of an abstract creepy eyes Halloween wallpaper and all but 3 were accepted. There are millions of gradient backgrounds on the site, but they still get accepted.

This is also true for graphical stuff like Halloween backgrounds, but to a somewhat lesser extent.

Pictures of people are hit or miss, sometimes brutal. Minories seem to get through better, perhaps because they are underrepresented. I submitted a set of elderly people and they all got rejected for similar.

Anything with a concept or a relatively unique subject is hard to get through. I submitted picture of an Elizabethan woman with scientific equipment and books around her. Nuked. I submitted a refrigerator filled with gold bars, with carrots and cabbage (get it?). Nuked. I looked at what comes up when you search for that, and it's all pretty generic or even wildly off-topic. A bear and a bull hugging to comfort each other (financial crisis)? Nuked because bear & bull. Nevermind that there's no other image with that concept. There are 27 images on the whole site of an astronaut riding a dolphin. Evidently there is no room for. One of mine got through. Two got rejected for similar. Even if your image has a unique look, take, or concept, if it even *remotely* approaches a recognizable concept it's often considered similar.

In short, from my experience, the more distinctive and identifiable the subject of an image is, the more likely it is to get rejected. Which seems to me to be the opposite of what makes sense or is good for Adobe Stock's users.

I'm not complaining. I've found some niches that work so I'm doubling down on them. Some are easy to get accepted. For subjects that aren't, I just make sure they're as high quality yet generic as possible, and that seems to do well. Generic woman at sunrise? Good. Woman in haut couture dress made of flowers? Big no.

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

I'm fairly certain Adobe checks metadata with AI. And keywords are a likely pain point for "similar content" rejections. Using synonyms might be a path forward.

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/how-to-submit-distinct-content.html

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

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Vision350771902ejx

Known Participant

This is bulls-hit. Whatever I upload, it says it has found similarities; it rejects every single image I try to use. It's clear they need to fix this problem, and if they don't, nobody will post anything anymore. I don't know what program or artificial intelligence they are using, but you can't just reject every image randomly for no reason.

It's stupid to wait 1-2 weeks only to have all my images rejected... seriously... I can't figure out what similarities they find... in their sick minds. Sometimes I just want to delete my account entirely... it's a waste of time to take pictures for $0.001, just to make $1 every 3 months... It's too much work, and it's not worth it.

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

You're preaching to the choir here. This user-to-user community has no influence over Adobe's internal procedures.

Review the TERMS of Agreement:

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/submission-guidelines.html

Reasons for Rejection:

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/reasons-for-content-rejection.html

Voice your concerns directly to Contributor Support:

https://contributor.stock.adobe.com/contact

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

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stanislava_5223

Known Participant

Some interesting news about the impact of acceptance rate

F

filby99

Participant

I got the same thing, prolly many others did too I assume

D

Decadence 30

Participant

I'm experiencing exactly the same situation — I went from having almost everything accepted to now having nearly all of my submissions rejected due to the "similar image" reason. Any attempt to discuss it with support is completely pointless; they just refer me to the guidelines. Right now, they can reject any image simply because it might be considered similar to another one. Unfortunately, it feels like this has become the new normal 😞

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

Do your research. Compare your work with current Stock inventory to ensure that Stock actually needs what you're selling. It's silly to submit assets for content that Adobe already has millions & millions of.

Also, under-represented content is more likely to come up in searches. The big fish in the small bowl.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

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Jason37175475psxg

Participant

Has anyone seen a change in acceptance latley so I stop doing 5 at a time?

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serendipitous_dream0401

Inspiring

I'm experiencing a really slow acceptance rate now, 1 or 2 files at a time.

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Aleks_023

Participant

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to chime in here and share my recent experience, which aligns closely with what many of you have already mentioned in this thread.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a large batch of my images rejected under the reason “Similar content already submitted”. What struck me is not just the volume of rejections (several hundred), but the fact that these images are, in my opinion, quite distinct — not only from each other, but also from anything that’s already present on Adobe Stock.

To better understand the issue, I performed a thorough review of my own portfolio:
-I used Adobe Stock’s own search tools to look for similar images using keywords and tags.
-I ran AI-based visual similarity checks using tools like Google Vision AI and other platforms to compare my images with ones available on Adobe Stock.
-In none of the tests did the similarity go over 70%, and most of the time it stayed well below 60%.
-According to Adobe's own guidelines (Similar vs Spamming), this level of difference should be acceptable — especially when images differ in composition, lighting, angle, color, or framing.

I fully understand that spammy uploads and excessive duplication should be avoided, and I absolutely support quality over quantity. But these automated or overly strict rejection patterns are really discouraging — especially when we don't get a chance to clarify or appeal.

Like many others here, I would really appreciate:
-A clearer explanation or updated criteria if the policy has recently changed.
-A chance for manual review or resubmission of wrongly rejected content.
-More transparency about how similarity is assessed – is it purely algorithmic now?

I’m passionate about contributing to Adobe Stock, and I genuinely care about the quality of what I upload. But this current situation is disheartening — not only for me, but for many contributors who put effort into creating unique, high-quality content.

Thanks to all who’ve shared their experiences. Let’s hope Adobe Support takes notice and provides some clarity soon.

daniellei4510

Community Expert

-A clearer explanation or updated criteria if the policy has recently changed.
-A chance for manual review or resubmission of wrongly rejected content.
-More transparency about how similarity is assessed – is it purely algorithmic now?

No's 1 and 2 are never going to happen. It took Adobe a couple of months just to update the canned rejection text to how it reads now (when it stated clearly that the similarities were due to assets in the contributor's own portfolio). For #2, it's just never going to happen. They would need to hire dozens of additional moderators to take time for this. For #3, given the randomness of such rejections, I think we must assume that there is a poorly configured algorithm based on keywords and titles (or AI, based on the actual images, which I doubt) that is acting as a gatekeeper and these rejected assets are never seen by the moderators

Adobe Community Expert | If you can't fix it, hide it; if you can't hide it, delete it.

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Aleks_023

Participant

I understand that Adobe's moderation process likely involves multiple steps, possibly starting with AI-based evaluations to assess compliance with contributor guidelines, followed by checks for content similarity and quality. It's plausible that the similarity assessments rely heavily on metadata—such as titles, descriptions, and keywords—rather than on detailed visual analysis of the images themselves. Implementing comprehensive AI-driven visual comparisons for every submission would indeed require substantial resources and might not be feasible at scale.

Given the vast number of images uploaded daily, it's conceivable that contributors inadvertently use similar or identical metadata, especially when adhering to standard tagging practices. This overlap could lead to the algorithm flagging distinct images as duplicates, resulting in rejections that may not accurately reflect the uniqueness of the content.

To address this, it would be beneficial for Adobe to provide more transparency about the criteria used for similarity assessments. Understanding whether the evaluations are primarily metadata-driven or if visual elements are also considered could help contributors tailor their submissions more effectively. Additionally, clearer guidelines on optimizing metadata to minimize unintended similarities would be invaluable.

In my latest batch of submissions, I noticed that 100% of the images were rejected under the "Similar content" reason. This was unexpected, especially considering that each image had a unique title, crafted to reflect its distinct content. And images themselves were notably different, with no more than three sharing similar themes or compositions... while the tags used were relevant, it's possible that some overlap with existing content on the platform occurred.

I understand that with the vast number of submissions Adobe Stock receives daily, automated systems play a crucial role in the initial review process. It's plausible that algorithms assess similarities based on metadata, such as titles and keywords, rather than conducting in-depth visual analyses of the images themselves.

Aleks

JanosJ

Participant

My take on similar images and if the powers to be are listening a suggestion. I could not agree more that an image submitted is similar as a scene, however not as a location.

I recently submitted a river scene in Latvia, Meanders of Upper Daugava. There is nothing or very little unique in the picture as such. However the scene, locality is a tentative world heritage site. As such it can have commercial value. Such sites are key destinations for many travelers, and thus to organisations promoting travel. They will not use just any bend in any river, but one of the real location. I could not find another in Adobe library. Now if I just am so poor in my search this comment is of no value. But if not, then pure scene specific declination hurts Adobe, creators. Yes, I did submit with the description, narrative.

Jill_C

Community Expert

I agree. I've had several images rejected recently on the basis of "similars". One is a field of rock cairns high above the fjord in Trondheim, Norway. There are other rock cairns in the database, but none from this particular and very beautiful location. All rock cairns are not the same as the "dumb algorithm" seems to conclude. In their pursuit of eliminating redundant content, Adobe is actually doing just the opposite - screening out unique content!

Jill C., Forum Volunteer

daniellei4510

Community Expert

More evidence that the process is random, faulty, or illogical in its decision-making.

This asset was accepted about a month ago:

This asset was submitted last night and accepted today (though nearly identical):

This asset was rejected for being too similar to other assets in the database (at the same time as the accepted one above):

Adobe Community Expert | If you can't fix it, hide it; if you can't hide it, delete it.

jacquelingphoto2017

Community Expert

The two top pictures are totally different. Although it looks like the same lady, one was when she had clean face, the other was when she had a skin issue. Those two images are not similar. Each image carries something different that is of value to the customer. If it were not an error, the moderator saw in your profile another image looking close to the third image in which case this image would not add something different that would be of value to the customer.

Best wishes

Jacquelin

Abambo

Community Expert

The two top pictures are totally different.

By @jacquelingphoto2017

The two images are visually similar. You need to read the whole thread to understand the point @daniellei4510 is making. He is not complaining, or asking why, he is simply adding some value to this discussion by demonstrating the randomness of the new similar rejection wave.

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

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Jason37175475psxg

Participant

The system is junk there new meanning means nothing. I have been testing it to see if I can get images to be accepted and this take it only works for Illustrations. I have been doing baches of 5 giving it 10 hours to accept the images. All of my test images have been accepted but it did take several tries for many of them to even get through. Most of the time it would accept maybe 3 at most I did get an entire batch through once though. It will defintly not work on photographs because they never go through as fast as an Illustration does. Hope this helps some of you even though it is a pain in the butt and much more time consuming. I was only able to get around 50 in this week done compared too the 100's we were doing before. So its up to you if you want to wait it out or be consumed by short turnarounds.