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Nick27953846pa5m
Participating Frequently
January 16, 2023
Question

Advice: Image rejections

  • January 16, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 2036 views

Hello, I'm new to Adobe Stock as a contributor. I've submitted a couple hundred photos over the past few months and none of them have been selected. I can understand if it's a formatting or quality issue, but the consistency in what photos are selected leaves me scratching my head. I submitted this image of Thun, Switzerland that was rejected. I thought maybe it isn't large enough, but other similar photos at larger sizes I submitted were rejected.

 

Then I see photos on Adobe Stock that look like this:

 

So I'm wondering what specific criteria I'm missing? Are the photos I'm submitting too saturated? Are they too small? Thanks in advance.

3 replies

Ricky336
Community Expert
Ricky336Community Expert
Community Expert
January 17, 2023

Hello,

You've got a lot of replies already, but to reiterate...

Firstly, what type of camera did you use, a smartphone (Apple iPhone, Samsung?...)? I ask because the pixels become a little more 'blocky' when enlarged to 100%. This is due to JPEG compression. JPEG uses lossy compression - pixels that are not needed are removed; it is used to save space. The unfortunate consequence of this method is that there is a reduction in quality, esp noticeable if one does large enlargements - as the case could be with stock!

Your photo seems to come under this. The specific criteria, in this case, (I think) is that the pixels appear blocky.

The other picture you referred to, I can't really say, as it is a screenshot? but probably doesn't suffer from compression artifacts. (Composition is bad, however!)

The white balance issue that was pointed out, I don't think is an issue in this case! It's a sunny day -the camera's software probably increased the blues and greens 

George_F
Community Expert
George_FCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 16, 2023

There are many reasons why photos may have been acceptable in the past but are no longer acceptable.  There are also legacy photos from before the Fotolia acquisition that may also not meet today's standards.  I suspect I have a few photos in my portfolio that wouldn't be accepted in by today's standards.

 

But we're always to review photos and offer some feedback.  You didn't mention what reason is given with the rejected photos?  It would be helpful to know.  I see both technical issues with a blue color cast and oversaturation, and potential IP issues as there appears to be a building in the photo that stands out more than the rest.  There is a plane in the sky that should probably be cloned out, and the clouds have some odd coloring to them that may be a result of the oversaturation.  I'd prefer to see a bit more detail in the mountains, but I'm not sure that led to the rejection.  There is a halo around the top mountain.

 

At first glance it really is a nice photo and I really like it, but the small details are important when it comes to commercial work.  

 

Including the metadata along with your photos will also help get more specific feedback

 

I hope this helps, feel free to reach out with more questions 🙂

George F, Photographer & Forum Volunteer
N
Nick27953846pa5mAuthor
Participating Frequently
January 16, 2023

Thank you for the feedback. The reasons given for rejection are very vague; usually "quality issues" but not a very specific reason given. I understand that giving detailed feedback on every photo would be impossible but I feel there should be a bit more reason given, if for no other reason than to help people avoid submitting unacceptable photos that need reviewed.

Jill_C
Community Expert
Jill_CCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 16, 2023

Adobe Stock assumes that you are already an experienced photographer with the ability to capture and edit high quality images. They are not in the business of making you a better photographer, though there are certainly other divisions of Adobe that offer plenty of advice and help in that regard. The Moderators are incentivized to quickly accept high quality images into the database and quickly reject inferior images, and it would slow them down immeasurably to have to denote the various quality issues that they see.

 

A cursory examination of the first image shows that it's quite over-saturated, has a soft focus and a white balance problem and some artifacts either from a small sensor or excessive processing. I agree that the second image isn't of particularly high quality and could be a legacy of Fotolia or escaped the close scrutiny of a Moderator. Keep in mind that Adobe has >327million images in the database, acquired Fotolia in 2015, and probably adding many millions in the 8 years they've been in the business. During that time, camera capabilities have improved by leaps and bounds, and the quality standard has increased also. I don't know whether Adobe has an active program of culling older, unsold images of questionable quality, but I think they need to do so.

 

Jill C., Forum Volunteer
    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 16, 2023

    What was the rejection reason? Technical issues?

     

    Your picture does not meet the quality requirements for Adobe stock:

    • No details due to excessive (in-camera) noise reduction.
    • White balance issue, the picture is too cold (bluish).

    In addition, if the picture would nicely focussed and sharp, you would probably need model releases for the persons here:

     

    And you may need to edit out the logo here:

     

    The picture you showed, that has been accepted, is not a good picture, and I wouldn't buy it, but is technically correct and technically in a better shape than yours. And I see that even on the preview.

     

    If you are new to stock, you should consider these resources: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/tutorials.html
    Please read the contributor user manual for more information on Adobe stock contributions: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/user-guide.html
    See here for rejection reasons: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/reasons-for-content-rejection.html
    and especially quality and technical issues: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/quality-and-technical-issues.html

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
      George_F
      Community Expert
      George_FCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 16, 2023

      @Abambo Good catch on the people and logos.

      George F, Photographer & Forum Volunteer
        Abambo
        Community Expert
        AbamboCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        January 17, 2023
        quote

        @Abambo Good catch on the people and logos.


        By @George_F

        There is a good probability, that you find elements like this in a city/village view. It's the second thing I look at, when examining my pictures. The first thing is sharpness. 

        ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
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