How can I sell pictures in the Premium collection?

[drake2uk]

Hello all,

I understand that for a while Adobe has offered pictures in the Premium Collection, but there is currently no way to sell pictures there unless invited.

I am therefore unclear how to break into that area now that I have pictures of higher quality to sell.

I will not upload my best pictures to be sold as standard, why would I do that to earn 19 pence for a picture?

Thus Adobe will not be able to gauge my skills to invite me to sell under the Premium Collection, so I won't upload my best pictures.

How would you suggest I break out of this vicious circle?

Could Adobe allow people to submit a portfolio of pictures to gauge their suitability to Premium? In any case Adobe can still decide whether subsequent pictures make the grade or can only be sold as standard?

thank you

-Michele

[MatHayward]

Hi Michele,

The Premium collection is highly curated and as you mentioned is only available to contribute through direct invitation only at this time. If we open it up to more submissions or applications we will be sure to post an announcement here in the forum and in the contributor blog: Adobe Stock Contributors | Creative Cloud blog by Adobe

[David Alan Dobbs]

Dear Mr. Hayward,

I have several images accepted to my Adobe Stock Portfolio.  I believe these images are Premium quality.  The images in question were shot in locations that were setup and styled to be the best images possible. All were shot medium format on transparency film.   I have always sold Rights Managed stock photography. It makes me sad an mad that i thought all adobe stock is Premium.  I think selling this top notch images for pennies a crime. How can I make all of my submissions to Adobe Premium only.   Thank you in advance for your kind considerations of my concerns.

Sincerely,

David A. Dobbs

[moderator deleted e-mail]

[MatHayward · Accepted solution]

Hi David,

Thanks for your interest. The Premium collection is highly curated and currently available through direct invitation only. We are not accepting applications at this time. If that changes in the future we will be sure to post an announcement here in the forum and in the Adobe Stock blog linked here: Adobe Stock Contributors | Creative Cloud blog by Adobe

[Heidi5D2D]

very unfortunate response, and HIGHLY OFFENSIVE to all the incredible photographers out there spending mortgage money on their equptment. Shame on you ADOBE. Companies that do things like this will eventually meet their demise. Creative SACRILIDGE!

[Jill_C]

How is Mat's statement offensive? Perhaps spending mortgage money on equipment with the intent of making it back on stock photography sales is not a sound financial strategy. There are many thousands of photographers contributing to Adobe Stock. When you sign up you know what you'll be earning.  

[ohillsklaus]

If you want more royalties, you could try creating your own website, upload your photos, and sell them. You would have to advertise on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc, but you could make 100% of your royalties while at the same time offering packages of your images, etc. As a beginner or a person who does not want to promote themselves, you could just upload your best images to Adobe Stock, and wait until you are invited to Premium.

[Guest]

This is one ignorant reply. Corporate shill

[Guest]

Never submit your top quality photos to Adobe! The only ones I supply to Adobe are the ones that are the last step before the recycle bin on my computer.

[MatHayward]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm sorry you feel that way. We do have strict quality guidelines in place for the Premium collection and the Standard collection. I recommend you put your best foot forward when submitting stock content. If it's something you are willing to put the work in for, there is plenty of opportunity to earn revenue for your work. If it's not for you, that's OK too. That's what is great about stock, you shoot what you want, when you want and how you want.

I wish you the best of luck and a very happy holiday season!

-Mat Hayward 

[Guest]

Ha! I've looked at the Premium selections. It's about as strict as my grandmother looking through my shots before I edit them, and saying they are all so nice. But the point we are making is that Adobe doesn't respect their photographers, evidenced by the amount they pay in royalties. Triple the amount and it starts to be less insulting, quadruple it and it starts to be defensable, after that you start to look at fair.

[Abambo]

You're welcome to show us the stock provider paying more per picture sold and who are successful. 

You do not need to contribute, if you find that the return is not enough. 

This said, I would also like to get mor money.

[Guest]

So if every agency is ripping you off it's okay? Have some self respect. Simply sell your photos on your own website, or shop them directly to agencies and designers. Do you think you will get more money by playing Adobe's and other stock houses games, and giving them your best shots for a dollar? I hate to break it to you, but that's not the way to make decent money for your hard work and talents.

Like I said, I give them last-chance photos that nobody buys. Basically non-artistic, not very unique shots. Anybody who gives Adobe their best shots in exchange for $1.29 is a sell out to the industry and is hurting their fellow photographers and themselves.

[Abambo]

Simply sell your photos on your own website, or shop them directly to agencies and designers.

By @Deleted User

I still can do that, but doing my website is time-consuming and error-prone. And I probably will not be able to provide a complete set of pictures.

Like I said, I give them last-chance photos that nobody buys. Basically non-artistic, not very unique shots. Anybody who gives Adobe their best shots in exchange for $1.29 is a sell out to the industry and is hurting their fellow photographers and themselves.

By @Deleted User

Your choice…

[Guest]

By the way, there are other stock houses that pay more. Adobe will delete my post if I mention their competitors.

[Abambo]

Adobe will not delete the post. Only if the post is spam or otherwise inappropriate.

[Jill_C]

Adobe's competitors are mentioned frequently here in the forum because many contributors post on multiple sites and those forum posts are not censored or deleted. This is primarily a User community, though Mat Hayward visits from time to time when necessary. You seem to be convinced that we're all being ripped off by Adobe. If you've found a more rewarding path to selling your images, perhaps it would be in your best interests to withdraw your Adobe images and concentrate your energies there.

[Guest]

[Insult deleted by moderator.]

If you feel good about getting $1.29 for your work, great! 

This is my last post on this subject. I'll type is slow so you and the other people who are submitting your best work to sell for chump change can keep up.

I ONLY sell rejects on Adobe Stock. I sell them frequently, so why would I pull something that would otherwise be trashed? The POINT is you don't give Adobe your BEST shots. Sell them on Arc Angel or Getty. Even those are low though. The best way to sell your best shots is to send your portfolio to ad agencies, marketing agencies, magazine publishers and graphic designers, etc.

If Adobe suddenly stopped getting people's best work, they would raise their commission in a heartbeat.

I'm sorry if you can't understand that concept. Good luck to you.

[Jill_C]

Now you've gone too far. This forum is not Facebook or Reddit Or Twitter where you can insult others from behind your anonymous user ID. Reported.

[George_F]

There isn't any reason that you can't do both.  I post my images on stock sites, and also try to sell them to local publications and establishments directly.  The awesome part about using a stock agency is that you just upload the images, and there is very little risk and very little work involved after that.  No marketing, very little risk of a lawsuit, no contract negotiating and re-reading it a million times to make sure it's solid.  I like that multiple sets of eyes have looked them over to make sure something hasn't been missed before using it commercially.

Overwhelmingly, the sales I make on stock are sales that I wouldn't have otherwise made such as to people in other countries.  And of the few photos I've found "in the wild", I've thought it was a fair trade for how it was being used.  I've found a few in blog posts and social media posts.  So I completely understand why stock may not fit well with someones sales strategies, but it is a good fit for some of us.

[Guest]

"It’s easier to fool the masses than to convince them that they are being fooled." -Mark Twain

[Abambo]

Locking this now.