The speed of reviewing/proofing my uploaded images

[jia1674]

I want to express my frustration regarding the excessive delay in reviewing and approving my uploaded images on Adobe Stock.

It has been over a month since I uploaded my images, and I am still awaiting approval. I understand reviewing and approving a large volume of submissions can be a time-consuming process. However, the length of this delay is far beyond what can be considered reasonable. I have observed other contributors receiving approval for their submissions within a reasonable time frame, which further exacerbates my frustration and raises concerns about fairness in the review process.

I think Abobe needs to address this matter and provide an explanation for the excessive delay in reviewing and approving images. I hope that my concerns are taken seriously and that appropriate measures are implemented to prevent such delays from occurring in the future for all of the contributors. I believe in the potential of this platform and wish to continue contributing my creative work to its success. 

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

There's nothing you can do about traffic.  Review times vary based how many other assets were ahead of yours in the wait queue.  Incidentally, this is a user-to-user community. You're not speaking with Adobe Stock reviewers here.  We are unpaid forum volunteers & fellow users like you. 

On average, Photos & Vector Graphics are reviewed in 5 -15 business days.
Illustrations & Generative AI could take 1 - 3 months due in large part to the glut of AI submissions Stock is receiving.  Sometimes hundreds of AI are uploaded by a single contributor.  Multiply hundreds of assets times hundreds of contributors and you begin to see the problem. 

To reduce wait times, Stock has set a limit on how many assets contributors can have in review at any given time.  But once you submit, you must wait patiently for review the same as everyone else.  Use the time wisely to work on other assets.

For faster turnarounds, submit fewer generative AI. Focus on quality instead of quantity. 😉

Good luck.

[Festive_epicness157F]

Seems like regular photos get stuck too...?

[Jill_C]

The queue for photographs has also grown to ~3 weeks following Adobe's decision to allow "photo-realistic" Generative AI images to be submitted as Photos file type.

[Abambo]

Yes, because Adobe allows to submit generative AI in the photos queue. But I recently submitted a generative AI picture to check the delays, and they are nowhere where people claim they are. It really took me around 4 weeks to get my picture accepted. That's a long time, but nothing shocking.

[peter603 ID: 200407852]

Why are my photos taking over a month and more to review?

[Jill_C]

Everyone is waiting longer these days. The Adobe website states up to 8 weeks. Be patient. There's nothing you can do to hasten the process.

[Abambo]

This is a time-critical issue. What was true last year may not be true today. It is said that moderation typically takes around 8 weeks. It may even be longer. That is normal today.

[Jill_C · Accepted solution]

If you follow this forum as well as the Adobe Stock Discord channel, you would be aware that since Adobe Stock permitted the submission of Generative AI assets, there has been a huge influx of such images, many from Contributors uploading hundreds or even thousands of such images at a time. The influx has been throttled somewhat due to the implementation of a cap on how many images can be under review on an account; however the backlog still remains at a very high level, with some estimates that Illustrations now require more than 2 months. There has been much communication on this issue by Adobe; perhaps you're not plugged into those channels of communication.

Meanwhile, there is nothing you can do to hasten the process. Be patient.

[Abambo · Accepted solution]

I think Abobe needs to address this matter and provide an explanation for the excessive delay in reviewing and approving images. I hope that my concerns are taken seriously and that appropriate measures are implemented to prevent such delays from occurring in the future for all of the contributors. I believe in the potential of this platform and wish to continue contributing my creative work to its success. 

By @jia1674

The explanation is simple: More submissions than the system can handle. Adobe is trying to address the problem by adjusting the number of assets you can have in your moderation queue, but with all those measures, they take time to get a result, as moderation is on a first in, first out basis. So, the solution would be for all contributors to submit only 10 assets and wait for getting those moderated and then submit the next 10.

From the Adobe perspective, it doesn't matter if your assets are in the database, as long as they get thousands of assets moderated in an hour and growing their database enormously with new assets. However, your concerns were taken seriously even before you formulated them, as Adobe now limits the number of outstanding assets in the queue.

You would have found this answer to your frustration by searching the hundreds of messages, that we have answered since the beginning of the year on this subject.

I wish you much success with your submissions, and many sales. But I doubt that Adobe will read your message, as this is a user to user forum, and Adobe rarely intervenes.

[jia1674]

Thank you for providing explanation for the delay I've experienced in the review and approval process for my uploaded images. I appreciate your acknowledgment of the various factors that contributed to extended waiting periods.

However, it seems that Adobe Stock's policy of allowing only 50 images to be uploaded at a time. As a photographer with a substantial collection of photos, this limitation has put me in a holding pattern, unable to upload additional images for consideration.

I was thinking if Adobe would open up channels to separate the AI-generated illustrations from the real photographs and other art works, that would help. I upload my own photographs as well as AI-generated illustrations, and the separation would solve my dilemma.

It would not only provide clarity and ease for users searching for specific types of content but also give contributors like myself a clearer platform to showcase our diverse artistic works. It would streamline the search process for users and provide a clearer distinction for contributors who upload both types of content. This separation would alleviate the dilemma some of us face when trying to upload a diverse range of artistic works.

[Jill_C]

Again, if you had read any of the recent posts you would have learned that Illustrations, including Generative AI, are in a separate queue which is taking 2 months or longer to be reviewed. Photographs are still being reviewed in less than a week.

[jia1674]

Yes, I understand the timing now. But, what I was saying is the 50 total images limit in the waiting for approval, which capped off one's ability to do both the photograhs and the AI illustration, for example, I have 50 photos to upload, and I already have 50 AI generated illustrations in the waiting to be approveled, I'll be stuck, can't move forward at this point. All I have suggested was, if Abobe would seperate the limits on both, it would be better for everyone, don't you agree? 

[Jill_C]

Yes, I see what you mean. If I were you, I would delete some of the Generative AI images, which will take much longer to be reviewed, and submit photographs instead. Those will be reviewed quickly, and you will get assets onto your account and available for licensing sooner than if you wait for all those AI assets to be reviewed. You can resubmit the AI images later.

[Nancy OShea]

I think Adobe sets limits based on history.

• How long have you been a contributor?
• What is your rejection rate?
• How many accepted assets have you sold? 
• Etc....

[Test Screen Name]

I'm very please to see Adobe setting a low limit. Ever since the great AI flood forced Adobe to set limits, the wait times have been up to 3 months for AI, it's stabilised but too long. We can't expect Adobe to employ hundreds of new reviewers, so setting a low limit should help hit the people still flooding hundreds of thousands of AI images, and get it back to a reasonable time. Will the pain be spread equally? Maybe, but if I was Adobe I'd favour giving higher limits or faster reviews to the profitable contributors. Profit is, after all, the aim. Not fairness.

[Cynsha]

I agree. It's been over a month for me as well. It's beyond frustration at this point.

[Jill_C]

If you've been following this forum at all, you would have learned that review time for Generative AI assets has been around 2 months for quite a long time, so that fact that yours are still waiting after a month should not be a surprise. It does seem to be improving lately. Meanwhile, you can prepare more assets, upload and add titles and keywords. If you have reached the submission limit on your account, the Submit button will be grayed out, but as soon as some assets are reviewed you can submit more.

[Nancy OShea]

It's beyond frustration at this point.

By @Cynsha

========

It's "beyond frustration" when Subway® repeatedly screws up my sandwich order 👿. 

Stock's review time is no big deal. They get thousands of submissions a week, eventually they'll get around to mine.  Meanwhile, I'm working on other things.  My sales will be the same no matter when the assets are reviewed.  Everything balances out in the end.

[findupto]

I have also faced such issues but the review time is based on quee. Everything will reviewed on its numbers i think so...

[jia1674]

My photos are taking forever to get reviewed lately. I'm not even talking about AI-generated ones, just regular photos. Maybe there's been a flood of new submissions, but who really knows?

I do have another question to ask: has Adobe tweaked their algorithm? Does anyone have tips on making our photos stand out more? Since algorithms are running the show instead of human reviewers, any tricks to optimize visibility would be super helpful. I have seen some YouTube clips, but, they are old...

[Jill_C]

There is no evidence of a change in the search algorithms, and even if there was, Adobe never reveals such info. There also is no "secret" to getting your assets viewed and licensed by Buyers. Avoid submitting assets in categories that already over represented in the database, make sure your titles and keywords are thorough and accurate, and keep submitting new material steadily.

[Colin Stephenson]

Adobe you need to improve the speed of review. I agree completely and I find other stock sites I supply review within 2 hours! higher people Adobe some great stock photo suppliers cna earn more cash by reviewing other content. please inmprove this as soon as possible

[Jill_C]

If Adobe believed the ROI on hiring additional reviewers was justified they would surely do so. Filling up the database with millions more similar AI images isn't going to boost the sales. 

[jia1674]

If the glut of AI-generated images is what's clogging up the review process, Adobe needs to rethink their strategy. Dealing with the AI influx is one thing, but letting it cause a three-month delay for reviewing genuine, non-AI photos is another. I've got two photos stuck in review limbo for that long, and I bet I'm not the only one.

If Adobe wants to keep content creators happy—and productive—they need to address this bottleneck, and fast. It's not just about ROI; it's about respecting the time and effort of the creators who are keeping their platform alive.