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Rejected for Technical Issues?

Participant ,
Nov 23, 2018 Nov 23, 2018

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Is there any way to tell why a photo was rejected for "Technical Issues"?

The description was "A ghost of a hooded knight with a sword standing behind Celtic grave markers at dusk. Black and white."

As a ghost, the knight is intentionally partially transparent and blurred, as many people would expect a real ghost to be, but the grave markers apper to me to be in focus.

Thanks!

ghost-knight-2018-10-27-01.jpg

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correct answers 3 Correct answers

Community Expert , Nov 25, 2018 Nov 25, 2018

Except the information at Do's and don'ts for selecting and editing photos for Adobe Stock is incorrect, this link should put a rest to the black and white guessing. It says at Image Adjustments "Don’t: Convert your image to black & white or duotone. Buyers want the maximum flexibility provided by the full color image". The first flaw the moderator sees is the one they use for rejection. I don't think black and white would be so difficult to see.

Regards

JG

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Adobe Employee , Dec 11, 2018 Dec 11, 2018

As mentioned above, in most cases we do not accept black and white images. There are exceptions that can be made if the moderation determines the file has strong sales potential in the black and white format. In most cases however you are better off uploading the clean, color version which allows the customer to use the file in color or to convert to black and white to match their project.

In this particular image I see the value to the black and white conversion and I like the spooky effect the

...

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Community Expert , Dec 11, 2018 Dec 11, 2018

Just to show what we mean by having contrast - MatHayward  and my post, you need more blacks and whites in the iimage and not just grey tones - this is what we call 'muddy'.

This was done using curves in Photoshop. So, for example:

ghost-knight-B7W curves.jpg

You can play around with the curves and other settings to get the feel you want.

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Advisor ,
Nov 23, 2018 Nov 23, 2018

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Hello madscica, First off I must tell you that there are very few black and white purchases by Adobe buyers so Adobe does not accept many and those few they do accept must be better than best quality and extremely unique. Most customers can change any color photo to the black and white mode on their own. If customers buy a color photo, they get two different uses out of that one shot. Saves buyers money!

Secondly, technical rejections cover a large array of things. We on the forum look at this photo as you also must, enlarge it to 100 - 200% and go over every inch looking for things Adobe lists in their guidelines for stock contributors. Several focus problems exist and might be part of the reason for rejection.

In general, anyone looking at this photo as it is can not know this is a knight ghost. It looks more like a bad photograph of shadows - you will need to sharpen the figure to give it an easy identification for a potential buyer. You have over diminished the figure and it is now just a blur. The sword looks as though it might be interesting so un-ghost it and show it sharp. The ghost can be only a little transparent and suggest a ghost.

Also, you might need to clean up the mess of branches, they do give mood to the setting but are impossible for a buyer to spend time on - taking away the confusion and giving focus to the ghost.

Exposure and lighting are also poor and uninteresting. There is so much wrong with this picture you would be better off reshooting it and leave in its original color.

No, I do not think you should give up. I know you should study the guidelines and follow them. Here is a place for you to study. One of my illustrations was rejected because I did not fully connect part of the mountain to the edge of the canvas.

Be diligent and conform to Adobe's requirements. Maybe save your original artsy things for a private gallery. Best of wishes, JH

More details about Technical Issues is at More details about Technical Issues is at Quality and technical issues rejected at Adobe Stock.

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Community Expert ,
Nov 23, 2018 Nov 23, 2018

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Hi madscica

Adobe do not accept images with special effect. The customers will apply the special effect themselves. You applying special effect to your images limit their salability. Therefore in addition to what Joan has said, it would be good for you to go through the following information

tagproducts_SG_STOCK-CONTRIBUTOR_i18nKeyHelppagetitle

Create better photos for Adobe Stock with 7 tips for success |

Best wishes

JG

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Participant ,
Nov 24, 2018 Nov 24, 2018

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Thank you both for your input. I'll sell the "ghost"  photos elsewhere, they do sell on the other sites.

Note that I did not apply a special effect, except B&W conversion. The "ghost" effect came out of the camera that way with a single exposure.

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Community Expert ,
Nov 24, 2018 Nov 24, 2018

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Hi, I wouldn't consider this having special effects.The 'Technical Issue' is most probably because you have uploaded it in B&W. Unfortunately also, the B&W is rather flat. It has too much of a range of grey tones and lacking in blacks and whites - contrast. Therefore it is a bit of a mid-tone grey. Anyway the main issue I think it that is in B&W, therefore Adobe moderators chose technical Isssues.

For Adobe, technical Issues are: White Balance, Contrast, Saturartion, Chromatic Aberrartion, and general composition. You will see that there other cateogories if you read about quality standards.

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Community Expert ,
Nov 25, 2018 Nov 25, 2018

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Adobe is very picky accepting pictures. I have most of my rejected images here are accepted elsewhere. There is no big deal in that as everybody chooses the type of images they want to sell on their site.

Here there are several factors. First there is a bw conversion and Adobe accepts rarely bw pictures. I do not think, however, that this is the primary rejection reason in this case. I think more like Ricky, that there is contrast missing, probably due to a flawed or badly executed bw conversion.

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

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Community Expert ,
Nov 25, 2018 Nov 25, 2018

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Except the information at Do's and don'ts for selecting and editing photos for Adobe Stock is incorrect, this link should put a rest to the black and white guessing. It says at Image Adjustments "Don’t: Convert your image to black & white or duotone. Buyers want the maximum flexibility provided by the full color image". The first flaw the moderator sees is the one they use for rejection. I don't think black and white would be so difficult to see.

Regards

JG

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Advisor ,
Nov 29, 2018 Nov 29, 2018

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Hi, I am quite sure I covered this in my reply also. I also informed the contributor about other things they might improve. So, we are both right. Regards, JH

MatHayward

What do you think?  Moderator, please. 

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Community Expert ,
Nov 29, 2018 Nov 29, 2018

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Hi Joan

Your post  " Adobe does not accept many and those few they do accept must be better than best quality and extremely unique".

Your answer has many very useful pointers that is essential for successful uploads. However on the matter of black and white submission, your comment suggests that Adobe does accepts some black and white, while the available guidelines says Adobe do not accept black and white.

If you notice, my first answer was not selected, but the reply after Abambo's comment - that with the Dos and Don'ts link with the line "Don’t: Convert your image to black & white or duotone. Buyers want the maximum flexibility provided by the full color image."

Regards

JG

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Community Expert ,
Nov 30, 2018 Nov 30, 2018

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Well, there are sometimes "don'ts" that get accepted. In most of the cases it is, however, absolutely not appropriate or useful to convert pictures to black and white. The user buyer can do this operation on his own.

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

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Advisor ,
Nov 30, 2018 Nov 30, 2018

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Hi Abambo, Yes, you stated the very thing I also suggested, some of our staff do respond - saying there is a high possibility of rejection of black and white photos. No absolute statement has appeared in the forum that I have seen. I too stated the obvious - a preference of the buyer to change a stock purchase to B & W as they choose.

So, how shall we proceed? Quote the manual or hint at it? There is always an exception to a rule - it has to be a magnificent photo to get past the reviewers. But it can happen. : = ) Thanks to both of you for the discussion. Best regards. JH

Maybe send this to Pete Green

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Community Expert ,
Nov 30, 2018 Nov 30, 2018

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What I do when I see an image is trying to detect the flaws that I would use as a rejection reason. If I can't find the obvious, I look into the rejection reason and what Adobe describes what the contributor should do. And when you look at the comments, you very often find different flaws, that all may be a good rejection reason.

But it's not absolute as you have seen in the different discussions you followed. I think, however, that Jacquelin is right, moderators will refuse on the first reason they find, and bw is an easy one...

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

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Adobe Employee ,
Dec 11, 2018 Dec 11, 2018

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As mentioned above, in most cases we do not accept black and white images. There are exceptions that can be made if the moderation determines the file has strong sales potential in the black and white format. In most cases however you are better off uploading the clean, color version which allows the customer to use the file in color or to convert to black and white to match their project.

In this particular image I see the value to the black and white conversion and I like the spooky effect the motion blur provides. The problem I see is the black and white conversion is fairly muddy and lacks contrast. It seems a bit underexposed in general and lacks the crisp pop I see in most accepted black and white files.

If you shot the image in RAW format you might try increasing the exposure about a stop or maybe just under then increasing the contrast. No guarantees it will get approved but that's what I would do.

Good luck,

Mat

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Participant ,
Dec 11, 2018 Dec 11, 2018

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Ok, thanks, I'll try some of the suggestions. I was going for a dark low contrast disk type look, but I'll have another go at it with the raw file.

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Community Expert ,
Dec 11, 2018 Dec 11, 2018

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Just to show what we mean by having contrast - MatHayward  and my post, you need more blacks and whites in the iimage and not just grey tones - this is what we call 'muddy'.

This was done using curves in Photoshop. So, for example:

ghost-knight-B7W curves.jpg

You can play around with the curves and other settings to get the feel you want.

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