Thanks to everyone who nominated their photos for the Free collection. The approval process is now complete and all approved photos from your nominations have been moved into the Free collection. All other images you nominated but were not selected will remain in your paid portfolio. I'll be sure to update you should any additional opportunities come up in the future.

Thanks again,

Mat Hayward

I recently had several editorial images rejected...not a big deal. The rejection I believe is likely because the photos were "news oriented" even though there weren't people in all of the ones rejected

However, the "Illustrative Editorial Guidelines" seem to be a bit contradictory. In one paragraph it is stated:

"We are looking for imagery intended to illustrate articles on current events and news, focused on conceptual imagery using real brands and products to convey strong ideas."

Then a few sentences later it states:

 "The most common cases for rejection from that collection are:

    - The file includes identifiable people.
    - The file is news or documentary editorial.
    - The file did not have a strong editorial concept."

It is a bit confusing: "We are looking for imagery intended to illustrate articles on current events and news" vs. "...common cases for rejection...- The file is news or documentary editorial"

Seems to say imagery for current events and news is wanted and then says news is reason for rejection?

Can we have some clarification?

Thanks

Thank you for your comments. A moment ago I uploaded the language in the Learn and Support page for illustrative editorial submissions. Hopefully, this will provide you with more clarity.

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/illustrative-editorial-content.html

Mat Hayward

Love it. Any reason the money cannot be withdrawn?

@LissiC, if you already have a payment request pending in the queue, you can't submit an additional request until it has been processed. There are three other scenarios that come to mind. One, if you haven't had your first sale in the account beyond 45 days. Two, if you do not have a valid tax form on file. Three, if your balance has not reached the minimum payment amount of $25.

If none of those scenarios apply, please submit a ticket via the contact us link at the bottom of the contributor portal.

Kind regards,

Mat

Hi Everyone,

At this moment, we are making upfront payments for the 3rd wave of selections for the Free collection from the images you had previously nominated. If any of your images are selected for this wave, you will see your balance go up automatically within the next couple of hours. We will be sending you an email in the next day or so with the number of files approved and the amount of credits added to your account balance. 

We are handling this 3rd wave differently than the previous 2. The selected files will remain in your paid portfolio for a short period of time yet to be determined. We are paying for the use in advance to simplify the process on our end when transferring images into the free collection. As always, we are closely watching the collection to determine what, if any impact there may be on the paid collection. By paying in advance, we can move the images at the appropriate time in a more seamless manner.
 
It is worth noting that the 12 month period in which your nominated assets are available for the Free collection begins the moment the payment is added to your account.

Thank you,

Mat Hayward

Hi LauraRod,


As I mentioned in the previous post, Adobe Stock does not ever sell workshops or briefs � neither directly nor through third parties. All of the education we offer is free, including in Latin America and Europe where my colleagues also conduct webinars in Spanish.


Occasionally we have the opportunity to participate in webinars hosted by local communities. Sometimes these communities are closed and sometimes they are open. In either case, the information is not any different than what we share in our own self-hosted webinars (see the link I shared in my previous post) The objective is always to reach a wider audience. Another example would be the various trade shows that I speak at around the world. In most cases, attendees pay the show hosts an entry fee for access. We aren't charging for this. We see it as simply another way we are able to get our message out to both existing and new contributors.
 

Remember that there is no secret formula to being successful in Stock. The only thing anyone can share are good practices, which is information we strive to make available to as many contributors as possible.
 

Regarding keywording, as you know, contributors choose the keywords they wish to use when they upload their content. There is no secret keyword to generate more sales. We do not artificially boost anyone�s content because of a special keyword. That said, there are many unique keywords used both internally and externally for tracking purposes. All it does is bring up the associated content when the specific unique keyword is searched and anyone can do this as it doesn�t require any special set up. All it requires is choosing a unique word when indexing content. If the keyword isn�t relevant to the asset, it won�t serve any practical purpose in terms of sales.
 

I'm on vacation at the Washington coast with my family this week so it's unlikely you will hear back from me before this Monday. As always, I'm happy to answer questions. Your patience is appreciated.

Mat Hayward

I received word this morning that payments may not happen until tomorrow (Wednesday). There are a lot of moving parts with this process so your patience is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Mat Hayward

Hi all!
This is my first post on the community, I have been reading and learning a lot from you though

Ok, my question is regarding Adobestock contributor LATAM. Recently they decided to make a shift in their strategy and they are now selling their exclusive briefs and private lessons through a third party company (a small company their friends have created to sell 'make a living from photography' courses with monthly subscription).

I have nothing against this third company, it is quite normal that photographers want to sell their courses, but selling Adobestock contributor content is completely different. Somehow we all are part of the statistics that leads to content in need and as a contributor this system sounds unfair to me.
 
I haven't found anything similar in the English speaking community, so I wanted to ask if this it is also happening in all Adobestock Contributor regions.
 
As far as I know, stock companies usually give exclusive briefs in case the photographer obtains good results or if they become exclusive, and they provide free workshops. This is the first time that we are being charged for this information, right?

I am still in shock 

Adobe Stock does not ever sell content briefs. They are free to contributors. Same with private lessons, we do not sell them. I provide free monthly webinars for contributors. You can check out the archived webinars and subscribe to upcoming webinars here: https://www.crowdcast.io/adobestock.

@LauraRod, If you haven't received any emails with content briefs, or invitations to Adobe Stock contributor webinars, please check to make sure you are opted in to marketing emails through Adobe.com. You may also want to consider joining the Discord community for access to calls for content and content briefs and updates on upcoming events. We also host educational audio sessions from time to time directly in Discord. Here is a link to an invitation to join: https://discord.gg/adobestock


Let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns,

Mat Hayward 

Quote

]
The criteria was less than 4 downloads in the past 12 months. If you had an eligible file with more than 200 downloads, it is likely the majority of those downloads happened more than a year ago.
Thanks,
Mat

Mat, no not more than a year ago.  I had my bestsellers marked as eligible!!!  Ones that sell daily-weekly.  Of course I did not nominate them and never will but the a LOT of mine that were downloaded a lot more than 4 were in my eligible list-- it looked like system picked all mine down to a few sales.

Thanks for the report. Please provide me with image numbers and I will look into it when I'm back next week.

Kind regards,

Mat Hayward

Hi Mat
Would be great to know what's the plan with next review waves. In what frequency they are planed to be done and approximately how many more is scheduled. I think everyone want to know what to expect next and for many it's grate crash injection during that time. Can we know what is the plan for next month? Can we expect anything more this month or next turn will be made next month?
Thanks

As I get more information, I'll be sure to update everyone here. Right now, we need to evaluate the impact of the most recent changes and gauge where adjustements are needed. This will be an ongoing process between now and September 30 and will take some time. I don't expect to have any updates for the next several weeks. As an FYI, in the US, Adobe shuts down for the week to celebrate the Independence Day holiday. I'm sure I'll be popping in here from time to time but I do not expect any updates during the shutdown. 

Thanks everyone,

Mat Hayward

Quote from: MatHayward on July 01, 2021, 15:08

I can't speak to the volume of upcoming additions though I expect more to be approved. I've been informed that all payments have been added now. Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks for all of your feedback and participation.

-Mat Hayward

Mat, just an FYI an email went out after the payment that says, "We�ve added an upfront payment of US$  to your overall earnings balance."

I assume, an amount was intended to be included. Thanks for this.

Thanks for the report, we are aware. Sorry for the mistake. I'm not sure if we will be sending a revised email with the payment amount included. To determine the amount you received, take the number of approved photos and multiply by 5.

Thanks again,

Mat Hayward

Quote from: Dodie on July 01, 2021, 04:45

Did they pay you already for the images that are accepted in the free collection?

I see there is a new button: "Filter by Price Tier", that shows the free images.

No payment yet.

I'm told that payments are being processed now. They should be done by 1PM pst.

As a reminder, this is only the first wave of approvals. We need to do this carefully and in small increments to ensure the Free collection provides depth in search results but not breadth. This process will be ongoing until the end of September.

Thank you,

Mat Hayward

Will payments come through individually as they're reviewed or a lump sum?

The payment will be added to your account in one lump sum each time a batch is selected. If, for example you had 100 approved files, you will see your balance increase by $500. I expect this will be happening within the next 24 hours so take note of your balance right now. You should also see an email with the number of photos approved if any and the amound of money added into your account.

Good luck everyone!

Mat Hayward

Any idea when all of this will start moving?

The initial round of approvals is happening this week. The process will continue through the summer in waves.

Thank you, good luck!

Mat Hayward