Adobe Stock
reviews and complaints

So, I decided to give Adobe Stock a try and opted for the credit option instead of the free trial with annual charge. I thought it would be a better choice, but boy was I wrong! The amount of credits I purchased was quite a lot, but unfortunately, the files I downloaded couldn't be opened in any of my programs. I tried again, but it just ended up using up more of my credits. What a waste! It was completely useless.

I'm a photographer who contributes to Adobe Stock, and I have some thoughts to share. When I applied for a contributor's account in 2018, I submitted a portfolio for review. Unfortunately, I didn't hear back from Adobe for weeks, so I decided to delete all of the images on the pending account website. I never received any communication from Adobe before or after I deleted the images.

Fast forward five months later, and I stumbled upon three of my copyrighted images on the Adobe Stock website for sale. The images were attributed to only my first name, and I apparently had one sale a few days after I uploaded the image, even though my account was never accepted. I was never notified of the sale either. While the commission for the sale was only $0.24, which is a 24% commission, Adobe advertises 33 to 35% commissions.

I reached out to Adobe contributor relations to ask why my images were still for sale even though I deleted them because no action was taken on my account. The response I received was confusing and internally conflicting. They said, "We do not have an approval process for contributor accounts. Anyone can submit content to be reviewed." This response didn't answer my question about why they were selling my deleted images.

Adobe is known for making expensive software used by professional photographers and graphic artists. However, if contributors like myself aren't making any income despite our hard work and talent, we won't be able to afford Adobe products. While I'll continue to take photos and videos because I love it, I won't be purchasing Adobe products again because I can't afford to.

So, I gotta say, I've had a bit of a rough time with Adobe Stock lately. My account is still under review or investigation, but I just had to let out my frustrations somewhere!

You see, someone purchased a large volume of my content in a short amount of time, and at first I was really happy about it. I mean, who wouldn't be, right? But then I started to get a little scared about their intentions. Were they going to re-sell my content? And did Adobe Stock offer any protection for their contributors?

So, that same night, I sent them a message to ask about it. And to their credit, they did reply and said they would forward my concerns to their team. But then, the next day, they went ahead and blocked my account. Which, I mean, I guess is okay in a way. They could have just frozen my earnings or something. But still, it's pretty frustrating.

What's even more frustrating is that they only replied to me once. I sent them around three emails asking if they needed any more help or proof from my side, but I never got a response. I even tried to explain that there were a few possible reasons for the high download volume, but they seemed to only focus on their default point - that I was probably trying to illegally increase my rank and my friend helped me. Which is just ridiculous, if you ask me. Why would any contributor put their fixed income in danger like that?

All in all, Adobe Stock and some other companies have really proved to me that all their rules and terms are completely wrong unless they're fair and flexible. Blocking my account was the worst thing that's happened to me this year. It's caused me a lot of psychic damage, and it's stopped my daily earnings and portfolio from spreading on their site and web search. I just don't have the same motivation to design like I did before. And it's been two months now! I mean, solving crimes could take a few days or a few hours, but this is just ridiculous.

That being said, I would be willing to delete this review if I got a satisfying and fair answer from Adobe Stock. But until then, I would advise all contributors to create their own independent websites. It's just not worth the risk of relying solely on these big companies.