Common rejection reasons and what the checker catches
| Reason | What triggers it | What the checker does |
|---|---|---|
| Intellectual property | Logos, brand names, product designs, artwork, tattoos or fictional characters in the photo, or the same names in the title and keywords. | The photo check looks for logos, branded products, artwork and characters in the image. The metadata check flags common brand, character and artist names in the title and keywords. |
| Missing releases | A recognizable person, or private property such as a building interior or a pet, without a model or property release. | The photo check points out people who could be recognized, even small or in profile, and property that may need a release. |
| Technical quality | Soft focus, motion blur, noise, over-processing, chromatic aberration or a photo under 4 megapixels. | The photo check looks at focus, noise and processing; the resolution is read from your original file. |
| Title or keyword errors | Titles that are too short, too long or just a list of keywords; repeated, pluralized or irrelevant keywords. | The metadata check covers title length and word count, comma-separated titles, duplicates, singular/plural and US/UK spelling pairs. |
| Missing or too many keywords | Shutterstock needs at least 7 keywords and allows 50; Adobe Stock allows 49. | The metadata check counts your keywords against each agency's limits and shows which 10 Adobe Stock weights most. |
| Similar content | Several near-identical shots from the same moment submitted together. | Checked across a whole shoot in the PhotoTager app, where every photo of a project is compared. |
Last checked: . Agencies give one reason per rejection and update their rules, so confirm against the official guidance: Adobe Stock: common reasons for content refusal; Shutterstock: why was my content rejected for title or keywords.
How it works
- Drop up to 20 photos. Use the exported JPEGs you are about to upload, so the checker sees the same title, keywords and size the agency will.
- Read the metadata check. It appears at once for every photo: title length and word count, keyword counts per agency, duplicates, brand and artist names.
- Run the photo check. An AI looks at each photo for logos, artwork, people, property, focus and noise, and says where it saw each one and what to do about it.
- Fix, then submit. Retouch a logo, get a release, drop a soft frame, or rewrite the metadata with the free description generator.
Things worth a look, not a verdict
Stock reviewers decide case by case, and they also judge commercial value and how many similar photos they already have. The checker can't predict that. What it can do is catch the problems you can still fix before you submit: the logo on a mug in the corner, the face in the background, the keyword you typed twice.
Guides
Why stock photos get rejected
Intellectual property, titles and keywords, AI labeling, similar content and quality.
30 Shutterstock description examples
Weak descriptions rewritten for photos, illustrations, video and editorial.
Agency metadata requirements compared
Title, description and keyword limits for every major stock agency.
Frequently asked questions
Is the stock photo checker free?
Yes. The metadata check is free and unlimited, with no account. The photo check uses an AI model, so it has a daily allowance: 5 photos every 24 hours without an account, 20 with a free account. In the PhotoTager app the photo check is free on every photo you process.
What does the photo check look for?
The things stock reviewers refuse most often that you can see in the image: logos and branded products, artwork and characters, people who could be recognized and property that may need a release, focus, noise and over-processing, and content the agencies do not accept. For each one it says where in the photo it saw it and what to do about it.
Will my photo be accepted if the checker finds nothing?
Not necessarily. The checker shows things worth a look before you submit; it is not a prediction. Agencies decide case by case and also judge commercial value and how many similar photos they already have.
Are my photos uploaded or stored?
The metadata check reads your files in your browser; nothing is uploaded for it. For the photo check, a resized copy of each photo is sent to the AI model and then discarded. We keep what the check found, so the daily allowance works, but not the photo itself.
Which metadata fields does it read?
The XMP title, headline, description and keywords (dc:title, photoshop:Headline, dc:description, dc:subject) and, in JPEG files, the IPTC Object Name, Headline, Caption and Keywords. These are the fields Lightroom, Bridge, Photoshop and most keywording tools write and that stock agencies read on upload.
Why does the checker find no keywords in my file?
Either the file has no embedded metadata, or your editor saved it to a separate .xmp sidecar file (common for RAW files in Lightroom). Export a JPEG with metadata included and check that file instead.
Which file types are supported?
JPEG, PNG and WebP. IPTC fields are read from JPEG only; for the other formats the checker reads XMP.
What does "your description must be at least 5 words" mean on Shutterstock?
Shutterstock asks for a complete descriptive sentence of at least five words, and its description field also works as the title. The checker flags any title shorter than that. Rewrite it as a sentence that says what the subject is doing and where, rather than adding filler words.
Check a whole shoot, not one photo at a time
In PhotoTager every photo you process gets agency-ready titles and keywords and the photo check for free, with near-duplicates compared across the shoot. Pay-as-you-go from $0.04 per image, credits never expire.
Start free with $2 of creditsMore free tools: Description generator · Adobe Stock keywords · Shutterstock keywords · Prompt Playground