Guides for stock video contributors
Practical guides for selling stock footage, from keywording a clip to choosing where to sell it. Every rule is checked against the agency's official pages and dated.
/ Selling stock footage
- The best sites to sell stock footageThe four main marketplaces compared on royalties, exclusivity, specs and AI policy.
- How to sell drone footage as stock videoAgency rules, releases, flying rules to check and keywords for aerial clips.
- How much can you make selling stock footage?Royalty rates per sale, worked from each agency's published numbers, and what drives income.
- Stock agency rule changes, loggedDated changes to contributor rules, each linked to the agency page that announced it.
- Selling b-roll as stock footageWhat agencies require from b-roll, releases and logos to watch, and preparing leftovers.
- What stock footage sells: the themes agencies ask forThe themes agencies publish as in demand, and how to plan shoots around them.
/ Shooting and exporting
- Vertical stock video: specs and rules by agencyAccepted 9:16 resolutions, length and keywords, and where the agencies disagree.
- Frame rates for stock footage, slow motion includedAccepted frame rates, delivering slow motion within them, and shutter speed rules.
- ProRes or H.264 for stock footage?Accepted and preferred codecs, file size limits, and one export for three agencies.
- How to sell time-lapse stock footageAgency rules on clips made from photos, frame rates, flicker and length.
/ Keywords, titles and CSV
- How many keywords can you use on each stock agency?The keyword, title and description limits of each agency in one table, with sources.
- How to keyword stock footageWhat to describe, how many keywords, in what order, and the mistakes agencies reject.
- Shutterstock CSV: format and template for videoThe columns, the upload order and the errors to avoid, with a template.
- Adobe Stock CSV: format and template for videoColumns, character limits, categories and file rules, with a template.
- Adobe Stock keyword orderWhy the first 10 keywords matter on Adobe Stock and how to order them for video.
- Titles and descriptions for stock footage, with examplesHow to write titles and descriptions for video, with worked examples and each agency's limits.
- Embedded metadata or CSV for stock video?When agencies read metadata embedded in video files, and when to use a CSV instead.
/ Uploading
- How to upload video to Adobe StockBrowser upload, SFTP for qualified accounts, the metadata CSV and the checks before submitting.
- How to upload video to ShutterstockBrowser or FTPS, the weekly limit, the CSV, the 21-day window and the tax form.
- How to upload video to Pond5Browser or FTP, the FTP password, the release folder, file names and Apply CSV.
- The Adobe Stock submission limitWhat Adobe has said about its weekly limit, and how to plan uploads around it.
- Shutterstock tax form and disabled uploadsThe 90-day rule, which form applies and how to get the upload button back.
/ Releases, editorial and IP
/ Agencies compared
/ Tools and alternatives
- Xpiks alternatives for stock videoWhat Xpiks does, where it stops for video, and the other tools to consider.
- StockSubmitter alternativesWhat StockSubmitter does, its Windows-only limit, and the alternatives for Mac and video.
- Keywording tools for stock footage, comparedMetadata tools compared for video: features, video support, platforms and prices.
- Wirestock vs BlackBox for selling footageHow each distributor works for video, what it takes, and when to upload directly.
/ Agency rules
- Stock video requirements by agency, side by sideFormats, codecs, resolutions, frame rates, length, size and metadata limits for four agencies.
- Why stock footage gets rejectedThe documented reasons agencies reject video, grouped by cause, with how to avoid each one.
- Which stock agencies accept AI-generated video?Who accepts AI-generated video, under which conditions, quoted from each agency.
- iStock and Getty Images video requirementsWhat Getty Images and iStock publish about video, and what stays behind the login.
How these guides are written
Each guide states the rules first, with a link to the agency page they come from and the date we last checked it. Advice comes after, and it is labeled as advice. Agency rules change: when a guide and an agency page disagree, the agency page wins. Our sourcing and correction policy is on the about page. To apply the rules to your own clips, use the free tools: they check files, titles and keywords in your browser.