How to upload video to Shutterstock

Prepare the files

Upload problems usually start with the file. Shutterstock takes .mov or .mp4 clips of 5 to 60 seconds, up to 10 GB, at one of the listed resolutions and frame rates. Files that miss the technical requirements do not finish uploading. The full list is on the Shutterstock requirements page, and the video spec checker reads a clip's settings before you send it.

Some problems pass the upload and fail at review instead, so fix them at export: black bars from a letterbox or pillarbox, LOG footage left ungraded (Rec. 709 is preferred), and sound added in post, copyrighted music or dialogue. Exporting without an audio track settles every sound problem at once.

File names

Shutterstock's rule is strict: file names may contain only a-z, A-Z, 0-9 and the underscore. Accented letters, non-Latin alphabets and punctuation other than the underscore (brackets, parentheses, quotation marks) are not permitted, and Shutterstock warns they may cause an error during upload. Spaces are not on the allowed list either.

How to upload video to Shutterstock in the browser

1. Sign in to the contributor site and click the Upload button on your dashboard.
2. Drag your clips onto the Upload page, or select them from your computer. The web page takes up to 100 files at a time.
3. Wait for the clips to finish uploading. They then appear among your content waiting to be submitted.

Footage goes up through the web page or FTPS only. The contributor mobile app accepts other content, not video. If a web upload stalls, Shutterstock suggests clearing the browser cache and cookies or trying another browser, and, when the files meet the requirements, trying again a few hours later.

FTPS settings

For many clips at once, Shutterstock recommends FTPS. Free clients such as FileZilla, Cyberduck and WinSCP all work. In FileZilla, open the Site Manager and enter:

A warning about an unknown certificate on the first connection is expected: Shutterstock tells you to trust the certificate and continue. Then drag the clips into the remote window.

Same settings in Cyberduck

1. Click Open Connection and choose FTP-SSL (Explicit AUTH TLS).
2. Server ftps.shutterstock.com, port 21, then your contributor email or username and password.
3. Uncheck Save Password if the computer is shared, and click Connect.
4. On the certificate warning, check Always Trust, click Continue, then drag in the clips.

Add metadata, by hand or by CSV

On the Submit content page, each clip needs a description (Shutterstock uses it as the title), keywords and at least one category. Select several clips at once to give them the same keywords and categories, and check the keyword suggestions that Shutterstock's computer vision proposes before you keep any.

Write the description like a news headline that answers who, what, when, where and why, with the mood and useful details on angle or focus. Leave out links, camera information and brand names (brands are allowed only in editorial content), and do not repeat a word or word stem: Shutterstock treats that as spam.

For a large batch, a CSV fills these fields at once. The order matters: upload all the clips first, then add the file with the CSV button at the top of the Submit page. A CSV sent before the clips returns "File Not Found", and a CSV never goes through FTPS. The columns and a template are in the Shutterstock CSV guide.

Attach releases and designations

Releases and reference images can only be attached at the submission stage, on the Submit content page. They cannot be added once a clip is approved. Upload each one with Upload New Release, as a JPEG of up to 20 MB.

• One release per recognizable person, yourself included. For a minor, a parent or guardian signs.
• A form that runs over several pages goes up as a single JPEG; one file holding several people's releases is refused.
• A property release, signed by the owner, for footage shot on private property.

The same page holds the other options for a clip: the Editorial designation, the Mature Content designation and notes for the reviewer. Editorial clips need no release but cannot be used commercially, and a documentary editorial description follows a fixed pattern: CITY, STATE/COUNTRY - MONTH DAY, YEAR: then a factual sentence about the subject. When a clip needs a release at all is covered in model releases for stock video.

Submit within 21 days

1. Check each clip in the editor: description, keywords, category, releases.
2. Click Submit once and wait. Repeated clicks can create duplicate requests.
3. Follow the clips in the Pending tab of the Portfolio page, then in Recently reviewed, where results stay for 21 days.

If nothing happens when you click Submit, the submission contains an error. The most common is a misspelled keyword, outlined in red: correct it or confirm it. "Please enter at least 7 keywords" means a clip has fewer than 7, or that pasted keywords were never validated with Enter.

You have 21 days from upload to submit. After that, Shutterstock deletes the files from its servers, and you upload them again. Newly approved clips can take up to 72 hours to show in your portfolio.

Weekly limit and tax form

The 7-day window rolls: a clip submitted on a Tuesday frees its place the following Tuesday, not at the start of a calendar week.

A new tax form can be requested for several reasons: a W-8BEN accepted more than three years ago, an international address change, or a switch between business and personal accounts. Uploads stay blocked until the new form is submitted and approved, so answer the first reminder. The forms are explained in the Shutterstock tax form guide.