As a photographer, you have to be super meticulous about the details to sell your photos online on famed marketplaces. With standards to meet and rules to follow, stock photo marketplaces come with a built-in handbook—if you want your photos accepted, no stone should be left unturned.
It should be noted that, for the most part, editing stock photography is quite similar to any retouching job you’ve done with a photo editor. However, if you want your images to meet the standards of world-famous marketplaces, you’re going to spend a little more time improving image quality.
This guide will focus on the specific steps you can take to minimize rejection, increase sales, and get your images selling on marketplaces in no time.
Uploading to Marketplaces: A Modern Guide
Requirements for micro-stock photography have always walked with the times, so it is safe to say that the editing process has seen a significant shift over the years. With camera technology improving so rapidly, there are fewer and fewer imperfections in images that have been originally taken.
Plus, there is a noticeable rise in the number of content marketplaces, meaning it’s not so hard to break into the world of stock photography anymore; this serves definitely serves to the advantage of the photographer.
Nevertheless, rules and guidelines are there for a reason. Stock content marketplaces, though increased in amount, still demand certain quality for the images they decide worthy of featuring—ignoring their guidelines is the last thing you’d want to do.
This is where you might be thinking, “do I really have to learn all the guidelines for all the marketplaces I wish to be featured on”?. And, true, requirements may vary from one agency to another, but they’re definitely common things to look for in your photos that might hinder their acceptance. So let’s get into them.