Vector requirements

You’re welcome to submit vectors through the Adobe Stock Contributor portal as AI, EPS, or SVG files. If you’re submitting illustrations that aren’t vector images, see Photography and illustration requirements.  

Businesses, ad agencies, design studios, and marketers want to buy great-looking, distinctive stock vectors, like these: 

Here are some dos and don’ts to help you be successful:

Image components 

Do: Avoid text unless it’s a necessary part of your composition, because buyers may need to select a substitute font. 

Do: Keep your use of auto-trace to a minimum.

Don’t: Add raster images (JPEGs) to your vector files or rasterize any elements. 

Don’t: Incorporate your signature or name into the artwork.

Paths 

Do: Use the right number of anchor points — not so many that a shape gets jagged and not so few that the curves look unnatural or flat. 

Do: Close paths on all filled shapes.

Do: Consider using a variety of stroke weights in your image. 

Do: Check out Illustrator Learn & Support for tutorials on topics ranging from making images with shapes to using dynamic symbols.

Organizing your file 

Do: Label your layers. 

Do: Delete hidden and empty layers.

Do: Delete unused panel items. 

Do: Unlock all layers and sublayers.

Do: Make sure all your artwork is on one artboard and delete anything outside the artboard boundaries.  

Variations 

Do: Upload up to three meaningful variations of each vector if you wish. Simple color variations don’t count as meaningful variations for editable vectors. Variations must alter the style, subject, or composition of the file in a useful way to a prospective buyer. Here’s an example of an acceptable variation and one that’s not acceptable:

Don’t: Upload the same image with different stroke types or background color.

Don’t: Upload the same image with different shadows, effects, or flipped images. Learn more

Before you submit 

Do: View your file in outline mode to make sure that your gradients have maintained their integrity and there are no raster images.

Do: Zoom in to 100% or closer and look around the image to make sure ir doesn’t include any stray anchor points or badly joined lines.

Do: Submit release forms for any reference work used or recognizable people or property, even if the recognizable person is you or the property is yours.

Follow these technical guidelines and best practices:

• Submit organized vector files with useful, labeled layers and groups.
  
• Submit sizes accurate to the intended file use.
  
• Optimize anchor points by simplifying paths or combining objects.
  
• Outline all strokes as paths or shapes.
  
• Text should be minimized, but outlined when included. 
  
• Apply clean backgrounds so the image is easier to use as both a vector and a JPEG file.

Here’s an example of a submission with well-organized layers and groups:

And here are some more guidelines for successful submissions: 

Learn more about technical best practices for creating great vectors, and see how to use Adobe Illustrator paths, strokes, and anchor points to optimize your vector files.

Size your vectors just right.

While vectors are scalable, we recommend creating them in useable sizes so customers can edit them as is. Customers can also download vector files as JPEGs, and small vector files will download as low-resolution JPEGs if not at scale. 

Please use these ranges for different vector files:

Get more detailed size recommendations from Adobe Stock. 

Choose one of two ways to upload your vectors.

• As standalone vector files (AI, EPS, and SVG formats only)  

• As a ZIP folder (AI and EPS formats only) 

Folder submissions should include only:

• Your AI or EPS vector file. (When saving, make sure Create PDF Compatible File is checked.)
  
• Your JPEG preview file. (Needs to be between 4MP and 100MP.)

Folders should be a minimum of 4MB and a maximum of 100MB. 

To generate a JPEG preview image in Adobe Illustrator: 

• Go to File ➞ Document Color Mode ➞ RGB color
  
•  Go to File ➞ Export ➞ Save for web
  
•  Preset: JPEG, Maximum, Quality 100%
  
•  Image Size: Insert the required size (Minimum file size 15MP)
  
•  Save to folder with .ai file 

Here’s how to use Save for Web to export a preview image:

Note that if you upload an AI or EPS file as a standalone vector, you may observe a shift in color when you view your image in the Contributor portal or on the Adobe Stock site. The color shift only impacts the image preview. To avoid this color shift, submit your vectors as ZIP folders with the JPEG preview image in the sRGB color space as detailed above. 

Use effective titles and keywords.

If your file doesn't have a title or any embedded keywords, Adobe Stock will use Adobe Sensei technology to automatically suggest a title and up to 25 keywords to save you time. Read through them and edit, reorder, or remove keywords as needed, and then arrange them in order of importance as the first 10 keywords listed are prioritized in search results. 

If you’ve already added titles and keywords to your JPEG preview images in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, or another image-editing app, Adobe Stock will preserve them. You can always edit that metadata before submitting your content.

Don’t use trademarked names (e.g., Porsche, iPad, or Ferrari), camera specifications (e.g., Nikon or 12MP), or types of content (e.g., vector or illustration) as keywords or in your title. 

Learn more about titles and keywords or see the Illustration section of the artist field guide for examples and more information. 

Know the legal basics.

Adobe Stock content needs to comply with all laws around copyright, trademarks, privacy rights, property rights, and more. Review the Legal guidelines section of this user guide to make sure you understand key legal terms and know when you need to include a model release and/or property release with your submission. 

A couple key things to know:

• If you create vector art based on a photograph or a work of art, you need to provide a property release — even if the photo or artwork is your own work. 
  
• We can’t accept vectors that contain logos, trademarks, company names, or brand names. — although you may be able to submit work in which these things have been digitally removed. Illustrations with brands or products may be considered for illustrative editorial content.

Be careful not to spam. 

Select only your best vectors and ensure that each submission offers something different. Don’t submit multiple images with minimal changes. Submitting multiple copies of similar or identical content can be perceived as spam by our moderation team. Using long, non-descriptive, repetitive, or irrelevant titles and keywords can be perceived as spam as well. Spamming is strictly prohibited and may prompt us to block your account or close it permanently. Learn more

Adobe Artists: Nadezhda | 310890179, Cute Designs | 338373670, Katsyarina | 419405286