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How To Get Accepted Into Shutterstock

One way of selling your photos is to get accepted into Shutterstock. Why? Well sooner or later every photographer asks themselves this question, “How do I make money with my photos”.

One way is by generating sales through microstock sites. Our recommendation has always been to submit to many stock agencies and not limit yourself to only one. However, if you only have time to submit images to one microstock photo agency then it has to be Shutterstock. It is unanimous amongst stock photographers that 75% of their earnings come from Shutterstock. That’s a lot of money to give up on if you’re not accepted on your first try!

If you have already tried to get accepted into Shutterstock and been rejected, definitely don’t give up. I can honestly say that Shutterstock is what I imagined microstock photography to be, both in earnings and excitement.

So how does Shutterstock work

Shutterstock is primarily a subscription based model where buyers pay a monthly fee and get to download a number of images per month. For example, one plan allows them to download 25 images per day. They can also buy other licenses that are more expensive. However for the most part, sales come from subscription purchases.

What does that mean for photographers?

What this means is to start with you’ll receive 25 cents per download. Doesn’t sound like much does it?

Now take this into account. Being on the other end of stock as a buyer, I can tell you that often I purchased images simply to make up the daily quota. I put them onto my external hard drive for possible future use and have never looked at them again. So I figure as a seller, many of the photos people buy will never actually be published. These same images would likely not have been purchased if they were selling for $40 or more per image.

With high clientele numbers behind Shutterstock it’s not beyond probability that an image will receive one hundred downloads over several months. It’s been my experience that an image that may not have otherwise sold at all, could earn you $25. Now multiply that by how many images you have sitting on external hard drives!

Obviously I’m not talking about images you think you could sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars as fine art prints. We are talking every day shots like zoo animals or holiday photos and such. I know many professionals who complete a photo shoot for a client, then upload all images the buyer wasn’t interested in to stock agencies. It’s a win win situation.

Get accepted into shutterstock. Baby elephant stock photo.

How do you get accepted into Shutterstock?

Here is what I learned from my three attempts! Yes it took me three tries. However I also learned much during those rejections. Had I known then what I do now, I’d have chosen completely different photographs for the contributor application process.

Unfortunately Shutterstock terms do not allow us to speak of specifics, so I’ll have to generalize as much as possible and am talking in terms of stock sites across board.

To be accepted into Shutterstock you need to first apply by submitting ten of your best photos. If seven out of ten are accepted then you are in. If not, then you need to wait a whole month before trying again.

Our Best Tips

  • Take time to learn about the stock site as a buyer. By this I’m referring to knowing specifically what images are found in different categories. For example, in Shutterstock the categories ‘holidays’ does not refer to tropical holiday beach photos. Instead it refers to Christmas, wedding photos and such. So if you were to submit your first ten images for review and you placed them into the wrong categories they would be rejected straight up. Wouldn’t matter how good the image was technically.
  • Next pick your best ten safe images. This is really important. By safe I mean only submit the images you know are 100% sharp, contains no noise or grain, and has no purple fringing. If you’re not sure what purple fringing is read this article on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_fringing. To ensure this, definitely view the photos at full size! I can’t count the number of times I thought I had a sharp image to find the eye on an animal was hazy when viewing in it’s largest resolution.
  • Resize all ten images to 4 megapixels in size. This is the minimum Shutterstock accepts. They also don’t give you any extra earnings for larger images. However by resizing your images they will appear sharper with less grain and scratches.
  • Don’t choose ten images all from the same theme. For example, don’t have two or three different versions of the same animal in numerous positions. Just choose the best of each subject. Otherwise they could get rejected for duplicate images.

Keep It Simple

  • To be safe when applying, don’t submit popular subjects like flowers, cats or water drops. They have a high chance of being rejected simply because they have enough of those subjects in their database already. Once you are accepted by Shutterstock, then submit all the photos you like. The hardest part of Shutterstock is getting in.
  • Don’t try and wow them with anything fancy to begin with. For example, don’t submit images of panning with cars. Leave that for when you are accepted. Again, play it safe. Usually ten boring but safe shots are the best.
  • Make sure there are absolutely no trademarks or brand names seen in the scenery. I once had a particular image rejected from all stock sites because when viewed in its highest resolution they could see a companies security sticker on a window. Something I had missed myself when inspecting the photo.
  • For those first ten application images I recommend not using photos of public places, people, or man made objects. These can often be tricky and sometimes comes down to the marker on whether they think the place or object will have copyright issues. So to increase your chances of getting into Shutterstock, leave them out initially. Instead use photos of nature, animals or landscapes. When photographing animals get down to their level. No top of the head shots.

Leave Copy Space

  • Don’t crop any of your first ten images tightly. Leave space around the main subject. Don’t submit square or odd size images. Again this comes down to the markers preference so best not to do it initially.
  • Leave out photos that contain lens flare, or vignetting in the corners of the sky. Or fix the vignetting in Photoshop before submitting.
  • Open the photos in Photoshop and check that the contrast and tone is spot on. In Photoshop click along the top toolbar and choose image | Auto Contrast, then image | Auto Tone. If any of those two settings do something ugly to your image, choose a different photo for the application process. Don’t edit any further for your initial ten images. No color saturation or fancy black and white conversions.

Accepted into shutterstock. Beach stock photo.

There you have it, my best tips for getting accepted into Shutterstock. If I think of anything else over time I’ll update the information. Until then, all the best with making money from your photos.

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