All in one place and organized by microstock agency, I present to you the canonical list of rejection reasons microstock agencies use to kick your photos (not vectors or videos)? to the curb.

There are two quick notes on this:

1) It’s incomplete – IStock and StockXpert refused to give me a list.? The 123RF list was given to me by Alex and should be fairly complete.? The Bigstock list is fully done.? I believe I caught every Fotolia and Shutterstock reason.? The other lists are created from my own rejections, a bit of research, and some help from an anonymous reviewer.? Vivozoom provided a list as well.

So feel free to contribute to the list, help me make changes, edit things I added if they’ve changed since I last received a particular rejection.? Whatever – it’s interactive and incomplete.? Thanks to the commentators who’ve helped me improve this list!

2) As mentioned above, this is for PHOTOS only.? I am not including the list for vectors or video because a) they weren’t given to me and b) I don’t submit many of those file types so I have way less experience there.

123RF

• Poor Lighting/Composition
• Minimal commercial value
• Potential copyright issue
• Visible branding/logo
• Similar image accepted
• Keywords in English Only
• Bad composition
• Bad focus
• Enlargement has been done and it?s not tolerable.
• Looks like a snapshot.

Bigstock

• Artifact Problems: Noise/Grain/Chromatic or other artifacts due to low light, blue or purple fringing, high ISO, over-sharpening or post processing techniques.
• Blurry: Image is not very crisp or is blurred when viewed at full size.
• Dull, lifeless color: Colors are dull or lackluster.
• Exposure problem:? Image is too dark or too light, not properly exposed.
• Hard shadows:? Caused by on-camera flash. Try not to use flash, use more fill light instead. Flash often creates hard ugly shadows, thanks
• Jagged edges: Isolation has jagged edges, anti-aliasing problems, or background is not clean.
• Low interest subject:? Probably little demand/selling potential for this image. Try for more marketable shots.
• Not newsworthy enough for Editorial Use:? Images submitted as Editorial need to be news, or current events, or commentary worthy. This image does not appear newsworthy enough.
• Poor composition/Cropped subject: Chopping off part of subject makes photo harder to use generally
• Potential copyright / trademark / privacy issue with photo (could be: copyrighted art, visible logo, license plate number, etc)
• Recognizable person without Model Release…
• Similarity: Image too similar to others already submitted. Try selecting only a few of your very best shots for submission of this subject.
• Snapshot composition: This image is more of a snapshot than a marketable stock image. Overall problems can include poor lighting, poor composition, non-interesting subject matter, etc.
• Subject not evident enough – hard to tell what the subject of the photo is
• Too Sexually Explicit:? Can’t accept fully exposed breasts, buttocks or genitals. Or image may be too overtly sexually suggestive.
• Upload problem: Please re-upload this image, there appears to have been a problem with the original upload, thanks.
• We have enough of this subject already…sorry.

Dreamstime

• The image contains elements that might be protected by copyright/trademark (logos, brands, specific buildings etc.), can identify a property/product (letters, numbers), or could raise usage problems, therefore it doesn’t qualify as a RF stock image.
• Poor color: this image has a low color profile and needs improvement in order to increase its sales potential.
• Poor lighting setup, poor contrast or incorrect exposure.
• This is a very well covered subject in our data base or the subject of your image is too specific. We are looking for images that exceed the technical quality and creativity of the images already online.
• The image includes recognizable humans. It cannot be accepted without a model release signed by your subject(s). If the people within your photo are not the main subject but their faces are visible, then you also need a MR for each person whose face is visible.
• Distorted pixels due to poor sensor performance, image was interpolated, poorly scanned, upsampled or JPG was not saved at the highest quality.
• This image is overfiltered. Its use for the potential designers is limited because of this, therefore the image is disqualified as a RF stock-oriented image.
• Image is out of focus or too much of the subject is out of focus (DOF too shallow or DOF not justified) / Image is shaken. Use a faster speed or a tripod.
• Witness’s print name missing
• Model Release document is incomplete.
• Lack of composition.
• Model’s signature missing.
• We have reviewed your file and this is not quite what we?re looking for.

Fotolia

• Quality of the photograph – Your photograph did not reach our desired level of aesthetic quality.
• Type of photograph – Your photographic work is excellent but does not meet the needs of the Fotolia customer base.
• Technical problems – The image contains one or more technical problems:
  • Blurry or out of focus
  • Over/Under exposure
  • Framing problem
  • Over or under saturated colors
  • Problems with contrast
  • Noise or Pixelation
  • Quality of routing
  • Interpolation problem
• Model/Property Release – However we discovered a problem (legal problem, lack of signature, wrong file format, or it was illegible) with the model/property release that you submitted.
• Overabundant Category – Fotolia has received an overabundant amount of high quality images similar to this photo and does not have need of more photos like it.
• Non conformity – The photographs in the Fotolia database are intended for sale to multiple buyers. Your photograph while attractive does not meet a level of neutrality for our buyers.
• Similar Photograph – the same or similar photograph was already submitted to Fotolia.

IStock

• The execution of isolation contains stray areas that are either too feathered or rough.
• This file contains artifacting when viewed at full size. This technical issue is commonly created by the quality settings in-camera, in post-processing or in RAWsettings. Artifacting may be the result of other factors such as excessive level adjustments.
• We found the overall composition of this file?s lighting could be improved. Technical aspects that can affect the overall quality of lighting are: flat/dull colors, blown-out highlights, harsh reflection, shadows or lens flares. These can all limit the usefulness of a file.
• In review of this file, we found the lighting underexposed
• We found this file over filtered from its original appearance/quality.
• This file contains artifacting when viewed at full size (probably due to oversharpening). This technical issue is commonly created by the quality settings in-camera or in post-processing.
• The keywords used for this file do not appear to be fully relevant to the subject.
• Your file contains stray/hot/dead pixels or sensor spots.
  • Sensor spots: Commonly caused from dust on the sensor of your camera. These darker areas usually show up in lighter areas of the file such as skies.
  • Hot Pixels: Dead pixels on your camera?s sensor. Sometimes caused by extreme temperatures, and may become permanent.

Thanks to Tim for the IStock list!

Shutterstock

• Focus–Your image is not in focus or focus is not located where we feel it works best.
• Composition–Limited commercial value due to framing, cropping, and/or composition.
• Poor Lighting–Poor or uneven lighting, or shadows. White balance may be incorrect.
• Lighting Problems–Purple fringe, blown highlights or lenses flare.
• Noise–Noise, film grain, over-sharpening, or artifacts at full size.
• Glitch–There was a technical problem with your upload. Please resubmit.
• Trademark–Contains potential trademark or copyright infringement–not editorial.
• Overuse–Overuse of noise reduction software.
• Keywords–Your keywords must directly relate to the image (relevancy). Please edit your keyword choices and resubmit.
• Editing–Your illustration has rough edges.
• Limited Commercial Value–We do not need this image at this time
• Similar Submissions–Too many of the same subject.

StockXpert

• Image contains too much noise/grain/pixilation
• Some keywords are not relevant to the image.
• Image requires a model release.
• Please improve isolation/editing.
• Thank you, but we have too many like this.
• Poor Lighting.
• Image requires a property release.
• Thank you but we are not interested in this subject matter or situation.
• Poor isolation – elements of the background are not acceptable.
• Cropping should be improved.
• Image contains too much dust.

VivoZoom

• Focus issue
• Overfiltering/Sharpening/Upsizing
• Over/Under exposed
• Digital Noise/Jagged lines/Pixelation
• Image content not required
• Lighting issue
• Composition/Cropping issue
• Copyright/Trademark issue
• Provenance
  • Model release missing or insufficient
  • Property release missing or insufficient
  • Sample text needs to be removed
  • Text copyright issues
  • Supply original image used to create illustration
  • Release on original artwork missing or insufficient