Metadata
Digest
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Metadata Quality Stock buyers use keywords to search for the stock
content they need, and the Adobe Stock search engine
uses titles and keywords to surface your content, so you
must choose this metadata carefully. Follow this guide
to optimize your metadata for our platform. Our tips
apply to all asset types, whether you upload photos,
videos, vectors, illustrations, templates, or 3D, and are
also relevant for generative AI content.
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Diversity & Inclusion
Accurate Casting & Metadata
Authenticity is essential for any marketing campaign, Our new Contributor Portal feature, Model Tagger,
and this is no different for images featuring people will help us gather data from your model releases.
with disabilities, e.g., person who uses a wheelchair, We will use this data in search filters to improve our
blind, visually impaired, deaf, hearing aid, etc. Casting buyer’s user experience and help surface diverse
authentic models with disabilities ensures that the content. The ethnicity, gender, and age metadata
images are true to life and accurately represent the in titles and keywords will continue to be used for
diversity within the disability community. search relevance and remains unaffected by the
Model Tagger information.
When it comes to demographic information in your
metadata, be sure the information is factual and aligns
with how your models described themselves — never
guess at demographic data.
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Metadata
Authentic Storytelling & Unique Selling Points
Thanks to your incredible contributions, our collection Customers want to see themselves reflected in our
is constantly refreshed with high-quality seasonal and storytelling, not just beautiful models acting the part.
evergreen content. Classic story narratives need to be Please get to know your model’s culture. Try to learn
retold to offer our customers contemporary visuals. about their food, traditions, celebrations, hairstyles, and
However, not all stories are being told, and these untold clothing to help develop your storytelling and ensure
stories can help to differentiate your portfolio. your content and metadata is accurate. Stock content is
powerful in how it shapes narratives. We welcome new
Similar metadata narrates similar stories, but what stories, faces, bodies, and perspectives to our image
if your metadata told a different perspective? library to ensure everyone is authentically represented.
Underrepresented individuals and communities can
help make your portfolio stand out. Customers value
authentic perspectives with real people representing
real issues. Ideally, you belong to the community you
are trying to represent, but this will only sometimes
be the case. If you don’t belong to a community you
are trying to portray, be sure to ask questions to
understand the nuances of their story.
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Metadata Best Practices
Keywords
Keyword order • Use localized keywords when submitting local
• Arrange keywords in order of relevance. content. This maintains the relevancy of localized
• The first ten keywords are the most important since terms, especially when there is no clear translation,
ordering indicates importance. e.g., 懐石 (elaborate Japanese meal).
• Be sure to incorporate these top ten keywords into • Use the language you are most comfortable with
your title. to reduce inaccuracies.
Customize metadata per asset Localized content
• Content with similar metadata is not displayed to • The content is localized, please include the city
offer customers variation in search results. and country as keywords, e.g., a shop in Chinatown,
• Cutting and pasting titles and metadata can damage London should include London and England as
the visibility of your content. Ensure you customize keywords.
your files’ titles and metadata to describe each file’s
uniqueness. Consult models for release information
• Include your model’s ethnicity in your file’s title and
Keyword Language the top ten keywords.
• Keywords and titles should be submitted in a single • For accurate representation, consult your models for
language. Ensure the language selection in the drop- their ethnicity/heritage and gender information.
down option ‘I’m writing title & keywords in…’ in the
Contributor portal matches the language of your title
and keywords.
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Metadata Best Practices
Keywords cont’d
Adding numbers Double-check
• Be sure to add your model’s ages in your metadata. • Spelling and keyword order of relevancy before
• For models’ ages, use broad decades matching the submitting.
model release. E.g., 20s, 30s, 40s, and Adult, etc.
• The number of people presented in the asset should Avoid
be added as, e.g., three people, one person, etc. • Offensive terms, brand names, and model names.
• Copying and pasting metadata and titles across
Recommendation Services multiple files. This will damage your content’s visibility.
• It is best to generate your own metadata. It is not • Prioritizing multiple synonyms in your top ten
recommended to rely solely on recommendation keywords as you may be overlooking more valuable
services/Adobe Sensei to assign keywords accurately. descriptive information.
• If using recommendation services/Adobe Sensei, • Adding parentheses and hyphens in your metadata.
organize keywords in order of priority, add any missing • Random arrangement of keywords, our system will
relevant keywords, and remove any non-relevant regard the first keywords as the most important, but
suggested keywords. they may not be the most relevant ones.
• Alphabetical arrangement of keywords because
AI generated content our system will consider each keyword as equally
• Tick the ‘Created using generative AI tools’ box. important.
• Use your text prompt to build your title; this is already
a solid description of what you see in the image.
• Use relevant words from the title to add to your top
10 keywords.
• Follow the recommendations in this guide to describe
your content accurately.
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Metadata Best Practices
Titles
• Titles are searchable and become the URL. • Where? Where are they? Indoors, outdoors,
at the office, at the gym, etc.
• Titles should be concise—70 characters is ideal, • Who are they with? one person, two people, etc.
although the system allows up to 200. • Who are they with in respective of their roles?
Father, son, etc.
• Each title should be customized to describe the • What? What are they doing? Studying, eating,
unique perspective of each image. walking, leading a conference, etc.
• When? What time of day is the activity taking
• The most relevant keywords should appear in both place? Morning, night, etc.
the title and top 10 keywords, reinforcing this to • Mood? Positive, excited, anxious, smiling,
be the most important information in search. crying, etc.
• Clothing? Is what they’re wearing notable?
• Titles should describe: Swimming suit, rain jacket, etc.
• Who? This information should come from the • Concept? What’s the main concept of the asset?
model/supported by model release: Fitness, healthcare, etc.
• Gender: boy, girl, man, woman, transgender,
non-binary
• Age: senior, adult, teenager, child, baby
• Ethnicity: Black, African American, Caribbean,
White, Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Japanese, Asian,
Chinese, Southeast Asian, East Asian, South Asian,
Indian, Korean, Indigenous, Choctaw Nation,
Multiracial, Biracial, etc.
• Role: Mother, father, chief, teacher, engineer,
policewoman, grandfather, etc.
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Case Study Title: Loving LGBTQIA family laughing with daughter
and son in their home. Queer family portrait of gay,
Generating Top Ten lesbian couple nurturing their children. Concept of
diverse childhood, parenthood, and motherhood.
Keywords from Titles
Keywords: LGBTQIA, family, motherhood, parenthood,
daughter, son, queer, diverse, gay, lesbian, mother,
children, white, Caucasian, couple, women, adult,
nurturing, home, childhood, happy, play, love, four
people, 30s, indoors, kitchen, modern, energetic, young,
casual clothing, holding, smiling, laughing, hugging,
tickling, portrait, daylight, daytime.
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Case Study Title: Black woman wearing virtual reality headset
with reflection of skyscrapers, exploring different cities
Generating Top Ten in futuristic landscape or cityscape. Concept of travel,
technology, fantasy and imagination.
Keywords from Titles
Keywords: black, woman, virtual reality, headset,
explore, futuristic, landscape, cityscape, technology,
travel reflection, skyscrapers, city, fantasy, imagination,
cyber, punk, retro, short hair, vr, colorful, outdoors,
urban, metaverse, sunglasses.
Note: If the generative AI content was not based on a
real person, but it visually appears to resemble an actual
person, then you must submit a property release con-
firming that you have all property rights in the content.
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Objective Accuracy
Quality Blocker for Search
Inaccuracy End Use Guessing
Example: an image of Edinburgh, Scotland labeled as Example: an image of a stethoscope labeled as a doctor.
Glasgow, Scotland.
Issue: A stethoscope is not an image of a doctor.
Issue: Inaccurate metadata damages your content’s However, this equipment is used in context of these
performance. Content continually surfaced, but environments. Content continually surfaced, but
containing irrelevant metadata for the search query containing irrelevant metadata for the search query
will not be licensed. The algorithm will determine this will not be licensed. The algorithm will determine this
content as low-performing and deprioritize its visibility content as low-performing and deprioritize its visibility
over time. over time.
Outcome: your content will become less visible. Outcome: your content will become less visible.
Recommendation: Keep descriptions accurate. Recommendation: Keep it factual, including relevant
keywords. Include the concept ‘healthcare’.
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Missing Main Subject, Missing Specificity, Synonym Spam
Loses Customer Value
Missing Main Subject Missing Specificity
Example: an image of a mother and daughter labeled Example: an image of a golden retriever labeled only
only as woman and girl. as dog.
Issue: By limiting key descriptors of your main subjects, Issue: Specifics can sometimes be essential for
you exclude relevant information to the visual’s campaigns. Excluding specific descriptive terms for
storytelling. your image makes it more difficult for customers to
surface your content.
Outcome: the specific narrative of your image will be
more difficult to surface. Outcome: The nuances of your image will not be
surfaced.
Recommendation: Include the main subject of the
image, in this case, woman and girl, but also their Recommendation: Add the specifics, in this case,
relationship, which is key to the storytelling; mother golden retriever, and the general descriptive terms
and daughter. dog and animal.
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Adobe Stock Best Practices
Tips
Metadata banner), perspectives, and file types (still, motion),
• Start planning your metadata in pre-production you offer customers more choices for their specific
to help develop your storytelling. What are you narrative and file format needs. By focusing on quality
trying to communicate with each asset? How can over quantity, you expand the possibilities of how your
metadata help shape this narrative? How can you content can be used and licensed, broadening your
create variation per asset both visually and through customer base.
metadata?
• First, create your title by accurately describing your Submissions
image. Then use the most relevant keywords from • We recommend submitting files with similar metadata
your title to generate your top ten keywords. (series) in smaller segments over 1-2 weeks. This way,
• Consider all the different ways to describe the files with similar metadata will not compete against
narrative of your images. Customize your titles for each other.
all the different ways customers may search for each • Ensure you are submitting content frequently to
of your files. This way, your content will surface for sustain your visibility in the collection. The newest and
multiple search terms. most licensed content is the most visible.
• Think like a customer- include the keywords they
would use to search for the content they want to Seasonal Submissions
license. • Content related to specific calendar dates should be
submitted 8-12 weeks before the date.
Quality over quantity
• Focus on quality, not quantity. By developing your
storytelling in pre-production, you can offer customers
rich variation in sequences. By planning your narrative
and producing various formats (landscape, portrait,
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