As a freelance graphic designer it’s always important to diversify your income sources for better financial stability. If like me you have been in the business for a few years, then you probably have graphics such as vector illustrations and logos that are left unused from past projects — here’s where making money on Adobe Stock comes in.

Steps to Making Money on Adobe Stock

ABOUT ADOBE STOCK

Adobe Stock is a stock graphic website where as a contributor you earn a royalty each time someone purchases and downloads one of your assets. As part of Adobe, the leading creative brand in the industry, the platform is very popular among buyers. Furthermore, Adobe Stock is integrated with the other Adobe apps, which means your assets are easily accessible to anyone with an Adobe subscription, so chances of making money there are quite high.

UPLOADING YOUR WORK ON ADOBE STOCK

In order to become a contributor on Adobe Stock, you will need to sign up for an Adobe ID, with the process being quite easy and straightforward. However, actually uploading your work requires you to prepare your files properly in accordance to their content requirements.

Let’s take a look at the requirements for vector art. For instance, it’s not advised to include text unless it’s a necessary part of your composition, and be sure not rasterize any part of your artwork. Also, technical guidelines include AI, SVG, and EPS formats only, a recommended artboard minimum of 15 megapixels, and RGB color mode.

It’s important to familiarize yourself with the requirements and guidelines since the review process is quite strict, and you don’t want to spend time preparing a file only to have it rejected at the end.

Once you have uploaded the file, it’s just a matter of adding the title and keywords, as well as choosing the right category. After making sure everything is in order, submit the file and Adobe will review and inform you whether it’s accepted or rejected, usually within a few days.

As a contributor on Adobe Stock, you get a 33% royalty rate that is applied to the net price per licensed asset. You can learn more about how this rate is calculated on their FAQ page. Payment is done through PayPal, Payoneer, or Skrill — unfortunately if you are outside of the United States only Payoneer is available, so do take note.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH ADOBE STOCK

I started Adobe Stock at the beginning of this year and have uploaded 101 assets so far, earning around $10 at 19 downloads — which I feel is alright in terms of passive income since I basically just spend 5 minutes for each upload, and after that I just leave them as they are without doing any promotion or marketing. The process is really quite straightforward. I simply need to upload a EPS file, add in the relevant information, and that’s about it. And it’s basically a numbers game — the more I upload the more I stand to earn.

On the other hand, all of my earnings have been from only 7 of my files, which means for each upload I have less than 50% chance of making a sale. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier Adobe is much stricter when it comes to accepting or rejecting a file. For example, I have had a few that passed review for other platforms be rejected by Adobe.

IN CONCLUSION

Out of the stock graphic platforms I have been using so far Adobe Stock is my favorite. The royalties are attractive, which makes it a good way to make money and passive income as a freelance graphic designer. It’s easy and free to sign up and start uploading, so why not give it a go?