Adobe Stock Review: The Best Stock Assets for Creatives?
With the increasing demand for visual content in today’s digital landscape, creatives constantly seek high-quality assets to enhance their projects. One platform that has gained significant popularity among designers, marketers, and content creators is Adobe Stock!
As someone all too familiar with Adobe products (specifically Photoshop), Adobe Stock is a convenient resource for finding and licensing a wide range of quality stock assets. It’s built into Adobe Creative Cloud, so I can seamlessly import images into other Creative Cloud programs. However, I wanted to know if Adobe Stock is the best stock resource for creatives.
This Adobe Stock review will explore its features, benefits, and potential drawbacks. Whether you’re a photographer, illustrator, graphic designer, or videographer, Adobe Stock aims to cater to the diverse needs of creatives with its extensive library of stock images, video clips, illustrations, vectors, and more.
So, let’s dive in and see whether or not Adobe Stock is the best stock asset platform for your creative projects!
Verdict
Adobe Stock stands out for its extensive library of diverse, high-quality assets and seamless integration with Adobe products. It is a valuable resource for creatives across various industries (particularly professionals already using Adobe products).
While pricing may challenge some individuals and small businesses, its flexible subscription options and commission opportunities offer avenues for users and contributors to benefit from its offerings. At a 33-35% earning potential, Adobe Stock is also the best website for photographers and videographers to earn passive income by having users license their assets.
Adobe Stock’s comprehensive features and quality assets make it a worthwhile investment for those seeking excellent stock content.
Pros
- Access over 200 million diverse, high-quality assets such as photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, audio, templates, fonts, plugins, and 3D content.
- Seamless integration with popular Adobe products like Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop, streamlining workflow.
- Every asset on Adobe Stock undergoes rigorous quality checks to ensure professional-grade content.
- The simplified licensing process seamlessly handles the legal aspects of using stock images and assets.
- You can make passive income: 33% commission for photos and a 35% commission for videos.
- Flexible subscription model with the option to purchase credit packs.
Cons
- It may be expensive for some individuals and small businesses.
- Some niche content may be limited.
- Usage rights and restrictions should be carefully considered when licensing project assets.
- Users should consider licensing requirements, especially for commercial and editorial use.
What is Adobe Stock?
Adobe Stock is a stock asset platform operated by Adobe Systems Incorporated, the renowned software company behind industry-leading creative tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro. It is accessible through adobestock.com, where you can explore and license various assets for your creative projects!
One of the major advantages of using Adobe Stock is the convenience it offers creative professionals. With Adobe Stock, assets such as images, video clips, and audio are easily accessible within popular Creative Cloud apps like Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop. This integration streamlines the creative workflow, eliminating the need to switch between different platforms or applications.
Before licensing, you can preview watermarked images, video clips, and audio assets, ensuring they fit your creative projects perfectly. Additionally, Adobe Sensei, Adobe’s AI technology, powers an intelligent search feature that delivers relevant results efficiently, helping you find the assets you need quickly and effortlessly!
Adobe Stock is crucial in creative projects by providing a vast library of stock images, illustrations, vectors, and graphics. The platform also simplifies the licensing process, ensuring users’ legal compliance and peace of mind.
With various licensing options, including commercial, editorial, and personal use, creatives can confidently incorporate Adobe stock images into their projects. Adobe Stock offers various assets suitable for creative applications, whether designing websites, creating marketing materials, or enhancing social media graphics.
Who is Adobe Stock Best For?
Adobe Stock is a versatile platform that caters to a wide range of creatives:
- Graphic designers: Adobe Stock has everything graphic designers need, from images and illustrations to the perfect fonts to elevate their design and typography work. These assets can be used personally or commercially, making them ideal for design projects, websites, PDFs, videos, and more!
- Illustrators: Rather than creating illustrations from scratch, Adobe Stock offers various vectors, illustrations, and graphics readily available for their creative projects.
- Photographers: Adobe Stock enables photographers to showcase and sell their work. Adobe Stock offers a 33% commission for photos and a 35% commission for videos, calculated based on the customer’s payment for the image! The customer’s price is determined by the number of images they agree to buy or their subscription plan.
- Videographers: Rather than purchasing expensive material and finding the perfect shot, videographers can access a vast collection of video clips, audio, and motion graphics. They can also make a 35% commission for videos uploaded to Adobe Stock!
- Business owners: Adobe Stock is an excellent platform for business owners needing high-quality images and media for marketing materials. Whether you’re creating social media posts, designing a website, or producing promotional videos, Adobe Stock has a vast library of assets to choose from.
Adobe Stock Features
Here’s what comes with Adobe Stock:
- Free Stock Assets
- Photos
- Illustrations
- Vectors
- Videos
- Audio
- Templates
- Fonts
- 3D
- AI Image Generator
1. Free Stock Assets
In addition to its paid resources, Adobe Stock provides diverse complementary resources, including photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, templates, and 3D assets. You can access limitless free photos, illustrations, vectors, and video clips.
This expansive collection encompasses standard images, creative assets, and Adobe stock assets, all available at no cost. By taking advantage of this, you can explore the platform’s extensive library and take advantage of this wide selection of free photos, illustrations, vectors, and video clips!
2. Photos
With Adobe Stock, you can access various high-quality photographs across many categories, including:
- Backgrounds
- Business
- People
- Technology
- Travel
- Wallpaper
- Nature
- Sports
- Medical
- Food
- Animals
- Landscape
The platform offers diverse creative and free stock images suitable for any kind of project. With millions of options, including Adobe stock images and free photos, you can effortlessly find the perfect stock photos for your creative projects!
Check out the best AI art generators!
3. Illustrations
With Adobe Stock, creatives can explore various illustrations to elevate their projects. The illustrations include:
- Digital renders
- Paintings
- Cartoons
- Creative components
- Digital artwork
- Textures
Whether you need creative illustrations, Adobe Stock provides a comprehensive library of assets to meet diverse project requirements. Leveraging Adobe Stock’s catalog, you can infuse your projects with high-quality visuals and graphics!
Check out the best free illustrations for UI design!
4. Vectors
Unlock a diverse library of vectors through Adobe Stock, including:
Elevate your design projects by finding the perfect Adobe stock vectors to enhance visual appeal!
5. Videos
Adobe Stock also offers a diverse range of video clips in the following categories:
- 4K stock videos
- Vertical videos
- Video templates
- Stock music
- Video backgrounds
- Animation
- Video effects
- Green screen
Adobe Stock offers an array of assets to elevate your video content. Take advantage of Adobe Stock’s video assets to bring a professional touch to your content creation. It’s excellent for Premiere Pro editing!
6. Audio
Adobe Stock’s diverse range of audio assets includes the following categories:
- Electronica
- Pop
- Film
- Epic
- Inspiring
- Suspenseful
Whether you are looking to enhance your audio editing needs or elevate your audio content, Adobe Stock offers the perfect solution. With Adobe Stock, you can explore a wide collection of audio assets for unparalleled quality and variety for your creative projects!
7. Templates
One of my favorite assets that comes with Adobe Stock is its templates! There are endless templates for Photoshop, videos, Adobe Express, and InDesign.
Here are the Adobe Stock’s template categories:
- Web
- Mobile
- Photo
- Art & Illustration
- Motion titles and overlays
8. Fonts
Adobe Fonts is a separate website run by Adobe that offers a diverse collection of over 25,000 creative fonts! From elegant script fonts to modern sans-serifs, find the perfect creative fonts to elevate your design and typography work.
Categories range from trending to new releases and hidden gems. These fonts can be used personally or commercially, making them perfect for design projects, websites, PDFs, videos, and more!
Check out the best free font inspiration libraries and inspiring typography examples!
9. 3D
Adobe Stock also comes with a vast collection of 3D assets, including:
- 3D models
- 3D lights
- 3D materials
You’ll also get access to curated 3D scenes for outer space, branding, packaging, and art! This saves time and effort in creating 3D visuals from scratch.
Whether you’re a graphic designer, an animator, or someone who wants to add an extra dimension to their projects, Adobe Stock’s 3D assets are an excellent resource!
10. AI Image Generator
And let’s not forget about Adobe Stock’s AI image generator! Write a detailed text prompt and watch as Adobe Stock’s AI image generator brings your ideas to life. You can generate stunning, high-resolution images based on your text input with just a click!
The AI image generator uses advanced algorithms to understand the context and theme of your text, ensuring that the generated images align perfectly with your vision. Need a picture of a serene beach at sunset? Simply describe it, and the AI image generator will create a beautiful representation.
How to Use Adobe Stock
Here’s how to get started with Adobe Stock:
- Choose a Plan
- Familiarize Yourself
- Use the Templates
- Preview Assets
- Integrate with Adobe Applications
Step 1: Choose a Plan
The first thing you’ll want to do is choose an Adobe Stock subscription plan. Do you want to go for the monthly or annual subscription plan? What about credit packs? Assess your requirements carefully before deciding.
The platform also extends team and enterprise plans, addressing the requirements of businesses and enterprises seeking multiple-user access. Users can modify their subscription plans by upgrading, downgrading, or canceling at any time.
Step 2: Familiarize Yourself
Once subscribed, familiarize yourself with the user-friendly interface and powerful search capabilities.
Step 3: Use the Templates
Take advantage of Adobe Stock’s time-saving templates for diverse design projects, streamlining the creative process.
Step 4: Preview Assets
Before jumping ahead and licensing, preview the assets beforehand by selecting them.
Step 5: Integrate with Adobe Applications
Seamlessly integrate Adobe Stock with renowned creative applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, enhancing workflow efficiency. Go to “File > Search on Adobe Stock” within your chosen Adobe application.
Top 3 Adobe Stock Alternatives
When considering stock asset platforms, it’s important to compare Adobe Stock with other alternatives available in the market.
Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop are leading software integrated with Adobe Stock, providing seamless access to high-quality video editing and graphic design assets. This integration sets Adobe Stock apart from other platforms, offering comprehensive solutions for creatives. The versatility and compatibility of Adobe Stock with Adobe Photoshop further solidify its position as a preferred choice for professionals, streamlining the creative process with its extensive library of assets.
Additionally, Adobe Stock’s flexible pricing also distinguishes it from competitors. While it’s not the most affordable stock website, it offers monthly and annual subscription plans and credit packs.
Let’s look at Adobe Stock’s top three alternatives to ensure we make the right choice.
Storyblocks
With more than 1.5 million high-quality stock assets, Storyblocks is a popular choice among creatives. From stunning video footage to captivating images, audio tracks, and templates, Storyblocks provides diverse assets to enhance your projects. Storyblocks also comes with an Adobe Creative Cloud plugin and an online video editor called Maker.
Storyblocks doesn’t come with as many assets as Adobe Stock, so if you’re more of a photographer/videographer, consider Storyblocks. If you’re more of a graphic designer/illustrator, Adobe Stock is the way to go!
Shutterstock
Known as one of the largest stock asset platforms, Shutterstock boasts an extensive collection of over 200 million images, videos, illustrations, and music tracks. Its user-friendly interface and advanced search filters make finding the perfect asset easy.
Shutterstock stands out with its vast collection and variety of assets, making it a great choice for those requiring a wide range of project options. But if you’re an avid Adobe user, I’d recommend Adobe Stock for seamless integration with your creative applications.
Read my Shutterstock review!
Pixabay
Pixabay is a free stock platform that offers over 4.3 million high-quality images, videos, music tracks, and more. It’s a popular choice among budget-conscious creatives looking for free assets to enhance their projects. It also seamlessly integrates with Canva.
While Pixabay may not have an extensive library of assets like Adobe Stock, it provides royalty-free content that can be used for personal or commercial purposes. If you’re on a tight budget and don’t require a vast collection, Pixabay is worth considering.
7 Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Stock Asset Platform
Here are the top factors you’ll want to consider when choosing the best stock asset platform for your needs:
- Evaluate the range and diversity of available assets. Does the platform offer the assets you’re looking for?
- Consider if the platform integrates with creative applications you regularly use for efficient workflow.
- Assess the licensing options, subscription plans, and pricing models to ensure they fit your budget.
- Consider whether or not you want the stock platform to offer AI-powered features.
- Ensure the platform has advanced search functionality to find the assets you’re looking for easily.
- Robust preview capabilities can significantly enhance the user experience.
- Consider the level of support, community engagement, and available resources the stock asset platform provides.
Adobe Stock Review: The Best Stock Assets for Creatives?
Adobe Stock offers an extensive range of high-quality stock assets catering to creatives’ needs across various industries. With its vast library of photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, audio, templates, fonts, plugins, and 3D assets, Adobe Stock provides unparalleled asset quality and variety. The platform also offers integration with Adobe applications for a more streamlined workflow to enhance the creative process.
While subscription plans are steep, Adobe Stock offers flexible pricing options, including credit packs. It also offers plans for multiple users on teams and part of enterprises. Its suitability for different types of creatives and its applications in various business settings make it a versatile and valuable resource.
Thanks for reading my Adobe Stock review! When considering stock asset platforms, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons and consider key factors such as asset quality, variety, and pricing. Ultimately, choosing Adobe Stock depends on your specific creative needs and budget.
Overall, Adobe Stock is a reliable and reputable platform that offers a wide range of stock assets, making it a valuable tool for creatives looking to enhance their projects! Give it a shot and see how you like it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Adobe Stock worth it?
Yes, Adobe Stock is worth it. Its extensive library of high-quality assets, seamless integration with Adobe Creative Cloud apps, and flexible licensing options offer great value for creative professionals and teams. It’s an excellent resource for images, video clips, templates, or audio.
Can you actually make money on Adobe Stock?
Yes, it is possible to earn money on Adobe Stock. By uploading your own high-quality stock assets, you can receive a percentage of the sale price for each asset sold (33% for photos and 35% for videos). The amount you make will depend on how many times your assets are licensed. Focus on creating unique and in-demand assets to increase your earning potential.
Is Adobe Stock a safe site?
Adobe Stock is a secure platform for purchasing stock assets. With a reliable payment system and strict content guidelines, Adobe ensures the safety of your personal information. Trust Adobe’s reputation as a trusted software company when using Adobe Stock.
Is Adobe Stock a good investment?
Considering your needs as a creative, whether Adobe Stock is a good investment depends on several factors. With its vast library of high-quality stock assets, it can save time and effort for those who frequently require visual content. However, budget, frequency of use, and project requirements should be considered before investing.
Is Adobe Stock really free?
The free collection on Adobe Stock includes photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, design templates, motion graphics templates, and 3D assets. You can explore this curated collection by clicking on “Free” in the stock.adobe.com navigation bar.
What is Adobe Stock used for?
Adobe Stock is a valuable resource for creatives, offering access to an extensive library of high-quality images, videos, illustrations, and templates. Its integration into Adobe Creative Cloud applications seamlessly supports various creative projects such as graphic design, website development, advertising, and more.
How do I log into Adobe Stock?
To log into Adobe Stock, simply visit the Adobe Stock website and click the “Sign In” button in the top right corner. You will be prompted to enter your Adobe ID and password. If you don’t have an Adobe ID, you can create one for free on the Adobe website. Once logged in, you can search and download images, videos, and other creative assets from Adobe Stock.
How does Adobe Stock pay you?
Adobe Stock compensates you with a portion of the earnings each time one of your assets is downloaded. The commission is 33% for images and 35% for videos. Your earnings are determined by the type of asset, the license type, and the user’s subscription or pack. Adobe Stock pays via PayPal, Payoneer, or Skrill.
Is it legal to use Adobe Stock images?
You can use Adobe Stock resources in any creative project except those designated as “editorial use only.” Unauthorized use of these images can lead to legal consequences, so always check the license agreement before using any Adobe Stock image.
How much does Adobe Stock pay per image?
Adobe Stock pays a 33% commission for every image download.
How much do images cost on Adobe Stock?
Adobe Stock offers a range of pricing options, including subscription plans and credit packages. Check the Adobe Stock Pricing page to determine how much images cost on Adobe Stock.
