Shutterstock is a growing creative platform where professional artists and hobbyists alike can contribute their work to be licensed by our vast global network of customers. If you are looking to sell your content on Shutterstock, all you need to do to get started is sign up for a free contributor account and within minutes you can begin submitting your work!
Getting started
Here are a few basic guidelines you need to know before you start:
You must be at least 18 years old to submit your work to Shutterstock.
Your work must be original and you must be the copyright owner of the work you submit.
Submit.shutterstock.com is the site for our contributing artists and shutterstock.com is for customers who license your work.
Work that features models or private property and is intended for commercial licensing must be accompanied by a release.
There are a number of restrictions as to what Shutterstock can accept, especially for commercial licensing--you can learn about them here.
Once you have registered your contributor account on submit.shutterstock.com, you are ready to begin submitting your work!
Submit your work
Shutterstock accepts a variety of content that can be downloaded under several licenses and used for commercial or editorial purposes. Technical and submission requirements vary slightly between various content types, so click on each below to get the details:
The content you submit will be reviewed by our expert team of reviewers, who ensure it meets all legal and compliance requirements, as well as Shutterstock’s technical and metadata standards. Our team works promptly to assess your submissions, as it is in our mutual interests to bring your content to our marketplace as quickly as possible. You can read more about the review process here.
If your work was not approved, you can learn more about the reason behind the rejection by reading one of our review support articles--there you’ll also find helpful tips to avoid future rejections.
Submissions that have been accepted, will be displayed in the Catalog Manager and will be published in your portfolio within 72 hours of approval. Once your content is live on the site, customers can discover and download your work for their creative projects.
Earn money from downloads
Each time a customer downloads your work, they are purchasing a license. As a contributing artist, you will earn a percentage of the price they pay for that license. How much you earn per download depends on a couple of factors; the type of plan used for the purchase, the kind of license included with that plan and your earnings level as a contributor at the time of the download. You can read about this in more detail here.
You can also earn additional income by referring both customers and contributors to our platform.
Get paid
Once you have accrued at least $25 from licensing your work on Shutterstock, you are ready to collect your earnings! In order to receive payment, you must have a completed tax form on file and select an electronic payment provider--chose from PayPal, Skrill or Payoneer. Be sure to check with your payment provider if there are any limitations or special requirements for receiving payments, as those may vary across different countries and regions. Payments are issued on a monthly basis and are calculated on the first of each month. Learn more about payments here.
A few tips for success
There is no one secret formula that any artist can follow to create a successful portfolio, but following these guidelines should help you get started on the right path:
Upload regularly. Rome was not built in a day--it takes regular submissions to build a sizeable portfolio on Shutterstock. You don’t need to have hundreds of thousands of images or videos, but the more you submit on a regular basis, the more visible your content will be in search results.
Mind the metadata. Titles and keywords play a crucial role in the discoverability of your content. Check out this article for tips and best practices.
Curate your portfolio. Make it easier for customers to discover your work by grouping your content into sets by subject, concept or creative trend.
Know what’s in demand. Follow current creative trends and explore the Shot List - a monthly digest of concepts and themes requested by our customers. The contributor blog is also a great resource for information and inspiration.
We look forward to your next submission!