Adobe Stock metadata
Adobe Stock reads XMP metadata from JPGs automatically: title, description and keywords pre-fill the submission form on upload. Here are the limits, tag priority rules and how to automate the whole workflow.
Adobe Stock limits
- Title — up to 200 characters, no special symbols or emoji.
- Keywords — up to 49; the first 7–10 carry the most search weight.
- Description — optional, but helps moderation and on-site SEO.
- Format — JPG (AI content accepted with the Generative AI flag).
How Adobe Stock reads metadata from the file
On web or SFTP upload, Adobe Stock extracts the XMP packet from the JPG: dc:title → title, dc:subject → keywords, dc:description → description. With embedded XMP the form fills itself.
Gotcha: the JPG needs a JFIF (APP0) marker before the XMP segment — without it Adobe sometimes ignores the metadata. Some generators and editors strip this marker. Stock Metadata Tagger restores JFIF when embedding — see our detailed article.
Automatic SFTP upload
Adobe Stock has no public contributor API, but it has SFTP: files sent to sftp.contributor.adobestock.com appear in your dashboard with fields already filled.
Stock Metadata Tagger can send finished JPGs to your accounts automatically after processing — with rotation across multiple accounts, wave counters (200 in review + 300 pending) and a per-account slot plan.
Adobe Stock categories
Categories (Animals, Graphic Resources, etc.) are not read from metadata — you pick them in the dashboard. Upload in themed batches and it takes seconds per batch.
Related guides
Go further with Stock Meta
What do I still have to do in the dashboard after SFTP upload?
Only pick the category and, for AI content, tick “Created with generative AI”. Title, description and keywords come from XMP.
How many keywords are optimal for Adobe Stock?
35–47 relevant ones, most important first. The AI sorts tags by significance automatically.