FAQ | Adobe Stock basics

Adobe Stock offers standard photos, Premium photos, vectors, and illustrations. Learn more about Adobe Stock photos and Adobe Stock design assets.

Elevate your creative stories by using Adobe Stock images in your presentations, websites, social media posts, advertisements, and more.

Illustrative Editorial assets are marked for "Editorial use only. The Illustrative Editorial collection focuses on conceptual imagery that uses real brands and products to convey strong ideas. Illustrative Editorial content spans photos, illustrations, and vectors and includes imagery that features popular consumer brands. 

Assets designated for “Editorial use only” are marked “Editorial only” when you hover over them in the search results and under the “Restriction” section in the image information. You may not use these assets for commercial purposes, such as in advertisements or on product packaging. Other restrictions apply. See the summary of editorial use restrictions.

The Adobe Stock Premium collection contains millions of images from the portfolios of some of the world’s top photographers, illustrators, and agencies. Our community of Premium photography contributors seeks to tell powerful stories that provide authentic cultural and geo-localized insights as well as accurate representation of communities. 

Premium collection contributors’ photos showcase extensive commercial knowledge and skill, allowing you to save time and budget on expensive photoshoots, difficult-to-get model releases, and prolonged post-production editing.

Yes, you can download assets from the Adobe Stock Premium collection in two sizes — small and large. Price points differ depending on file resolution.

All Adobe Stock Premium collection images include an enhanced license, which allows unlimited print runs. However, if you want an extended license to create derivate products for resale (such as coffee mugs, t-shirts, or template files), you need an Adobe Stock Enterprise account. Learn more about license terms.

Adobe Stock offers digitally illustrated artwork (non-photos) as vectors or illustrations.

As rasterized images, illustrations can include a wider variety of textures, styles, and artwork than vectors, and you can download them as JPEGs. From hand-drawn artwork to textures and digital scenes, Adobe Stock illustrations encompass various decorative elements and design techniques and styles.

Learn more about design assets, and explore Adobe Stock vectors and Adobe Stock illustrations.

Adobe Stock templates are optimized for Creative Cloud and may not be compatible with older versions of Creative Suite that are no longer supported by Adobe.

You can use Adobe Stock videos to fill the gap in a storyline, provide an establishing shot, or match existing footage across a wide selection of content themes including lifestyle, business, cinematic aerials, sports, and action footage, animation, and more. 

Adobe Stock videos are collected from dynamic artists around the world as well as high-production video brands and agencies such as GoPro, Hero Images, and The Ocean Agency.   

Streamline your workflow and easily search and license videos directly from Creative Cloud apps such as Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects. Learn more about Adobe Stock videos. 

All Adobe Stock videos are available in 4K, HD, or similar frame sizes, and they come with an enhanced license. The enhanced license has no limitation on how many people can view the video. 

With an enhanced license, you may: 

• Use the asset with all the rights granted in the standard license. 

• Reproduce the asset in your creative work beyond the 500,000 copy/viewer restriction. 

With an enhanced license, you may not: 

• Distribute the stand-alone file. 

• Create merchandise, templates, or other products for resale or distribution where the primary value of the product is associated with the asset itself. For example, you can’t use the asset to create a poster, t-shirt, or coffee mug that someone would buy specifically because of the asset printed on it. 

Find more information about the different Adobe Stock license types on our license information page or in our usage and licensing FAQs. 

You can purchase videos in two ways:

• Purchase on demand if you must download videos one at a time. 

• Purchase a credit pack if you plan to download multiple video assets either at once or over the course of time. You can save money by purchasing videos with a credit pack.

Learn more about pricing options.

All Adobe Stock audio tracks are licensed royalty-free, so you may use them as many times as you need in any project, anywhere in the world, subject to the license restrictions. This means that even if you cancel your account, you may still use the licensed track in your project.

Please see the overview of our license terms, and the Adobe Stock Terms & Conditions for more information on licensing rights and restrictions.

You can license Adobe Stock audio in the following ways: 

• Through a subscription: Subscriptions allow you to license audio tracks with a standard license. In addition, you can use the subscription to license standard images (that is, photos, vectors, illustrations), templates, and 3D assets. 

• Through a credit pack: You can purchase an audio standard or extended license using a credit pack. You can buy a standard audio license with 1 credit and an extended audio license with 20 credits. 

To purchase a subscription or credit packs, visit the Adobe Stock plans page.

If you have an existing Adobe Stock subscription or credit allotment, you can use it to license an audio track. That means:

• You can purchase audio standard licenses for music tracks using the same subscription you’ve used to purchase standard image licenses.

• You can purchase audio standard or extended licenses using the same credit pack you’ve used to purchase extended image licenses, videos, or Premium assets.

Get started or learn more about Adobe Stock audio.

With Adobe Stock royalty-free audio licenses, you may use any licensed music track as many times as you like, for as long as you like, anywhere in the world. Here are the details:

• The Adobe Stock audio standard license covers most common uses such as social media, websites, digital ads, and corporate presentations.

• The Adobe Stock audio extended license is required for film, broadcast, SVOD, apps, games, and point of sale. Audio tracks with extended licenses are only available to Enterprise customers at this time.

See an overview of our license terms for more details or explore Adobe Stock audio.

You may use Adobe Stock audio in a variety of ways with a standard or extended license — in training materials, online ads, wedding films, paid advertising, social media, and more.

If you plan to use Adobe Stock audio in film, broadcast, SVOD, apps, games, or point of sale, you must purchase an audio extended license.

Adobe Stock audio must be synced with a visual or other audio, such as in a podcast. Standalone use is not permitted. See our license terms summary or our Terms of Use  for details about restrictions.

We’re here to help you. With each licensed track, you get a license validation code. However, when you post a video that includes Adobe Stock audio tracks, you may receive a YouTube copyright claim. You must submit an Adobe Stock license code for each piece of music licensed. See details.

You can access Adobe Stock audio by going to the Essential Sound panel in Adobe Premiere. 

• Click the Windows menu and select Essential Sound. Or click the Audio tab at the top of your Adobe Premiere window and see the Essential Sound panel on the right. 

• Click the Browse tab, and then explore the available tracks. 

• Use the filters to specify mood, genre, tempo, and whether you want instrumental tracks. Enter keywords to search by instrument and more. 

• To preview a track, click the Play button or the waveform of any track.

No. Audio available through Adobe Stock can only be licensed with an Adobe Stock subscription or credit pack.   

You can license Adobe Stock music tracks directly within Adobe Premiere or on the Adobe Stock website via a subscription or credit pack. Adobe Stock music tracks with standard licenses are available as part of an Adobe Stock mixed assets subscription that starts with the first month free. Learn more about pricing and plans.

Bring your designs to life with an amazing collection of 3D models, materials, and lights. The Adobe Stock 3D collection is built with the highest aesthetic and technical standards in mind, and includes:

• 3D models: Customize the style, look, and scale of any 3D model in your scene.

• 3D materials: Instantly change the visual appearance of any 3D model by choosing from a vast selection of materials.

• 3D lights: Illuminate your scene with real-world lighting, reflections, and a background image.

  Learn more about 3D assets or explore Adobe Stock 3D.

Adobe Stock is natively integrated into Adobe Dimension, so you can search thousands of free and paid Adobe Stock 3D assets to find the perfect one without leaving the app. You can also use Adobe Stock 3D assets with Adobe 3D and AR apps like Substance Suite and Adobe Aero.

Adobe stock 3D models, lights, and materials are optimized for use in Dimension. However, there are certain factors to consider when using these assets in other third-party 3D apps. 

Models in non-Adobe 3D apps:

• Any app that can import OBJ files can load the models. However, the models may not look the same as the thumbnails on the Adobe Stock website if they’re loaded in an environment that doesn’t support MDL 1.3 or later. 

• Each model has an MTL file that contains some shader information for apps that don’t support MDL. Depending on the app’s importer, some manual texture hookups may be required. 

• For best fidelity, these models require a rendering engine that supports MDL 1.3 or later. 

Models in Dimension: 

When using these models in Dimension, there may be minor differences between how the model appears on Adobe Stock and how it appears in the app. These differences are anticipated and will always result in an improved 3D experience. 

The Adobe Stock free collection contains free photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, design templates, motion graphics templates, and 3D assets. You can discover this hand-curated collection by clicking Free in the stock.adobe.com navigation bar. Explore Adobe Stock free assets.

If you’re logged in to Adobe Stock with your Adobe ID, you can simply click the blue button to download your free asset. 

If you have an Adobe ID but are not logged in, please sign in with your Adobe ID and then click the blue button to download your free asset.  

If you don’t have an Adobe ID, please follow the process to create one and then click the blue button to download your free asset.

When you download a free collection asset by clicking the blue button, you receive a royalty-free commercial-use license for that asset.  

Free collection assets have the following licenses: 

• Photos, vectors, and illustrations: Standard license   

• Videos, templates, and 3D assets: Enhanced license.  

Please see the overview of our license terms, as well as the Adobe Stock Terms & Conditions  for more information on licensing rights and restrictions.

All Adobe Stock licenses are perpetual, so you may use them as many times as you need in your project, anywhere in the world, subject to the license restrictions. This means that even if you cancel your account, you may still use the licensed asset in your project.

Here are some examples of how you may use photos, vectors, and illustrations from the Adobe Stock free collection:  

• Unlimited views on the web, mobile, or social media   

• Marketing collateral printed up to 500,000 times  

• A live, recorded, or digital production if the expected audience is fewer than 500,000 viewers  

 Here are some examples of how you may use videos, templates, and 3D assets from the Adobe Stock free collection:  

• Use the asset with all the rights granted in the standard license. 

• Reproduce the asset beyond the 500,000 copy/viewer restriction. 

Please see the overview of our license terms, as well as the Adobe Stock Terms of Use and usage and licensing FAQ for more information on licensing rights and restrictions.

Yes, there’s a limit on how many free assets you can download in a given period. We developed these Free asset download limits with many common use cases in mind and you can always increase your Free asset download limits by purchasing a subscription.”

The hundreds of thousands of assets available in the Adobe Stock free collection provide only a fraction of the assets that are available with an Adobe Stock paid subscription. 

The free collection’s emphasis is on breadth, not depth.

Yes, generative AI images that meet Adobe Stock’s submission guidelines can be found in the Adobe Stock collection. These images are offered under the same license terms as other sources of content.

Adobe believes in empowering its contributor community to use various tools as part of their creative process so long as the content submitted to Adobe Stock complies with Adobe Stock’s submission guidelines. In addition, Adobe Stock is engaging with the contributor community to develop guidelines and best practices related to the use of generative AI tools in creative workflows.

Adobe Stock’s generative AI content can be used for the same projects as our other Adobe Stock images. For example, if you purchase a standard license for a generative AI illustration in accordance with the standard licensing agreement, you can use it on the web an unlimited amount of times and for print runs with up to 500,000 impressions. Please see the overview of our license terms, as well as the Adobe Stock Terms & Conditions for more information on licensing rights and restrictions.

Adobe Stock will uphold its current moderation policies for this content. Also, we will continue to maintain our high bar for technical quality, ensuring generative AI content on our platform meets our standards for image resolution.

In the unlikely event that a claim arises regarding a Stock asset, Adobe provides its customers with IP indemnification subject to the Adobe Stock terms and conditions (see Stock’s standard terms for more information).

You can open images and videos from the Adobe Stock website inside many Creative Cloud apps with a single click. You can also save Adobe Stock assets directly to your Creative Cloud Libraries so they’re immediately available in most of your Creative Cloud desktop and mobile apps.

You can also launch Adobe Stock from within the Libraries panel in Creative Cloud apps such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, XD, Dimension, and Adobe Dreamweaver. You can also license watermarked previews of Adobe Stock content directly from the Libraries panel in the desktop apps. Learn more.

Adobe Stock is natively integrated with most Creative Cloud apps, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, XD, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Premiere Rush, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Spark, and Dimension. You can also save images directly to your Creative Cloud Libraries for instant access across apps. The Creative Cloud Libraries feature is currently supported in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere, Premiere Rush, XD, Dreamweaver, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, and Adobe Comp.  

In Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign, templates from Adobe Stock are also available from right within the New Document dialog box. These templates, designed to jump-start your creative projects, come in PSDT, AIT, and INDT formats. Once you license and download a template, you can build on it just as you’d work with any other Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign document.

As a Creative Cloud member you receive a number of benefits, including seamless integration with your favorite apps like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe  InDesign, and Adobe Premiere. You can access the Adobe Stock assets you’ve saved to your Libraries directly inside your apps, and you can search in-app and even license directly in-app. Learn more.

You can share the licensed asset with employees or subcontractors, provided that they follow all the license restrictions. 

If you transfer the asset or a derivative work to a client, then you must purchase a second license if they intend to use it for the benefit of another client. Learn more about licensing terms.

Adobe Stock is natively integrated with most Creative Cloud apps, including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, XD, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Premiere Rush, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Spark, and Dimension. If Adobe Stock is not natively integrated with your Creative Cloud app, Adobe Stock assets can easily be downloaded from the website to your computer and then opened in your Creative Cloud app.