Adobe Stock is the best stock photo resource we’ve ever used and an amazing tool if you want to create professional looking websites, publications, magazines and more.
Even better, students and educators can currently get 60% off Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions to go with it which works out at just $19.99 per month for access to the entire suite.
Almost all professional designers and graphic professionals use Macs and Adobe products are the industry standard when it comes to producing truly stunning results.
Even better, right now you can try Adobe Stock for free with 10 free images to get an idea of the impressive content available.
If you already use Adobe products and want to take your creativity to another level, using Adobe Stock is a no-brainer as it’s already integrated into Creative Cloud.
However, if you already use a desktop publishing software on your Mac, using Adobe Stock brings a new level of professionalism to your work.
In this review, we take a closer look at what Adobe Stock can do for your creative projects in 2022.
Although you can use Adobe Stock as a tool in its own right, to get the most out of it you really need to use Adobe Creative Cloud.
Adobe Creative Cloud is Adobe’s creative suite and encompasses all of the powerful graphic design software such as Photoshop, Lightroom and Illustrator that makes Adobe the software market leader when it comes to creative design.
It doesn’t have to be expensive either. Students and educators can currently get 60% off Creative Cloud subscriptions which works out at just $19.99 per month for access to the entire suite.
Adobe Stock is integrated directly into Creative Cloud. What this means is that you can simply search for and add photos, videos and illustrations within powerful apps like Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and more.
Adobe Stock costs an extra subscription on top of Creative Cloud but it’s well worth it if you’re serious about creating professional designs.
All Adobe Stock resources are royalty free so you can use them commercially in pretty much whichever way you want.
There are also extended licenses for $79.99 which allows commercial high volume use of images or for resale purposes.
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What Do You Get in Adobe Stock?
Much of Adobe Stock’s content was originally from Fotolia which Adobe acquired in 2014 for $800 million.
Nowadays that content has been expanded significantly including contributions directly from artists and graphic design professionals using Adobe Lightroom CC.
You can even submit images yourself even if you don’t have a Creative Cloud subscription – you just need a free Adobe account.
It takes 3-5 days for Adobe to review your submissions but if accepted, you can make handsome commissions if your images are popular. The minimum payout guarantee for still images is $0.25.
The highlights of Adobe Stock include:
- Over 100 million royalty free images and counting (in JPEG format)
- Ability to select portrait, extra long landscape and other format types
- Design comping and watermarking of previews and prototypes before purchasing
- Extended licenses on certain images and resources
- Much more than just photos including 4K videos, 3D files, templates and vector files
Using Adobe Stock In Creative Cloud
One of the things we really like about using Adobe Stock in Creative Cloud software is that you can search for images, edit them and test them out before you actually have to pay for them.
Of course, all the images that you test out have a watermark on but it’s a great way to see what works and what doesn’t before paying for the image or resource.
If you decide to purchase, any edits that you’ve made to the comped watermarked version in Adobe software are automatically applied.
This makes it unbelievably easy and fast to create professional layouts, designs and publications compared to many other graphic design tools.
If you’re a video editor, thus even extends to video footage that you edit in video editing software such as Adobe Premier CC or After Effects CC.
You can see this in action below.
Artificial Intelligence in Adobe Stock
One thing that really makes Adobe Stock stand out is the AI search features. The search capabilities in Adobe Stock are truly outstanding compared to most stock image resources.
The artificial imaging search feature allows you to perform reverse image searches and allows you to get more accurate results, faster.
One of the best touches is the “undiscovered” search which shows images that no other designer has used yet.
This enables you to discover unique images that no one else has used, faster.
Downloading Images From Adobe Stock
It’s extremely easy to download images in any Adobe application. There are two ways – either within an Adobe application or from the Adobe Stock site itself.
If you’re not a Creative Cloud customer using Adobe applications, simply go to the Adobe Stock site, search for an image, click download on the one you want and you’ll be prompted to sign-up for an Adobe Stock subscription.
If you’re already using an Adobe application, it’s even easier.
- Go to the Library feature and search for an image by keyword in the Adobe Search bar
- Select the watermarked image you want to open and edit it
- When you’re happy with the edit, click on the image for licensing options
- Assuming you already have an Adobe Stock subscription, your account will be automatically charged and the comp image will be automatically updated with a non-watermarked version
What Makes Adobe Stock Better Than Other Stock Photo Sites?
The crucial factors that make Adobe Stock better than any other photo stock resource out there are:
- Choice: There’s literally photos for any single conceivable search term and many variations on one theme. Sometimes this also leads to duplication of assets but you’ll almost never be left without an option.
- Quality: The images in Adobe Stock are all taken by professionals and there’s a big difference in quality compared to most photo stock sites.
- Convenience: It’s incredibly quick and easy to integrate Adobe Stock images into layouts when using Adobe software. Even if you don’t, it’s easy to search the Adobe Stock website itself and just download images for importing into other applications.
How Much Are Adobe Stock Photos?
Although you can purchase photos without an Adobe Stock subscription via credits, it doesn’t work out economical at a minimum of $49.95 for 5 credits which works out at $9.99 per photo. It’s far better to subscribe to a plan.
Adobe Stock has reasonably priced and flexible pricing plans that significantly bring down the cost of individual photos plus include some photos for free.
To use Adobe Stock, you first require a monthly or annual subscription which includes a certain amount of free images. Extra photos or assets cost more and the price of each item depends on whether you choose to pay monthly or annually.
You can pay monthly but if you subscribe to annual plans, the cost per image is reduced significantly.
You must purchase a minimum of 3 images per month for $29.99 which works out at $9.99 per photo. However, it’s better to pay for an annual subscription up front which still works out at $29.99 per month but gets you 10 free images per month.
If you’re a video professional and want to add HD or 4K videos to the mix, plans start at $79.99 per month.
There are also special plans for Teams and Enterprise Plans with cheaper rates for high volume purchases.
One nice thing is if you have a team subscription, any image purchased by a member of your team is automatically shared with other members.
Premium Content On Adobe Stock
Although the standard library is enough for most needs, there’s also Premium content for unique imagery that’s exclusive to you, video, 3D models, graphic templates and more.
5 credits for premium content costs $49.95 but this only gets you one image. Pricing goes up to 150 credits for $1,200 and credits are valid for one year only.
You can watch an overview of how Adobe Stock integrates into Adobe products below.
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