Stock Sites in September 2026: What Contributors Need to Know

News

Alamy introduces payment tiers and cuts commission for many contributors

According to petapixel.com, Alamy is rolling out a new tiered payment system that cuts the commission of many contributors from 40% to 20%. From 1 September, Silver-tier contributors earning more than $250 a year get only 20% commission, while 40% is available only to those earning over £3,000 a year — that is the Gold tier. Under the new system, Bronze, Silver and Gold contributors earning less than $250 a year receive just 15%, with Alamy taking the remaining 85%¹.

What this means: Work out which bracket your Alamy income falls into and recalculate your actual rate per sale. If the Gold threshold is a long way off, decide in advance how many new files you are willing to upload there on these terms, and reconsider how you split your effort across agencies.

Court dismisses photographer's lawsuit against Getty Images over rights transferred to an employer

According to petapixel.com, a New York court dismissed a photographer's lawsuit against Getty Images over the alleged unlicensed use of his images, because it turned out he had previously transferred the copyright to those works to his former employer. His employment contracts with the AFP agency contained a clause assigning full copyright to photographs taken both in the future and in the past — which stripped the photographer of the rights to his own work².

What this means: Re-read your current and past contracts with employers and agencies for copyright assignment clauses, including for shots taken before the contract was signed. If such a clause exists, uploading those works to stock sites is risky: claims from the platform or the client will formally be valid.

Freerange Stock relaunches its site and refuses fully AI-generated images

Freerange Stock has completely relaunched its site after a major platform overhaul: search is faster and contributor tools have been improved. The biggest change is that registration is no longer required to download images — it had been mandatory since the platform was founded in 2006, but now files can be downloaded without creating an account or logging in. At the same time, the platform keeps its focus on work by real contributors and does not accept images created entirely by artificial intelligence³.

What this means: For photographers and illustrators, Freerange remains a platform where pure AI content is not wanted at all, and the simpler download flow removes friction for buyers. It makes sense to check your profile and uploads on the platform after the redesign and make sure everything is displaying correctly.

Envato shuts down its free icon platform Reshot

Envato is closing its free icon and illustration platform Reshot; in its place, the company suggests using Envato and GraphicsGen⁴.

What this means: A free distribution channel for icons and illustrations is disappearing, and the work that lived there is worth checking on other platforms. If you made content specifically for Reshot, assess whether it can be carried over into the Envato or GraphicsGen catalogues.

Trends from the platforms

Older people: demand has shifted to individual and active portraits

What the platform says: PIXTA notes that in the platform's early years seniors were most often shot as part of a family or a couple, while today individual portraits of older people make up the bulk of sales. Search data confirms this: the word "family" in senior-related queries has dropped from 11th to 47th place. The material in demand now shows older people actively using smartphones and computers, working, doing yoga and bowling. Purchase purposes have changed too: if advertising and brochures dominated in the 2010s, the main channel of use today is web articles, social media and content for government bodies. In care, healthcare and public services, practical demand has grown for material featuring only older people. Clothing style has shifted from restrained beige and grey tones to bright outfits that reflect personal style⁵. The piece on how the depiction of older people in stock has changed over 20 years was produced for the service's 20th anniversary, and the anniversary site itself is built on analysis of sales data and search across 100 million files⁶˒⁷.

What this means for shooting: Shoot older subjects on their own, not just in family scenes, and show them in action: using gadgets, at work, in sport and hobbies. Wardrobe should be bright and individual, without an overly deliberate "pensioner" palette. Do a separate set of frames with only older people in them — they are in demand in care, healthcare and government content, so try to avoid extra characters in the frame.

Beauty without the gloss: buyers want honest and culturally grounded imagery

What the platform says: Getty Images predicts that in 2026 the visual language of beauty is shifting from glossy ideals toward the playful and individual, and that consumers respond to honest, culturally rooted and community-based imagery. VisualGPS research shows that nearly six out of ten consumers in Europe feel a stronger connection with brands when advertising reflects a wider range of behaviours and personality types. Today's consumers look for brands that demonstrate transparency and truthfulness — a theme covered by the report section titled "Real is the new aspirational"⁸.

What this means for shooting: Shoot beauty without retouching or gloss: real skin, different looks and behaviours, natural emotion instead of carefully posed perfection. Give your subjects a recognisable cultural and social context rather than an abstract studio backdrop. Avoid repeating the same "perfect" look across a series — the buyer needs a range, not a canon.

Women in combat sports are underrepresented — especially in training

What the platform says: According to VisualGPS research by Getty Images, female fighters are noticeably underrepresented in imagery at moments of training and fight preparation, and the everyday reality of these athletes often falls outside visual storytelling. The share of women among people practising martial arts worldwide has grown from roughly 20% ten years ago to about 30% today. The Asia-Pacific region is one of the fastest-growing in terms of the number of martial arts practitioners⁹.

What this means for shooting: Make training the focus: warm-ups, working with a coach, drilling technique, gear and recovery — this is exactly what the libraries are missing. Show athletes beyond the fight itself: training camps, the journey to training, daily life between sessions. Keep regional demand in mind: stories with Asian female martial artists make sense right now.

Freerange expands its library with a focus on diverse groups in action

What the platform says: Freerange Stock reports that its free image library has been noticeably expanded, with a focus on diverse groups of people in action³.

What this means for shooting: Prepare series where people of different ages, looks and occupations are moving and interacting together, rather than a single subject. Show a specific action — work, study, helping others, sport — not static portraits against a neutral background.

What contributors are discussing

Mass account blocks on Adobe Stock. The Adobe forum reports that deactivations of contributor accounts are a common occurrence, affecting contributors every day¹⁰. One contributor says his account was suspended shortly after his first payout request of $141, another that a block was triggered by an automated security flag straight after resubmitting a payout request to Payoneer. A contributor with a long-standing portfolio of almost 38 thousand AI-generated files says his account was blocked without a clear explanation; in his words, the same happened to another contributor with about eleven thousand AI files and a monthly income of around $450. Another participant says his account was deactivated three months ago with no warning or explanation, and an appeal through the official form received neither confirmation nor a case number; he suspects the cause may have been an unusual spike in sales. Participants warn that reviews take weeks or even months, and that until a properly submitted appeal is filed, the review does not start at all¹¹˒¹³. The advice in the threads is simple: don't send repeated requests asking for a status update — it only slows things down and generates extra case numbers¹² — and remember that after an appeal there is nothing to do but wait, since Adobe does not monitor this forum¹⁴.

Submission limits and stricter moderation. Contributors discuss the fact that once you hit the weekly submission limit or the maximum amount of content awaiting review, a temporary pause kicks in. Limits are not the same for everyone and depend on account metrics: with a higher approval rate and sales, the limit can grow over time, while new accounts start at low values. In a community expert's view, the updated limits were introduced for the sake of collection quality and content volume management, especially with the growth of generative AI submissions, and after customer complaints the selection became stricter¹⁵. At the same time, one contributor complains that the automated pre-filter rejects all of his work for "Quality Issues" before the content and rights are even assessed, and participants note that over the past year the algorithms have been rejecting work without stating a reason, only to accept the same work on resubmission. Everyday causes of rejection mentioned include an overly yellow colour balance and a thin white border along the bottom edge; on rejection a reviewer can list only one reason even if there are several, and Adobe Stock staff do not monitor the community and give no answer about the cause¹⁰˒¹⁶.

Earnings. In one forum contributor's view, 4K video on Adobe Stock now effectively sells for $23.39 or less, while on MicrostockGroup people are discussing that Freepik is offering contributors money for their videos¹⁷. A community expert reminds readers that the Adobe Stock collection contains nearly a billion files, so a portfolio of 2,500 works is small by comparison: a steadier side income needs a larger and more varied portfolio¹⁸.

What to shoot next month

Individual portraits of older people in action: on smartphones and computers, at work, doing yoga and bowling, in bright clothing — these are the subjects driving senior-related sales right now⁵.

A separate series of frames with only older people and no other characters — there is practical demand for this format in care, healthcare and public services⁵.

Honest beauty shoots with different looks and behaviours, real skin and cultural context: truthful and individual imagery is what resonates with buyers⁸.

Women in combat sports during training and preparation, including athletes' everyday life away from the fight — visual storytelling on this is currently in short supply⁹.

Stories featuring Asian female martial artists: the region is growing fast in participant numbers⁹.

Series showing diverse groups of people engaged in a specific action — this is a request Freerange has stated directly in its library expansion³.

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This digest was prepared with the help of AI from publications of September 2026 and checked by our editors. Spotted an inaccuracy? Let us know and we will fix it.

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