Adobe stock video specs 2026: every rule a clip must pass

Adobe Stock checks a video clip against lists, not ranges. A frame rate that is not on its list is refused. A frame size that is not on its list is refused. An audio track is refused even when it is silent. None of this is hard once you know it, but the rules are spread over several Adobe help pages that do not always agree, and a single wrong export setting only shows up as a rejection after the moderation wait.

This page puts every rule in one place. The numbers are copied from Adobe's own contributor help pages (last updated 2026-06-11 and 2026-08-18 when we read them) and from what a live contributor account we work with showed us in the portal.

If you have a clip in front of you, the checker below reads it in your browser and gives a verdict per marketplace. The file never leaves your machine.

The rules at a glance

Containers and codecs

Adobe takes three containers: MOV, MP4 and MPG. MPG is worth noticing because Shutterstock and Pond5 do not list it, so an MPG master is an Adobe-only file.

Codecs are where Adobe's own pages disagree. The technical requirements page lists MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MJPEG and PNG among others. The upload guidelines page narrows it to "MOV or MP4, H.264 codec". The reading that satisfies both is the intersection: H.264 or ProRes.

HEVC (H.265) is not in that pair. An HEVC master has to be transcoded to H.264 before it goes to Adobe. On the contributor account we work with, the masters we measured were HEVC Main 10, and they are transcoded to H.264 before upload for exactly this reason.

Duration and file size

A clip must run 5 to 60 seconds. Anything shorter or longer is out, whatever its quality.

The size limit is 3.9 GB, and Adobe means decimal units: 3,900 MB, or 3,900,000,000 bytes. A tool that counts in binary units shows the same limit as about 3.63 GiB. If your file browser reports a clip as "3.7 GB", check which unit it uses before you assume the clip fits.

Frame rates: eight values, and 48 is not one of them

Adobe accepts exactly eight frame rates. Here they are next to Pond5's published list, because the difference is the point:

Shutterstock publishes no complete list, but its help centre states that 48 fps is accepted.

One detail for anyone checking rates with a script: 29.97 is really 30000/1001, and 23.98 and 59.94 are fractions of the same kind. Compare frame rates with a small tolerance, never with strict equality, or a perfectly valid clip will fail your own check.

Resolution: an allow-list, not a minimum

This is where Adobe differs most from the other marketplaces. Adobe does not say "at least 1920 pixels wide". It lists the frame sizes it accepts, and a size between two listed ones is simply not on the list.

So a 2560×1440 or a 2048×1152 export is not "above the minimum". It is off the list. Export at one of these eleven sizes or expect a refusal.

UHD exported as 4K DCI

UHD is 3840×2160. 4K DCI is 4096×2160. Both are on the list, but they are not interchangeable. Put a UHD image into a DCI frame and the 256 extra columns become black bars, 128 on each side. That is pillarboxing, and Adobe auto-rejects it. Export UHD footage as UHD.

Upscaled footage

Adobe auto-rejects upscaled footage. A 1080p shot scaled up to 3840×2160 lands on an allowed size and still fails, because the size is not the whole test. Deliver the resolution you shot, as long as it is on the list.

When Rushlot finds a clip outside the list, it stops that clip and names the reason. It never rounds a near miss to the nearest listed size: scaling up is refused outright, and so is a pillarboxed frame.

Audio: none at all

Adobe does not accept audio on stock video. Strip every audio track, including a silent one. A track that carries no sound is still a track in the file, and it is still refused.

With ffmpeg, dropping the audio without re-encoding the picture looks like this:

ffmpeg -i clip.mov -c copy -an clip-noaudio.mov

Do this before you embed any metadata. ffmpeg strips embedded XMP on any remux, including a stream copy like the one above, so the title and keywords have to be written after the last ffmpeg step. The Adobe Stock embedded XMP guide explains why this ordering matters.

The thumbnail is the frame at 5 seconds

Adobe grabs the public preview thumbnail at 5 seconds in. That frame is the clip's public thumbnail, so it deserves a look before you upload.

Caps Adobe does not publish

Adobe confirms two limits exist: a weekly submission cap and a pending-moderation cap. It publishes neither number. Contributors report weekly caps anywhere from 200 to 1000, set per account by a formula Adobe does not disclose.

Two practical consequences:

• Never hardcode a number in your own workflow or scripts. Treat the cap as specific to your account and changing over time.
• A stalled lot is not a lost lot. When a batch does not appear where you expect, the cause may be the cap, or simply the queue. The portal's own banner, read on 2026-09-07, says moderation "may take up to 8 weeks". Sending the same files again is the one reaction that can make things worse (see why duplicate uploads get accounts suspended).

When Adobe does refuse a clip on technical grounds, the Not accepted tab labels it QUALITY ISSUES and says the review "found that it contains one or more technical issues". That wording was read on a live contributor account on 2026-09-16. It does not say which issue, which is one more reason to check the list above before upload rather than after.

A pre-upload checklist

• The container is MOV, MP4 or MPG.
• The video codec is H.264 or ProRes. HEVC has been transcoded.
• The clip runs between 5 and 60 seconds.
• The file is at most 3,900,000,000 bytes.
• The frame rate is one of the eight listed. Not 48.
• The frame size is one of the eleven listed, at the resolution you shot.
• There is no audio track at all.
• The frame at 5 seconds is one you would choose as the thumbnail.
• The title and keywords were embedded after the last ffmpeg step.

How Rushlot uses these rules

Rushlot checks every clip against these rules before a byte moves. It repairs what can be repaired (audio stripped, HEVC transcoded to H.264), stops on what cannot, and puts the clip in front of you for review before anything is sent. The Adobe Stock page sets out what it does there and what it never does.