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Guides

Guides for stock contributors

Plain-language walkthroughs of the metadata rules each marketplace enforces, written alongside the Metadata World toolbox. Free to read, no signup.

Is it safe to use your own AI API key in a web app?

What a provider key can and cannot expose, how to check a tool is not logging it, and a short checklist for vetting any bring-your-own-key tool.

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Adobe Stock vs Shutterstock vs Freepik vs 123RF: keyword and CSV differences

Keyword ceilings, required CSV columns, category systems and title lengths compared across all four marketplaces for multi-platform submissions.

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Why do most free AI metadata tools require an account?

The credit-metered signup model versus a bring-your-own-key model, the real tradeoffs of each, and when each one makes sense for a contributor.

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How to remove audio from stock video before upload

Why clips with unwanted or copyrighted sound get rejected, and how to strip the audio from a whole batch without re-encoding the picture.

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How to become an Adobe Stock contributor

Sign-up, ID verification, tax and payout setup, then the first upload — plus what moderators look for in your opening batch.

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Freepik metadata and CSV uploads: a contributor's guide

Freepik's title and keyword limits, category choice and CSV upload steps, and how to reuse one metadata set across Adobe Stock and Shutterstock.

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Stock video metadata and keywording

Titling, describing and keywording footage for Adobe Stock and Shutterstock, including frame-by-frame analysis, motion keywords and clip-length limits.

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Adobe Stock CSV format explained

Every column Adobe Stock expects in a metadata CSV, the exact header spelling, category numbers, release fields, and the mistakes that make an upload fail.

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Image keywording for microstock contributors

A repeatable keywording method: how many keywords to use, how to order them by relevance, what to leave out, and how to keyword a whole batch.

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Stock metadata limits cheat sheet

Title, description and keyword limits side by side for Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Freepik and 123RF, so one metadata set passes every marketplace check.

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Shutterstock keyword optimization: a contributor's guide

How to optimise Shutterstock titles, categories and keywords — limits, ordering, category mapping and the CSV upload steps.

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Looking for product documentation?

The guides above cover marketplace rules. For how Metadata Worlditself works — keys, uploads, validation and CSV export — read the documentation.

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