- Stock Contributor User guide
- Why contribute to Adobe Stock
- Create and manage your account
- Legal guidelines
- Content requirements
- Content Policy: Artist Names, real known people, fictional characters
- Vector requirements
- Single icons and icon sheets
- Video requirements
- Generative AI requirements
- PNG files with transparency requirements
- Illustrative editorial requirements
- Motion graphics templates requirements
- Design template requirements
- Premium and 3D collections
- Diverse and Inclusive content guidelines
- Photo and illustration requirements
- Prepare and upload your content
- Describe your content effectively
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Find out why customers want PNGs with transparent backgrounds, and discover the technical requirements and steps for submitting them to Adobe Stock. Plus, see examples for ideas and inspiration.
More and more stock customers are looking for basic assets that instantly and clearly communicate a single idea. For example, they might need an image of an isolated object like a lightbulb for a web page, an illustration of a vintage frame to place over a photo, or a geometric graphic to use as an overlay in a video.
These types of “utility” assets are typically used as components of larger designs — they aren’t meant to stand alone in illustrating commercial concepts or conveying ideas.
To meet the growing demand for high-quality utility assets, Adobe Stock now supports PNG files with transparent backgrounds.
Here are a few examples:
What's a PNG file?
A Portable Network Graphic (PNG) file is a raster image that uses lossless compression. That means that PNGs retain all their original file data when compressed, so they can contain a great deal of image detail. They also support opacity and transparency.
Because PNGs can have transparent backgrounds, designers can layer them on different backgrounds and the backgrounds will show through. This makes the PNG format an excellent choice for utility assets.
Use cases for PNGs with transparent backgrounds
- For websites: Photorealistic logos, avatars, and objects
- For social media and layouts: Isolated objects and scene elements
- For art and collages: Shadow and light effects and overlays, and creative materials and textures
- For general use cases: Overlays, isolated objects, backgrounds, patterns, textures, banners, mockups, photo sets, icons and logos, infographics, layouts, letter sets, character sets, element sets, and flat lays
Technical guidelines and best practices for creating and submitting PNGs
Basic specs
PNGs submitted in the Adobe Stock Contributor portal should follow these specs:
Background: None
Color space: sRGB
Maximum file size: 45MB
Minimum image resolution: 4MP
Maximum image resolution: 100MP
For more detailed guidance on creating and submitting photos, illustrations, and vectors to Adobe Stock, see our article on photo and illustration requirements and our submission guidelines for vector assets.
Best practices
Here are some key dos and don’ts for submitting PNGs:
Do: Upload images with transparency.
Do: Upload assets that provide unique value for a customer.
Do: Crop to minimize empty space around the images.
Do: Isolate individual objects, elements, or people.
Do: Remove or minimize shadows.
Don’t: Submit identical files, one as a PNG and one as a JPEG.
Don’t: Add checkered or colored backgrounds to indicate transparency.
Don't: Reference artist names, real known people, fictional characters, or creative works that are still in copyright in your keywords or titles. See HERE for additional information.
