Pond5: titles, keywords and CSV

Pond5 sells photos and video clips, and it takes their titles, descriptions and keywords in English only. You can type them file by file on Pond5, or fill many uploads at once with a CSV. This guide collects the rules from Pond5's contributor pages, shows how Pond5 handled a CSV in a real test in September 2026, and walks through one real photo from title to CSV row.

At a glance

Title

• Write the title in English, up to 80 characters. Pond5's editing guidance asks for titles of 40 to 80 characters.
• Apply CSV measures that limit in bytes, not letters. A plain English letter is one byte; an accented letter or one from another alphabet takes two or more, so a title with such letters fits fewer of them.
• No file extensions, no number codes such as "Pink Flamingo 001", no repeated words.

AiMedia's Pond5 CSV keeps every title within 80 bytes. A longer title is shortened at the end of a word.

A simple approach: name the subject, the action and the setting in a few plain words, so the title says what the photo or clip shows.

Description

• Pond5's Tagging & Pricing page gives a limit of 500 characters. Its CSV template and its Needs Edits article give 2,000. A description of 500 characters or less fits both, so aim for that.
• Write it in English, like the title.

The description adds what the title leaves out: who is in the frame, what they are doing, what is around them. AiMedia's Pond5 CSV keeps every description within 500 characters; a longer one is shortened at the end of a sentence or a word.

Keywords

• Keywords go in one cell, separated by commas: at most 50, and at least 5.
• Pond5's pages do not agree on how many to aim for. The Tagging & Pricing page says "Add 10-50 accurate and relevant keywords"; the Needs Edits article and Master Your Metadata say to always include 40 to 50.
• Whatever the count, every keyword should describe what is in the file. Pond5 asks for accurate and relevant keywords, so don't pad the list to reach 40.

AiMedia's Pond5 CSV writes at most 50 keywords and drops repeats.

English only

Pond5's upload guide names metadata "in a language other than English" as a common reason files are returned. The title, the description and the keywords all have to be in English. If you edit texts by hand in AiMedia, keep them in English too.

One photo, from title to CSV row

This is the file AiMedia's Pond5 CSV gives for this photo:

"originalfilename","title","description","keywords","city","region","country","editorial"
"DSC02635.jpg","Scientist Working in a Modern Laboratory with Test Tube","Scientist in lab coat, hair net, and face mask conducts research in a laboratory. Holding a test tube, the scene features a microscope and a computer monitor displaying data, illuminated by blue and red lights.","scientist, laboratory, research, test tube, microscope, pipette, data, blue light, red light, healthcare, biotechnology, medical, experiment, gloves, mask, protective gear, scientific, analysis, technology, focused, professional, indoor, clinical, modern, working, occupation, innovation, discovery, scientist at work, lab equipment, numerical data, grid interface","","","","no"

• Every field is in double quotes, as in the file tested on Pond5. The keywords share one cell, separated by commas.
• originalfilename is the file name exactly as uploaded, extension included. Pond5 uses it to find the file.
• The title is 55 characters, within 80. The description is 210 characters, within 500.
• The photo has 32 keywords, within Pond5's 50.
• city, region and country are empty and editorial is no: this is a royalty-free photo. Pond5 ignores empty cells, so nothing already set on Pond5 is erased.
• There is no price column. Pond5 sets its default prices; change them on Pond5 if you want to.

Editorial

Mark editorial files as Editorial. For newsworthy or public-interest content, Pond5 asks for a caption at the start of the title or the description:

City, Country (State) – YYYY/MM/DD: factual description

• For content shot before 2000, Pond5 asks only for the year or the decade.
• Staged editorial content needs no caption, but it is still marked Editorial.
• Pond5 does not accept editorial files with model or property releases.

In an editorial batch, AiMedia's Pond5 CSV does this for you:

• editorial is yes, which ticks Editorial on Pond5.
• city, region and country come from each file's current place fields and fill Pond5's own columns, never keywords.
• The description starts with the caption in Pond5's form, for example Benidorm, Spain (Alicante) – 2026/08/06: . The state goes in brackets only when the file has one. The title never carries this caption.
• AiMedia composes the caption from each file's place fields and date at the moment you download the CSV, so a place or date you change after analysis reaches the next CSV automatically. It strips any caption already at the start of the stored description first, so the two never run together.
• When the city, the country or the date is missing, AiMedia adds no caption.

In the September 2026 test, Pond5 kept such a caption exactly as written, dash included.

Applying the CSV on Pond5

1. Upload the photos and clips to Pond5 first. The CSV only fills in files already in your account.
2. Open Uploads → Apply CSV.
3. Check which files the form will apply the CSV to. By default it takes only the files that still need keywords; change that choice if you are updating files that already have them.
4. The form also asks for a date format. AiMedia's file has no date column, so this choice does not change what is written.
5. Choose the file. The form can first list the files it found without changing anything: run that to check that the file names match, then run it again to apply the CSV.
6. Open each file on Pond5: check the texts and the prices Pond5 set (set your own price for a photo if you want one), answer the people and releases questions, then submit.

What the September 2026 test showed:

• Pond5 matches each row to an upload by the original file name, extension included.
• One file with both photos and clips applies to both. AiMedia gives one Pond5 file per batch.
• A row whose file is not on Pond5 is skipped with a warning; the other rows are still applied.
• Empty cells are not written. A royalty-free row leaves Pond5's location fields as they are.

What stays on Pond5

AiMedia's CSV carries only the texts, the Editorial mark and the location. The rest is set on Pond5:

• Prices. When the CSV has no price, Pond5 sets default prices, and you can change them. Clips don't need a price from you. A photo needs one before you submit it, or you can let Pond5 set it.
• People and releases. After the CSV is applied, a file can show as "Needs Edits" until you answer Pond5's questions about recognisable people and releases. These are legal facts only you know, so AiMedia leaves them to you.
• Releases. Attach them on Pond5, and never to an editorial file.

In the test, Pond5 also took a clip's creation date from the file itself; the CSV does not need one.

File names

Pond5 asks for file names without special characters, accents, spaces or dashes. AiMedia writes each name exactly as you uploaded it to AiMedia, and Pond5 matches the CSV by that name. Rename files before you upload them to either site, and upload the same files to both.

For a clip, AiMedia writes the clip's original file name, with its extension, just as for a photo.

Photos

Pond5 accepts photos as JPG, TIFF or PNG (PNG may have transparency), from 2 to 170 megapixels and at least 1200 × 1200 pixels.

Clips

Pond5 accepts clips as MOV or MP4: camera-native files, ProRes, DNxHD/HR, H.264/H.265 or Photo JPEG, but not Motion JPEG or AVI. Clips run 5 to 60 seconds and may weigh up to 3 GB in HD or vertical, 5 GB in 4K to 6K. Smartphone and drone clips must be at least 1080p. Pond5 prefers the sound removed unless it matters to the clip or the clip is editorial. M4V is not on Pond5's list: re-save such a clip as MP4 first.

Pond5 suggests titles that name the subject, the action, the environment and the type of shot. AiMedia names the shot, such as an aerial view, when the frames show it.

AI-generated content

Pond5 does not accept AI-generated content. Its legal guidelines say repeated submission of it leads to the suspension or closure of the account.

Common mistakes

• Texts not in English. Pond5 returns files with metadata in another language.
• File extensions, number codes or repeated words in the title, such as "Pink Flamingo 001".
• A CSV applied before the files are uploaded. Apply CSV fills in files already on Pond5; rows for missing files are skipped.
• File names that differ between AiMedia and Pond5. A renamed file no longer matches its row, and the row is skipped.
• Spaces, dashes or accents in file names, which Pond5 asks you to avoid.
• Updating files that already have keywords with the default file choice. By default Apply CSV fills only files that still need keywords, so it leaves these out.
• A CSV re-saved in a spreadsheet with other settings. Pond5 asks for UTF-8, commas between fields and double quotes around text.
• Releases attached to editorial files. Pond5 does not accept editorial content with releases.
• A photo without a price, which cannot be submitted.
• AI-generated images or clips, which Pond5 does not accept.

Before you submit

• Title in English, within 80 characters, with no codes, extensions or repeated words.
• Description in English, within 500 characters.
• Between 5 and 50 keywords, each describing what is in the file.
• Editorial files marked Editorial, with Pond5's caption when the content is newsworthy, and without releases.
• A price on every photo.
• The people and releases questions answered on every file that needs them.
• File names without spaces, dashes, accents or special characters, and the same in AiMedia and on Pond5.
• Photos in JPG, TIFF or PNG, 2 to 170 megapixels, at least 1200 × 1200.

Sources

• Tagging & Pricing (opens in a new tab)
• Legal Guidelines (opens in a new tab)
• Content Review Guidelines Updates (opens in a new tab)
• Upload Status: Needs Edits or Returned (opens in a new tab)
• Uploading Your Files (opens in a new tab)
• Preparing Footage (opens in a new tab)
• Preparing Photos (opens in a new tab)
• Master Your Metadata (opens in a new tab)
• Apply CSV in a Pond5 contributor account, tested in September 2026: matching by file name, skipped rows, a file with photos and clips, empty cells, default prices and the title limit in bytes