Editorial captions: Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, iStock, Pond5
Last verified: September 2026
Editorial photos and clips document real places and events, so stocks want the facts with them: where, when and what happened. Each stock puts those facts in a different field. This guide shows the format for Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, iStock and Pond5.
At a glance
| Stock | Where the place and date go | One more step |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Stock | The place in the keywords; no date | Tick "This is illustrative editorial content" for each submission |
| Shutterstock | The description, in Shutterstock's caption template | Mark the file as editorial (the CSV Editorial column or the Submit page) |
| iStock | The description | Fill ESP's country and creation date fields |
| Pond5 | The description, starting with Pond5's caption | Mark the file Editorial; AiMedia's CSV sets editorial to yes and fills the place |
Adobe Stock: a short title, the place in keywords
Adobe accepts illustrative editorial content only. Its current editorial page asks the title to "describe what's happening in the photo in a few words", and its title tips add: "Keep it short, ideally under 70 characters." Leave the date and place out of the title. Put the place in the keywords, with the country: Adobe's tips give "London, England or London, Ontario" as location keywords.
Adobe's 2024 editorial page asked for the date and location in the title. Its current pages dropped that rule.
Regular (non-editorial) titles must never read as news captions: Adobe refuses news-style captions on commercial content.
Shutterstock: the caption template
Shutterstock's template for editorial descriptions:
CITY, STATE/COUNTRY – MONTH DAY, YEAR: Factual sentence that describes the content's subject matter.
Its own example: "Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - January 28th 2020 - Photo of folklore dancers dancing in a beautiful traditional dress representing mexican culture." Name the event, especially one that required credentials. Approved editorial content is labelled "Editorial Use Only".
iStock: the description, plus country and date
ESP has no caption field. Put the place, the date and the facts of the event in the description, and fill the country and creation date fields, which ESP requires for every file.
Pond5: the caption at the start of the description
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
AiMedia's Pond5 CSV puts it at the start of the description, sets the editorial column to yes and fills Pond5's city, region and country columns, for photos and clips alike.
Video clips
Editorial clips follow the same rules as editorial photos, but not every stock takes them. Shutterstock and Pond5 accept editorial video with the same caption as photos. Adobe Stock does not accept editorial video, and iStock's editorial type is for images only, so send editorial clips to Shutterstock or Pond5.
Write facts
An editorial caption reports; it does not sell. Describe what happens in the photo or clip in one factual sentence, and leave out adjectives that judge it.
Sources
- Submit illustrative editorial content (Adobe) (opens in a new tab)
- Tips for effective titles and keywords (Adobe) (opens in a new tab)
- How do I submit editorial content? (Shutterstock) (opens in a new tab)
- Preparing your content (Getty Images Contributor Community) (opens in a new tab)
- Getty Images ESP (opens in a new tab) — required country and date, as shown in a contributor account, September 2026
- Legal Guidelines (Pond5) (opens in a new tab)
- Illustrative editorial content overview (Adobe) (opens in a new tab)
- How do I submit video for review? (Shutterstock) (opens in a new tab)
- Work with us (iStock) (opens in a new tab)