Making Money on AdobeStock: 3 Surprising Differences Between Photos and Illustrations

Why This Research Matters

Every week thousands of new assets fight for visibility on AdobeStock, but only a sliver break onto the Top Sellers list. I scraped every thumbnail ranked between 16 June — 22 June 2025 in the Photos and Illustrations leaderboards (120 files per category). For each asset I captured:

• title
• keywords
• category_hierarchy
• is_gentech — Adobe’s flag for AI-generated content
• is_transparent
• thumbnail_url
• asset_type (Image, Illustration, Vector)

The goal: uncover patterns you can actually exploit to earn more royalties — without guessing.

Surprise ① Nearly Half of “Photos” Are Digital Textures & Backgrounds

Scrolling the Photos chart you’d expect scenic travel shots or lifestyle portraits. Instead, 57 of the 120 winners are PNG light flares, glitter overlays, gradients, and other texture assets — all tagged as Images (i.e., “photos”).

Quick Glance at the Top-Ranked “Photo” Textures

+------+------------------------------------------------+---------+
| Rank | Title                                          | Subtype |
+------+------------------------------------------------+---------+
| 1    | PNG Special Lens Flare Light Effect, Bokeh Ve… | Texture |
| 2    | PNG Special White Lens Flare Light Effect, Bo… | Texture |
| 3    | PNG Special Lens Flare Light Effect, Bokeh Ve… | Texture |
+------+------------------------------------------------+---------+
Auto (Diff)

How Big Is the Texture Invasion?

+--------------------+-------+
| Subtype            | Count |
+--------------------+-------+
| Digital textures   | 57    |
| Traditional photos | 63    |
+--------------------+-------+
Auto (Diff)

40 % of the Top 50 slots are textures; even more dominate ranks 51–120.

Why It Pays

1. Low production cost — You can batch-export variations (color shifts, aspect ratios) in minutes.
2. Year-round demand — Designers need backgrounds daily, while lifestyle photos spike only in seasonal waves.
3. Search advantage — Fewer contributors tag PNG overlays as “photo,” so you dodge saturated keywords like “smiling woman.”

Action Step: Audit your own portfolio. If you shoot with a DSLR, try repurposing b-roll into high-res wallpapers. If you illustrate, render gradients at 8000 × 8000px and upload as “Image” instead of “Illustration.”

The 3-D Icon Take-Over of the Illustration Leaderboard

The data say it loud: a quarter of all top-selling “illustrations” last week were really 3-D icons or emoji-style characters — not the flat vectors most contributors picture.

What We Counted

+ Illustration Style            + Count +
| 3-D icons & characters        | 30    |
| Everything else (flat, etc.)  | 90    |
+---------------------------------------+
Auto (Diff)

(120 illustration assets scraped, 16–22 June 2025)

A Few Eye-Catchers

+ Rank + Sample Title (truncated)                                  +
|  1  | simple cute cartoon weather icon set 3D graphic            |
|  4  | sweaty face emoji in the heat 3D icon                      |
|  9  | 3D click pointer cursor hand icon                          |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Diff

Why 3-D Wins Right Now

• Algorithmic freshness — Adobe’s search boosts newer media forms; 3-D icons tick that box.
• Cross-platform demand — App designers need cohesive icon packs that scale from mobile to AR.
• Bundle pricing — Contributors upload sets (32, 64, 100 glyphs) at once, racking up multiple licenses per download.

Monetization Takeaway
If you only draw flat SVGs, spin those shapes into 3-D in Blender or LottieFiles, export 4K PNGs with transparent backgrounds, and tag them as Illustration. You’ll appear in less-crowded queries like “isometric emoji pack.”

The Shockingly Uneven AI Footprint

We expected AI images everywhere, but the split was stark:

+-----------------+----------+-------------+
| Category        | Total    | AI Assets   |
+-----------------+----------+-------------+
| Photos          | 120      | 74 (61.7%)  |
| Illustrations   | 120      | 24 (20.0%)  |
+-----------------+----------+-------------+
Auto (Diff)

What’s Going On?

1. Texture Farming — Generative models crank out endless lens-flare PNGs that count as “photos.”
2. Model Licensing Fears — 3-D icon creators often build from scratch or use paid bases to avoid AI-dataset controversies.
3. Reviewer Pipeline — Adobe’s moderation still flags suspect vectors more aggressively than raster images, slowing AI-heavy illustration uploads.

How to Profit From the Gap

• Photo Contributors: Lean hard into AI for non-people assets — sky replacements, surreal gradients, metallic overlays — then run them through a quick QC pass to avoid artifacts.
• Illustration Contributors: Mix manual 3-D work with selective AI assists (e.g., Stable Diffusion for base textures) and note “mixed-media” in your description; buyers value the hybrid craft.

Want the full data?

I’ve cleaned and packaged both spreadsheets so you can sort, pivot, and build your own dashboards.

• Adobe Stock Top Illustrations 16–22 Jun 2025 — ready-to-filter Excel & CSV → [Gumroad link here]
• Adobe Stock Top Photos 16–22 Jun 2025 — same format, plus a keyword frequency sheet → [Gumroad link here]

Recap & Action Checklist

• Capitalize on 3-D Icons: Convert your best flat icons to three dimensions and upload in themed bundles.
• Exploit AI in “Photos”: Generate high-resolution backgrounds and light effects; demand is insatiable.
• Watch the Monday Reset: Trends shift weekly; use our spreadsheets to catch early movers.