I Made $5,200 Selling AI-Generated Images in 90 Days Across Three Platforms: Honest Report With Every Platform Fee

Ninety days of generating, submitting, and selling AI images across Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, and Etsy. $5,200 gross revenue ($3,847 net after fees). $85 per month in tools. The approval rates on each platform, which subjects sell, which do not, how the platforms detect AI images, and the dramatic difference in income between platforms. Every platform's fee structure in USD, euros, and pounds.

🔧 Tools mentioned in this article

Midjourney

Primary image generation tool — Standard plan used for batch production at commercial licensing level

www.midjourney.com

Visit

Adobe Firefly

Used specifically for Adobe Stock submissions — commercially cleared content preferred by Adobe Stock

firefly.adobe.com

Visit

Canva

Used for post-processing, adding text overlays to template images, and creating mockups for Etsy

www.canva.com

Visit

Marcus Webb

June 19, 2026

What Each Platform Accepts and Pays

• Adobe Stock: requires disclosure of AI generation during upload — accepts AI images with proper disclosure. Pays approximately $0.33 to $3.30 per download depending on license. Best for: business concepts, lifestyle imagery, nature backgrounds.
• Shutterstock: AI image policy evolved in 2024-2026 — currently accepts labeled AI content. Pays $0.10 to $1.88 per download on most contributor plans. Best for: high-volume submitters, editorial content.
• Etsy digital downloads: no platform restriction on AI images — buyers purchase individual prints as downloadable files. Prices $3 to $25 per download. Best for: art prints, wall decor, seasonal graphics.
• Rejection rates across platforms: Adobe Stock 22% rejection rate, Shutterstock 31% rejection rate, Etsy 0% (self-listing, buyer reviews matter more than platform approval)

The Image Production Workflow at Scale

# Batch Production Workflow for Stock Image Income
# This workflow produces 200 images per week in approximately 8 hours

## Monday: Theme and Keyword Research (2 hours)
1. Check Adobe Stock's 'Trending' section for in-demand concepts
2. Search 'best selling stock photos [month] 2026' for seasonal demand
3. Identify 3-5 themes with high demand and lower competition:
   - NOT: generic office workers (millions of images)
   - YES: specific industries underrepresented (artisan crafts, local food markets)
   - YES: seasonal/event-specific (upcoming holidays, sports seasons)

## Tuesday-Wednesday: Image Generation (4 hours)
Midjourney prompt formula for stock images:
'[Subject description], [lighting style], [composition],
[mood/tone], professional stock photography,
commercially viable, high resolution --ar [ratio] --q 2'

## Examples that achieved high approval rates:
'Small business owner reviewing invoices at wooden desk,
natural window light, medium shot, confident and focused,
professional stock photography --ar 3:2 --q 2'

'Artisan bread baker placing loaf in rustic oven, warm bakery
lighting, close-up detail shot, authentic and warm,
professional stock photography --ar 16:9 --q 2'

## Thursday: Curation and Quality Filter (1 hour)
From 200 generated images:
- Delete obvious AI artifacts (wrong fingers, blurry text, distorted objects)
- Delete images with visible trademarks or recognizable people
- Grade remaining on: commercial appeal (1-5), technical quality (1-5)
- Only submit images scoring 4+ on both dimensions
- Typical pass rate: 65-70% of generated images

## Friday: Upload and Metadata (1 hour)
For each image:
- Filename: descriptive keywords, no spaces (bakery_artisan_bread_oven.jpg)
- Title: 60-80 characters describing the subject specifically
- Keywords: 30-50 relevant keywords
  Start with most specific, end with broad
  Example: 'artisan bread, sourdough loaf, bakery oven, bread baking,
  artisan bakery, rustic bread, homemade bread, baking professional'
- Category: match to platform's exact categories
- AI disclosure: check the disclosure box on Adobe Stock and Shutterstock

Images That Sold Most Versus Least

• TOP SELLERS: Small business concepts (shop owners, local market vendors, artisans) — 34% of all income despite being 18% of uploads
• TOP SELLERS: Seasonal holiday graphics on Etsy (Christmas, Diwali, Eid) — time-sensitive but extremely high conversion
• TOP SELLERS: Remote work and home office scenes with diverse representation — consistent demand year-round
• POOR SELLERS: Generic nature backgrounds and landscapes — extremely saturated, hundreds of thousands of similar images
• POOR SELLERS: Abstract backgrounds — low price, low download rate
• POOR SELLERS: Food photography — AI food images rejected at higher rates due to texture artifacts

Mistakes That Cost Rejection Volume

• Mistake 1: Submitting Midjourney images to Adobe Stock before checking for AI artifacts — lost 40 images in one batch to rejections for 'distorted or unrealistic elements.' Now run a quality check specifically looking at hands, text, and facial symmetry before submission.
• Mistake 2: Inconsistent keyword research leading to saturated niches — 60 images of 'generic office workers' generated 3 total downloads. Same effort on 'small artisan businesses' generated 47 downloads.
• Mistake 3: Not checking Adobe Stock's AI disclosure requirement until after first submission — first 30 images were rejected for missing disclosure checkbox. All resubmitted correctly.
• Mistake 4: Not diversifying to Etsy sooner — Etsy's digital print buyers have completely different intent and price tolerance. A print that might earn $0.33 on Adobe Stock earns $8 as an Etsy digital download.

Final Thoughts

The $5,200 in 90 days is a real number from real platform dashboards. The income is not passive in the first 90 days — the batch production workflow requires 8 hours per week of active work. After month 3 the library of approved images grows to the point where passive downloads from the existing catalog generate income without new production. The most important decision in this business model is niche selection. Saturated categories produce near-zero income regardless of image quality. Underserved commercial concepts with genuine business demand produce downloads within days of approval.