Rejected for Personal Branding or Timestamp: Watermarks, Logos and Date Stamps
A Personal Branding or Timestamp rejection means something on the file marks it as yours or dates it: a watermark, a signature, your logo, your name in the metadata, or a date printed by the camera.
What the agency says
Shutterstock
Personal Branding/Timestamp
Shutterstock rejects files carrying your name, signature, watermark, company logo or graphic, your name in the metadata, or a date or time stamp generated by your camera. It adds its own watermark once a file is accepted.
Adobe Stock
Technical requirements
Adobe's photo requirements say content must be free of any watermarks, timestamps or branding.
What the reviewer saw
Stock files are sold as clean material a buyer can use anywhere. Anything that brands the file to you, or dates it, makes it unusable. The common causes:
- A watermark or signature added by an export preset you forgot was switched on.
- Your studio logo in a corner.
- A date and time printed by the camera or phone.
- Your name or website in the title, description or keywords.
How to fix this file
- Export again from the original with the watermark option switched off in your export preset.
- Crop out or carefully remove a date stamp. Check the repair at 100%; a smudge is a post-production rejection.
- Clean the text fields. Open the file in the EXIF Viewer and read the title, caption and keywords it carries.
How to stop it happening again
- Keep a separate export preset for stock, with no watermark and full resolution.
- Turn off date imprint on every camera and phone you shoot stock with.
See what your file carries
The free EXIF Viewer shows every title, caption, keyword and creator field written inside a photo, so you can spot your name or a stray watermark note before you upload. It runs in your browser.
Sources and when this was checked
Last checked: November 2026. The agency wording on this page comes from the help pages below. Agencies reword their reasons from time to time, so open the source if your message reads differently.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I protect my photo with a watermark?
The agency protects it. Shutterstock and Adobe add their own watermark to previews, and buyers download a clean file only after paying.
My name is in the copyright field. Is that a problem?
Shutterstock's list mentions your name in the metadata. The safest place for your name is the copyright and creator fields; keep it out of the title, description and keywords.
How do I turn off the camera date stamp?
Look for Date Imprint, Date Stamp or Print Date in your camera or phone settings and switch it off. A stamp already burned into a photo has to be cropped or carefully removed.
Do borders and frames count?
Shutterstock's branding article does not mention borders. They are still worth removing, since buyers want the picture edge to edge.
