Rejected for Post-Production: Overediting, Halos and Bad Cutouts
A Post-Production rejection means the editing is visible in a way that hurts the photo: colors pushed too far, halos along edges, plastic-looking skin, or clone-stamp marks where something was removed.
What the agency says
Shutterstock
Post-Production
Shutterstock's standard says "Content manipulation must be of high quality to be accepted." It names oversaturation, heavy noise reduction or sharpening, visible dodging and burning, unsuitable filters, traces of cloning and weak composites.
What the reviewer saw
Stock photos are bought as raw material. Buyers expect to add their own grade, crop and text, so a file that already carries heavy, visible edits is harder to use. The common signs:
- Oversaturation: neon greens, glowing skies, skin turning orange.
- Too much noise reduction: faces and fabric that look painted or plastic.
- Too much sharpening: bright or dark outlines along edges and harsh, crunchy texture.
- Visible repairs: repeated patterns from the clone stamp, blurred patches where a logo or face was hidden.
- Weak composites and cutouts: jagged or haloed edges around an isolated object, or added elements with different light and perspective.
How to fix this file
- Re-export with every slider pulled back by half. If the photo still looks good, keep going down. Most overedited files are fixed this way.
- Apply noise reduction and sharpening locally, not across the whole frame.
- Redo repairs at 100% with the healing brush and a varied source, so no texture repeats.
- For cutouts, refine the mask edge and check it on a white and a black background before you export.
How to stop it happening again
- Lower in-camera sharpening and noise reduction if you shoot JPEG.
- Fix things on set rather than in editing: move the distraction, cover the logo, tidy the props.
- Take a break before you export. Eyes get used to strong edits after a few minutes; a fresh look shows what a reviewer will see.
Not sure which shots are your strongest?
The free Stock Photo Review looks at 5 to 10 photos and says which ones might suit stock and what to fix first. It is a second opinion from AI, not a reviewer's decision.
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
Are filters and presets allowed?
Yes, when the look suits the subject and is applied with care. Shutterstock accepts a deliberate mood, such as a saturation boost with a vignette, but not filters stacked on top of each other.
How do I know if I sharpened too much?
Look at high-contrast edges at 100%. A bright or dark outline along them is a halo. Shutterstock says sharpened images that look too crisp, with exaggerated lines and texture, are a problem.
Is HDR allowed?
Shutterstock cautions against overusing it. Natural-looking exposure blending is fine; glowing outlines and grey, flat skies are not.
Can I remove a logo in editing instead of reshooting?
Shutterstock accepts it when the logo is removed cleanly from every element. A smudge where the logo was is a post-production rejection, and a logo you missed is a trademark rejection.
