Alamy takes images two ways: over FTP, or through the web-based upload tool in My Alamy. Either route needs high quality RGB JPEGs at baseline standard, over 17MB uncompressed, and your first submission has to be exactly three images so quality control can assess you. After that the queue is uncapped, and files typically go on sale within about twenty-four hours of passing.
The file specs, before anything else
Alamy wants JPEGs saved as high quality RGB at baseline standard, level 8 or above. The size requirement is the one that catches people, because it is stated as an uncompressed figure: over 17MB when open, which usually lands as a compressed JPEG somewhere in the 3 to 5MB range. Open the file in an image editor and read the open size rather than the size on disk, because those two numbers disagree and only one of them is the test.
On cameras, Alamy accepts mirrorless and DSLR bodies, and most popular branded smartphones released in 2020 or later. Vectors go in as EPS only, with AI, SVG and DRW files rejected outright, and you can send an accompanying JPEG carrying the metadata as long as the filename matches and it travels in the same batch.
What Alamy will not take at all
Alamy does not accept images generated by AI programs. This is not a disclosure requirement of the kind other agencies have moved to, where labelled synthetic work is allowed through; it is a refusal, and Alamy has published its reasoning as an ethical position in favour of photography made in the real world. If your output mixes camera work and generated work, only the former has a route here.
Video is also closed to individuals. Alamy has shut its video application process for individual contributors and currently sources footage through agency partnerships instead, saying it will announce it if that reopens. So if you shoot both, Alamy is a stills-only destination in your distribution list and your video needs somewhere else to go.
Uploading over FTP
This is the route to use once you are submitting regularly. You need an FTP client, and Alamy names Filezilla, FireFTP, WinSCP, Cyberduck and ClassicFTP as ones it recommends. The connection details are straightforward: the host is upload.alamy.com on port 21, your username is the email address on your Alamy account, and your password is the same one you log in with.
The folder you drop into is a routing decision
Once connected you will see several destination folders, and which one you use determines how the submission is handled. Live News is for news, sport and entertainment less than twenty-four hours old. Stock is the general route, and it is where your first three images go. Archive stock covers reportage and archival material. Vectors takes EPS files and the matching metadata JPEGs.
Two of those folders are gated. Live News and Archive stock both need permission first, applied for through the Additional Revenue Options section of your Alamy dashboard. Dropping files into a folder you have not been approved for is a common first-week mistake, and the fix is an application rather than a re-upload. Archival and reportage work has its own bar: reportage means photojournalistic images shot in conditions that might not survive standard quality control, and archival means material of historical or cultural significance such as film stills and press archives.
Uploading through the web tool
The browser route is three steps: choose Upload in My Alamy and tick the box for your chosen route, add your JPEGs by browsing or dragging them in, then click Finish upload to submit the batch. It is the right tool for a first submission and for occasional small sets. It is the wrong tool for a weekly run of several hundred files, where a dropped connection halfway through costs you the session.
The three-image first submission
Alamy needs exactly three images from you the first time, and after that there are no limits at all. The agency is explicit that it wants volume once you are through, so the gate is a one-off assessment rather than a rolling cap. Send three technically clean files you are confident about, not three you are curious about. The same three-image rule applies separately to 360-degree panoramic content, even for contributors who already have regular stock on sale.
What happens between upload and sale
Submitted files go into the quality control queue. You cannot delete a submission while it sits there, which is worth knowing if you realise mid-queue that you sent the wrong folder; you wait for it to pass and then remove the images from the optional tab in Alamy Image Manager. How long the queue takes depends partly on your QC rank, which improves as your submissions keep passing. The failure modes are worth reading before your first batch rather than after it, and we covered them in Alamy rejection reasons.
Passing QC is not the same as going on sale. Alamy emails you when a batch clears, and the images then wait in Image Manager until they carry captions and tags. Once annotated they appear when the search index next refreshes, which happens roughly every twenty-four hours. The exception is files that arrived with embedded IPTC data, which Alamy reads on ingest and which are ready for sale without a second pass. What belongs in those fields is covered in Alamy keywording rules.
If you shoot 360-degree panoramas
Alamy accepts spherical panoramic images under a tighter spec than regular stock. The file needs Photosphere XMP metadata, equirectangular projection and an exact 2:1 aspect ratio, since it is mapping 360 degrees horizontally against 180 vertically. Maximum compressed size is 200MB. Stitching errors, optical distortion and uneven luminosity or colour across the seam will all fail it, and this is the category where careless stitching shows most clearly.
Set your defaults once, not per batch
Two settings are worth fixing before your second upload. License type has a default you can set from the cog icon in Image Manager, and Alamy advises selling as royalty free because buyers increasingly want broader rights, while leaving the choice to you. It also warns against giving near-identical images different license types, which is easy to do accidentally when you set them file by file.
The second is the exclusivity tick, and this one carries a cost if you get it wrong. Marking an image as only available on Alamy means exactly that: if the same file is for sale on another stock site, it is not exclusive. Alamy states that where it has gone looking for an infringement on an image you flagged as exclusive and then found the image on another stock site, it may charge you an admin fee for the search. Licensing from your own website does not break exclusivity, and neither does being opted into Alamy distribution.
Taking images back down
Deletion is not instant once an image is live. Alamy removes on-sale images within 180 days of your request, while an image not yet on sale goes within twenty-four hours, once the search engine refreshes. That six-month tail matters if you are planning an exclusivity move elsewhere, because the file can still be licensable on Alamy well after you pressed delete. Failed QC images are a separate case and you cannot remove those yourself.
A repeatable weekly routine
- Export at full resolution as level 8 or higher RGB JPEG, and spot-check the uncompressed size on one file per batch.
- Embed caption, keywords and date taken before the files leave your machine, so nothing waits on annotation later.
- Sort into the right FTP folder at export time. News and archival material have separate destinations and separate permissions.
- Send over FTP rather than the browser once batches grow past a handful of files, and let the client resume if the connection drops.
- Check the batch a day later rather than the same evening, since the search index only refreshes about once every twenty-four hours.
Where Alamy sits in a wider pipeline
Alamy is one FTP destination among several, with its own folder rules, its own file threshold and its own refusal of generated work. Keeping those differences straight by hand is what makes multi-agency submission tedious rather than difficult. Rastock AI writes the metadata, shapes it per destination and delivers to 10+ agencies over FTP, tracking what landed where. You can see the supported agencies or start on the 14-day free trial, which does not ask for a card.
Frequently asked questions
What file size does Alamy require?
Alamy asks for JPEGs over 17MB when uncompressed, which usually means a compressed file of roughly 3 to 5MB. The test is the open size, not the size on disk, so check it by opening the file in an image editor rather than looking at the file listing. Files must be high quality RGB JPEGs saved at level 8 or above, at baseline standard.
How do I upload to Alamy via FTP?
Use an FTP client such as Filezilla, WinSCP or Cyberduck and connect to upload.alamy.com on port 21, using your Alamy email as the username and your usual Alamy password. Then drag files into the correct destination folder: Stock for general submissions, Live News for material under twenty-four hours old, Archive stock for reportage and archival work, or Vectors for EPS files.
How many images can I upload to Alamy at once?
Your first submission must be three images so quality control can assess your work. After that there are no limits, and Alamy actively encourages frequent high-volume submission. The three-image rule applies again separately if you start submitting 360-degree panoramic images, even when you already have regular stock on sale.
Does Alamy accept AI-generated images?
No. Alamy does not accept images generated by AI programs, and has published this as an ethical position rather than a disclosure requirement. Unlike agencies that allow labelled synthetic content, there is no compliant route for generated work here. The same restriction applies to vectors submitted as EPS files.
How long until my Alamy images go on sale?
Images typically go on sale within about twenty-four hours of clearing quality control, though queue time varies with your QC rank. Passing QC is not the end of it: files still need captions and tags, and they appear when the search index next refreshes, roughly once a day. Files that arrive with embedded IPTC metadata skip the annotation step entirely.
Can I delete images I uploaded to Alamy by mistake?
Not while they are in the quality control queue. Once they pass you can delete them from the optional tab in Alamy Image Manager. Timing differs by status: images not yet on sale go within twenty-four hours, while images already on sale are removed within 180 days, so plan around that tail if you are moving a set elsewhere.