Study what buyers actually license: business concepts, diverse people at work, backgrounds, seasonal themes.
Write prompt templates per theme; generate in batches and keep only flawless images (hands, text, artifacts).
Upscale to required resolution; remove anything resembling real people, brands or artworks.
AI generates titles and 25–49 keywords per file into a CSV; upload in bulk and tick the 'created using generative AI' label.
Track which themes sell; double down on them each month.

What's automated vs. the human 5%

🤖 The machine does

Image generation and upscaling
Keywording and metadata
Licensing and payouts (marketplace)

🧑 You still do

Strict curation and rejections review
Choosing commercially useful themes

Overview

Stock marketplaces pay a royalty every time a buyer licenses your file. Adobe Stock accepts generative-AI images if they’re labeled and meet its guidelines.

Costs

About $10/month for image generation.

Realistic income

Stock earns per-download royalties, often well under a dollar to a few dollars each. Large, well-keyworded portfolios (thousands of images) may earn tens to a few hundred dollars a month; few earn more. Treat it as a slow, compounding side asset.

Risks

Marketplace policy changes on AI content and declining royalties from oversupply.
Rejections for artifacts or IP issues; repeated violations can close accounts.

*Income figures are illustrative ranges based on public pricing and typical outcomes reported by practitioners, not guarantees. Most new online businesses earn little or nothing at first. Not financial, legal or tax advice.