Pexels — Photo Review Guidelines
*For internal training purposes only
Key Resources
Offensive Symbols guide Review requests Slack channel Identifying and dealing with spam profiles
1. Intro to review
Welcome! The purpose of our team is to maintain the quality of the content for our users. Refer to this guide for a clear understanding of our expectations.
While these guidelines provide a framework, we strongly emphasize the value of internal communication and regular team discussions.
Weekly team calls offer a place to discuss content, stay updated about photography trends, and continuously refine our guidelines. Our
collective understanding is vital in maintaining the quality of the process. If you feel that a profile deserves a second look, please share it on
Section A: Compliance with Guidelines
Some content that’s shared on Pexels is graphic, explicit, offensive, violent, and even illegal. We have zero tolerance for this kind of content or content that violates our Terms of Service and it should be removed immediately. Accounts that continue to upload this type of content are to be removed after their 3rd offense (aligns with our DSA policies).
New offenses are counted by the number of 24hr periods in which an offense occurs, not by the number of offending media. Since removal
notices are sent out once per day, this provides space for the offending contributor to receive the notice and (hopefully) adjust their behavior
even if they’ve uploaded multiple offending media in a single upload session.
We make exceptions for accounts uploading photos of known trademarks (Porsche, Lego, Victorinox, Eiffel Tower Illumination) due to these limitations not being publicly available.
Suitability Guidelines
This presentation serves as a comprehensive guide, diving deeper into aspects of our review process as outlined in this document. It provides detailed rules and examples for understanding what content is acceptable or not, according to our terms of service. Covering complex topics such as blood, nudity, violence, and much more. An index is included to help you navigate these topics with ease. Remember to bookmark this document for quick reference during your review tasks. If you're ever uncertain about a piece of content, please
don't hesitate to reach out via DM.
Click to see the presentation. (shared with Canva Pexels Group)
Graphic Content
We ensure that the images or videos do not contain any form of graphic violence or gore. Graphic content can be disturbing to viewers and is not in line with Pexels community guidelines. Any content that depicts harm, violence, or injury should be deleted.
Nudity and sexually explicit content.
We do not allow nudity or sexually explicit content. Such content should be removed. This includes photos or videos that display:
A person touching another person's sexual areas. This includes the clothed or unclothed breast, buttocks, or genital area, with the
exceptions of breastfeeding and health-related educational content.
Sexual acts or simulations.
Visible genitalia.
Unclothed buttocks.
Visible or partially visible female nipples.
BDSM images that show obscene sexual activities
Illegal Content
Illegal content is unacceptable and should be immediately removed. This includes stolen images and videos (confirmed via copyright check process), CSAM, and any content that violates our Terms and Conditions.
Offensive Content
Images and videos that contain objectionable content, such as hateful symbols, offensive gestures, or explicit language, should be removed. This includes racially or ethnically offensive content, promotes discrimination, or is disrespectful to any individual or group.
Unlawful or Violent Acts
Any image or video that depicts unlawful acts, illicit activities, or violence should be deleted. This includes but is not limited to, images depicting criminal activity, violent acts, or any form of abuse.
Repeat offenders
Our policy is to remove accounts after their second offense. We keep track of user infringements using flags and notes.
Protected Trademarks and Locations
We remove content from the following brands and locations since we received takedown notices from them, asking us to remove any images or footage of their products from the site:
Porsche - Any photos depicting the Porsche logo Lego
Swiss army knives (Victornox) Eiffel tower Illumination - We remove any photos of it with their lights on. Gouffre de Padirac - Any photos of the installations of this archeological site.
Red Cross - We remove any photos that depicts the red cross symbol
Personal information
We remove scans of ID cards, Credit cards, and other documents with personal visible information
Contact Information:
If a QR code, URL, email address or phone number is the primary focus or subject of the photo, we should consider it spam and remove it.
Scanned bills
We remove scanned banknotes.
Celebrities
We remove images of known public figures. This usually happens during the copyright check but some images may not be detected by our system.
AI-generated images
As of January 9th, 2024, we no longer allow the upload of content created with Generative AI to Pexels.
Moving forward, when we receive new content created with Generative AI, it should be removed directly from the review queues.
Book and Magazine Scans
We remove uploads that are essentially scans of books, CD covers, magazines, and other copyrighted materials to prevent unauthorized distribution. These items used as photo props are allowed.
Collages, Composites, and Cutouts
We remove images that have been created using more than one photo or cutout.
Section B: Technical requirements
All the guidelines in this section are subject to artistic interpretation. While we generally avoid technical issues like noise, incorrect focus, and improper exposure, there may be cases where these elements are used intentionally as an aesthetic resource to strengthen the image or video’s message. When reviewing, consider the overall impact of the image and whether the technical "flaws" contribute positively to the
piece's intent. The requirements in this section apply to both photo and video pieces.
Exposure & Lighting
Scenes should be well-lit and balanced to ensure detail, clarity, and visual appeal. Reject scenes with blown-out areas, harsh shadows, or poor lighting that might affect the final quality of the piece.
Color Cast & Balance
Images and videos with an incorrect white balance causing unnatural color tints should be rejected. We prefer natural looking over heavily modified colors.
Chromatic Aberrations and Sensor Stains
We only accept shots that do not present any kind of chromatic aberrations or sensor stains.
See examples
Compression and Interpolation Artifacts
Reject images and videos that have a blocky or patchy appearance in areas of flat color due to excessive compression. Also, avoid content with artifacts or degradation of detail that can appear noisy and soft.
See examples
Illustrations, text overlays, or digitally added borders
We remove content with text overlays or digitally added borders on them. The user is notified via e-mail.
Excessive Similarity
Avoid accepting a series of images or videos that are excessively similar to each other. These can include almost identical compositions with only slight differences in angle, framing, or editing, or repetitive themes without significant variation.
Wrong orientation
We reject content that is not properly oriented.
Over-editing
Content demonstrating clear signs of over-editing, including but not limited to, excessive skin smoothing, artificial lens flares, vignettes, overdone HDR, excessive contrast, or poor color grading are not accepted.
See examples
Noise
Avoid approving images or videos with excessive digital noise. Noise can look grainy or speckled, often due to poor lighting or incorrect camera settings.
See examples
Focus
Images should have a clear point of focus. We reject images that are blurry, soft, or give the impression that the camera moved when the photo was taken. Images that are out of focus without an artistic intention should also be rejected. In the case of videos, footage should be focused and sharp throughout the whole duration.
See examples
0:00 / 0:32
1x
Aspect Ratio
We reject panoramic or vertical images where the aspect ratio is greater than 1:3 for horizontal images and 1.8:1 for vertical images.
Section C: ‘Excellent’ vs ‘Good’
Approve as Excellent:
These pieces demonstrate a high level of professionalism and skill in photography or videography. They should evoke emotions, tell a story,
or have a significant visual impact on the viewer. When selecting these, ask yourself: would they fit at the top of search results?
Technical Quality: Images and videos should align with the criteria described in Section 1.
Composition and Creativity: Evaluate if the framing, balance, and use of lines help create a visually appealing piece. We prefer neutral
and natural-looking shots over heavily modified edits. Look for unique perspectives, creative angles, and originality that make the piece
stand out.
Relevance and Style: Versatile content usable in various contexts is highly valuable. Excellent should look modern and up-to-date with
current styles, colors, and trends or have characteristics that remain relevant over time.
Approve as Good:
Pieces that fall slightly short of 'Excellent' criteria may be categorized as 'Good.' They should meet technical standards but might lack some
of the exceptional elements found in excellent content. Consider these points:
Mostly meets technical criteria: Might have minor flaws in focus, composition, or other technical aspects.
Relevance: Relevant to the library but might lack a unique perspective or creativity.
Usability: Good for specific purposes but might not be versatile across different uses.
Overall Quality: While not exceptional, it's a decent piece that can be of value to users.
2. Identifying and Removing Spam Profiles
We are currently working on improving our methods to prevent the creation of spam accounts. In the meantime, these accounts will need to be manually identified and removed. Typically, they appear in the "Priority queue".
Batch Creation of Accounts
Spam users often create multiple accounts simultaneously, appearing in batches rather than individually.
Promotion of Illegal Services
Watch out for accounts promoting activities such as online gambling sites, sales of beauty products, or real estate services.
Ads, Poor Quality or Unrelated Content
Spam accounts often post content of low quality or content that doesn't align with the platform's purpose. Some may even include contact
information or telephone numbers on the bio or directly in the images.
Examples
Unusual Account Names
Be wary of accounts with generic or nonsensical names like "John Doe" or similar.
Excessive Use of Tags
Spam accounts frequently abuse hashtags by using an excessive number of them in an attempt to gain visibility. They may also employ
popular or trending hashtags that have no relevance to the shared content.
Hidden IP
Some spam accounts hide their IP addresses.
Examples of spammy accounts
3. Red Flags and Notes
Notes and red flags are used as an internal system to maintain a log of user infringements. This can help our team or other teams to consider this when making future decisions. If you come across a profile with a red flag, please go to the profile admin page and check the notes.
Use cases
Copyright Infringement Both a note and a red flag should be added, specifying the type of media that was removed. For example: "Copyright infringement - Photos/videos."
ToS Infringement Both a note and a red flag should be added, specifying the type of infringement. [Link to ToS]. For example: "ToS infringement - 4.3 Nudity."