How to organise an Adobe Stock image workflow

A stock-image workflow can become difficult to manage long before you run out of ideas. Original images end up in one folder, finished exports in another, and the spreadsheet that describes them somewhere else. The next batch starts with the same search for files.

A useful system gives every image an identity and every stage a place. Here is a practical way to organise an Adobe Stock image workflow, based on the five stages in TheProvenLab’s Adobe Stock Workflow.

Start with one batch, one number

Give each new batch a number you have not used before. Use that number consistently in the folder name, prompt sheet, image filenames and metadata CSV. Keep a short batch register so you can see which numbers are already taken.

For example, batch 30 can contain an original image named AS30.1.png and a finished export named AS30.1.jpg. The extension changes, but the image’s identity stays the same. The metadata row for the finished upload must use that final JPG filename.

Separate the stages without separating the project

Keep four sibling folders inside the same batch folder:

BATCH 30/
  1. BEFORE/
  2. UPSCALED/
  3. FINISHED/
  DOCUMENTS/

• 1. BEFORE: original generated PNGs.
• 2. UPSCALED: JPG outputs from Upscayl.
• 3. FINISHED: final Photoshop JPGs and the export log.
• DOCUMENTS: the topic log, completed prompt sheet and matching metadata CSV.

This makes the handoff between tools easier to check. If a file is in the original folder, it has not become a finished export simply because another stage has started.

Keep a living topic log

Save your research somewhere you can reuse. A topic log can record what you have already explored and help you avoid rebuilding the same list of ideas for every batch.

In the supplied workflow, research returns five topics and an updated topic log. Use a copy of that latest log for your next research run. Keep the earlier copy with its batch so you retain the history. An older log can miss topics you have already covered.

Connect the prompt sheet to the final files

The prompt sheet is the bridge between an idea and an image. Keep the scene description and intended metadata together while you produce the batch. Then compare that metadata with the actual finished image: an output can differ from its prompt.

A filename is the connection between the image and its CSV row. Avoid renaming or renumbering individual outputs after that connection has been created. If you leave images out of an upload, prepare a reviewed CSV copy containing the selected rows.

Use a clear handoff between tools

The five stages are topic research, prompts and metadata, image generation, upscaling, and Photoshop finishing. Research and planning happen before generation. Upscayl writes to its own output folder. Photoshop starts only after the upscaling batch has finished.

Before each handoff, check the input folder, output folder and batch number. That simple check is more useful than assuming the last tool finished everything correctly.

Keep the review separate from the automation

Automation can repeat processing steps; it cannot decide that every result deserves to be uploaded. Open finished images at 100% zoom and inspect fine details, composition and technical quality. Check that each title and keyword list describes what is actually visible.

For generated content, consult Adobe’s current generative AI guidance before submitting. Labelling, rights and quality still need your attention.

Back up the completed batch

In this workflow, the generation ZIP is created before upscaling and finishing. It is an earlier snapshot, rather than a backup of the final folder. Back up the completed regular folder after Photoshop has finished.

A well-organised batch should let you answer three questions quickly: where is the original, which metadata belongs to it, and which version is ready for review?

Next, read how to prepare titles and keywords or explore the Adobe Stock Workflow for the reusable files behind this process.