Expolumi Alamy Publisher

Before you start

You need Lightroom Classic, an Alamy contributor account with FTP access, and your photos imported into your catalog: raw, DNG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, or JPEG. Keep their original files available locally or on an accessible drive.

This is an independent transfer tool, not an editing or agency-management tool. It does not submit forms or track quality-control approval. It works on its own; with Expolumi Publishing Workflow it can also be given candidates automatically (see With Workflow).

It is available on Adobe Exchange. The plug-in is distributed only through Adobe Exchange and installed with the Creative Cloud desktop app. No Node.js, development tools, or separate FTP client is needed.

Check Alamy's current contributor requirements before submitting. Image quality, file requirements, account eligibility, and any first-submission rules remain your responsibility.

Install & connect

1. Install Expolumi Alamy Publisher from Adobe Exchange: in the Creative Cloud desktop app, signed in with your Adobe ID, open Stock & Marketplace > Plugins, search for Expolumi, and choose Get.
2. Restart Lightroom Classic and confirm Alamy Publisher is enabled in File > Plug-in Manager. Install only one copy; remove any earlier folder-based entry first.
3. Open Library > Publish Services > Alamy Publisher > Set Up.
4. Choose Set credentials..., enter your Alamy email and password directly in Lightroom, and select Save locally.
5. Review the transfer notice and enable Allow unencrypted FTP if you agree. Choose Test connection to check login and directory-listing access.
6. Save the connection. Use Stock uploads or another collection under the service.

The server and Stock folder are fixed by the plug-in. A connection test does not upload or delete anything, and it does not prove upload permission or QC eligibility. One Alamy account is shared by this plug-in's publish connections for the local Lightroom user.

Save locally takes effect immediately, even if you later cancel Publishing Manager. Avoid changing credentials during uploads.

Publish your photos

1. Edit your photos in Lightroom Classic and complete their title, caption, and keywords. Keep the originals available.
2. Drag them into Stock uploads or another collection under Alamy Publisher. This queues them; it does not upload yet.
3. Click Publish. Review the result dialog for completed, failed, or unfinished transfers.
4. Check the contributor dashboard for ingestion and QC. Complete captions, tags, licensing, and release information in Alamy Image Manager.

Published means transferred, not accepted or available for sale. A file disappearing from FTP may simply mean it has been ingested. Check Alamy before retrying any uncertain transfer.

Files & metadata

For each photo, Lightroom renders a full-size JPEG from the original: quality 100, sRGB, no resizing, output sharpening, or watermark, with your Develop edits applied. It is named after the original with a .jpg extension, so DSC_1234.NEF is uploaded as DSC_1234.jpg. The JPEG is temporary and deleted after the upload; your original file is never changed.

Raw, DNG, TIFF, PSD (saved with Maximize Compatibility), PNG, and JPEG originals can be published. Videos, virtual copies, and missing or offline originals are refused. Standard Stock submissions are supported, not Live News, Archive Stock, vectors, or video.

Catalog metadata is embedded in the JPEG, including title, caption, keywords, and GPS if present. There is no need to save metadata to the file first. Expolumi Publishing Workflow fields stay in the catalog and are never embedded.

Do not edit, rename, or move the original during transfer. The plug-in does not run a complete agency QC preflight.

Tracking & retries

Remote filename checks and local upload history catch repeats. They use the JPEG name, ignoring case: DSC_1.NEF and DSC_1.jpg both become DSC_1.jpg. A photo uploaded before, or with an interrupted upload, needs confirmation: one Upload again dialog covers the whole batch, and Skip them sends none of those photos.

To upload a published photo again, choose Mark to Republish in the publish service and click Publish. Upload again only photos you have not submitted in Alamy Image Manager yet: FTP cannot update a submission, so a submitted photo uploaded again becomes a duplicate.

Protection is local and best-effort: resetting preferences or using another computer loses the history. There are no automatic transfer retries. A failure stops the remaining batch.

Cancellation takes effect between operations. An in-flight FTP call may still complete, and successful transfers remain recorded. Removing photos or collections in Lightroom removes local tracking only; it never deletes or withdraws submissions from Alamy.

If upload succeeded but Lightroom did not record it, verify the photo on Alamy first, then use Mark as Up-to-Date where appropriate. Keep your own submission record for important work.

With Expolumi Publishing Workflow

Alamy Publisher works on its own. Expolumi Publishing Workflow, a separate plug-in, adds two conveniences:

• Set Alamy to Candidate in the Workflow palette and run Sync Publisher Status: Candidate photos are added to Stock uploads, under New Photos to Publish. Sync never uploads; you still click Publish.
• After publishing, Sync sets the Alamy status to Submitted with the date. Record Accepted or Rejected yourself after Alamy's review.

Version 1.0 offered an optional Alamy Candidates colour-label collection in the publish settings. Version 1.1 removed it; an existing collection is left unchanged, and you can delete it.

Credentials & privacy

Credentials are stored through Lightroom's encrypted local password storage, not in publish presets, source files, catalog properties, or plug-in logs. Password fields are masked and cleared when the dialog closes. Canceling without saving preserves the previous credentials.

The plug-in sends credentials directly to Alamy for authentication, without an Expolumi-operated backend, analytics, or remote credential store.

Forget credentials clears the saved values, not your upload history, agency password, or submissions. It does not guarantee erasure from backups. Read the privacy and data-handling guide.

Update & troubleshoot

Creative Cloud desktop installs updates (Stock & Marketplace > Plugins > Manage plugins); restart Lightroom afterwards and avoid duplicate copies. Forget credentials before uninstalling the plug-in there; removal alone does not clear credentials.

For refused photos, check the original is available and is not a video or virtual copy. If Lightroom could not create the JPEG, check that the original can be exported. For uncertain uploads, check Image Manager before trying again. Restart Lightroom after an update.

Local diagnostics use AlamyPublish.log. Typical locations are %LOCALAPPDATA%\Adobe\Lightroom\Logs\LrClassicLogs on Windows and ~/Library/Logs/Adobe/Lightroom/LrClassicLogs on macOS. Older versions may use Documents/Lightroom Logs.

Logs record stage names, counts, and batch indexes, not credentials, filenames, source paths, or directory listings. Review any attachment for personal information before sharing it.

Check your setup

Back up your catalog, test the connection, and publish one photo first. Confirm it appears in Alamy Image Manager before uploading a larger collection. Repeat this check after changing Lightroom, your operating system, or the plug-in.

Support & feature requests

Something not working as described here? Open a support case. Have an idea? Request a feature, or ask a question in Discussions.

These are public on GitHub and need a GitHub account. Leave out passwords, keys, account IDs, and private file paths. For your Alamy account or submissions, contact Alamy.