Make work that stands out
BentBox has favoured style since 2015 — and style is open to everyone, whether you shoot with a studio kit or your phone. This page is our guide to getting your work approved first time, looking its best, and selling well: everything we would tell you if we were sitting next to you as you publish.
What we look for
In a word: style. BentBox has always favoured it — considered composition, deliberate light, a mood or an idea you meant to capture. The work that does best here looks like someone cared about how it was made.
Style is open to everyone. BentBox has never been only for photographers with expensive equipment. With the technology in your pocket today, a solo creator can make stunning images with nothing but a phone, and a selfie can be every bit as beautiful and artistic as a studio shoot. A window, a little patience and an eye for the frame will beat an expensive camera used carelessly every time.
And it has nothing to do with who you are. When we look at your work, we are looking at the image, not at you.
Two sides: public and private
BentBox has two sides. There is the public side — your cover images, the face of your work that everyone sees — and the private side, which your fans see when they peek inside your Boxes.
On the public side, we want to present your content in its best possible light (no pun intended). But we also understand that desire is not always polished. Human satisfaction sometimes calls for imagery that is rawer, cruder and sexually explicit — and that is perfect for what goes inside the Box, for private eyes only.
Seen by everyone
Listing pages, search results, and anywhere your link is shared.
- Box cover image
- Video poster
- Profile picture
Glamour or artistic. Your best light. Non-explicit.
For your fans’ eyes
What fans see when they peek inside, and what buyers receive, delivered privately and watermarked.
- Preview thumbnails (first 5 images) and the 10-second video preview — the peek
- Every photo and video inside the Box
- Downloadable originals, if you enable them
Explicit, raw, as crude as you like — within the rules.
Your cover image
Your cover does more selling than anything else you publish. It is the first thing a buyer sees, and on public pages it is the only thing. Its job is not to show everything — it is to make someone want to open the Box.
Great covers
- Glamour, portrait or fine-art in feel
- Artistic and erotic nudity
- Sharp focus on the subject
- Deliberate, flattering light
- A clean, uncluttered background
- One strong image — no text overlays, borders or collages
- A hint of the mood or story inside
Welcome inside the Box
Not on the cover — but perfectly fine in your previews and inside the Box, for private eyes only.
- Close-ups of genitals
- Sexual acts, real or simulated
- Bodily fluids
Never anywhere: watermarks from other sites. A watermark, logo or handle from another platform, studio or site suggests content that has been taken or leaked from elsewhere. It is not permitted on the cover, in previews, or inside the Box, and content carrying one will be removed. If the work is yours, upload your own clean original.
With the tools everyone has today, a beautiful cover is within reach of every creator. If your Box has one strong, well-lit, well-composed image in it, that is your cover.
How to change a cover
- Box: open the Box Admin page, click the gear icon on the image you want, and choose Set as cover image.
- Video: in the video settings, use Select poster to pick a frame, or Upload poster to use your own image.
Technical quality
BentBox compresses images and video for fast viewing in the browser. Starting from a clean, full-quality file means what buyers see still looks great after compression — and if you enable downloads, buyers receive your untouched originals.
Photos
- Upload full-resolution files, not screenshots or images saved from social media.
- Check focus on the subject's eyes or the point of interest.
- Avoid heavy noise from shooting in very low light.
- Keep exposure balanced — no blown-out highlights or crushed shadows.
- Edit with a light hand. Over-smoothed skin and heavy filters date quickly.
Video
- Shoot in HD or higher, and upload the original export.
- Keep the camera steady — a tripod or a propped phone makes a big difference.
- Make sure the audio is clear, or deliberately absent.
- Trim false starts and dead time at the beginning and end.
- Pick a strong 10-second preview: it is your trailer.
Light
- Soft window light is the most flattering light there is, and it is free.
- Avoid mixing daylight with warm household bulbs in the same frame.
- Harsh overhead lighting and on-camera flash rarely flatter anyone.
Framing
- Look at the whole frame before you shoot, not only the subject.
- Tidy the background: laundry, cables and clutter pull the eye.
- No screenshots with on-screen interface elements — export the image itself.
Titles, descriptions & tags
Buyers see hundreds of Boxes a day. What makes them stop is how you describe yours — and a rich name, description and tags are also how search engines find you.
- Be original. The story, mood or context behind a shoot is what sells it: the things a stranger could not guess from the cover.
- Be yourself. Your perspective is the one thing nobody else on BentBox can copy. Write as you would talk to a curious friend.
- Talk about the content. Who is in it, where it was shot, what the idea was. “Late afternoon light in a Berlin loft” beats ten rounds of “stunning, captivating, exquisite”.
- Tease, don’t spoil. Hint at a mood or a moment without showing the whole hand. Curiosity converts.
- Tag generously and accurately. Specific terms — locations, themes, styles, who is featured — beat broad ones.
- Describe, don’t shock. Crude or sensational titles get noticed for the wrong reasons.
A note on AI writing tools
AI descriptions tend to read the same across thousands of listings, so search engines treat them as low-value duplicate content — and buyers can usually tell. Use AI for a first draft if it helps, then rewrite it in your own words.
Payment processors require that certain words never appear in titles, descriptions or tags, including some ordinary ones. Check the Forbidden Words list before you publish — describing what is actually in your Box, in plain language, will rarely bring you close to it.
Original work & the people in it
Your own work only
Everything you publish must be material you created, or that you hold written permission from the copyright holder to sell. Content downloaded from elsewhere on the web is removed and the account closed. The same goes for anything carrying another site’s watermark: even on your own work, it reads as leaked content, so always upload your clean originals.
Everyone verified, everyone consenting
Everyone who appears in your content must be at least 18 and verified through ProntoID. When you publish, you tell us who is in it:
- Just you? Your own verification covers it. No release needed.
- Other people? You need a model release for each identifiable person, registered through ProntoID, for the specific session the content comes from.
- AI-generated? Declare it as AI-generated. It must not depict a real, identifiable person.
Photographers: if you work with models regularly, a free ProntoID account is worth setting up. Models verify once, you get a reusable Form ID for each release, and every release across your portfolio lives in one dashboard. The release form tutorial walks you through it.
Work that is fully safe for work can also appear on your public Folio portfolio — a good way to show your style to people who are not yet buyers.
If we get in touch
We have been talking to creators about their work since 2015. It is a big part of why BentBox has a reputation for good communication and for higher-quality work, and it is how we would rather do things.
If something does not meet these guidelines — most often a cover image — we will tell you what the issue is and, where we can, how to fix it. Usually that just means choosing a different cover.
It is about the image, never about you. It is not a penalty: your earnings, your sales and your account are not affected, and you are free to rework the piece and publish it again.
And sometimes we get it wrong. If you think we have, reply and tell us. We are always happy to take another look, talk it through, and put it right.
Before you publish
- My cover is glamour or artistic, and shows no close-ups of genitals, sexual acts or bodily fluids.
- My images and video are sharp, well lit and uploaded at full quality.
- Nothing carries another site’s watermark, logo or handle.
- My title and description are in my own words and describe what is actually inside.
- I have checked my text against the forbidden words list.
- This is my own original work.
- Everyone in it is verified, and I have a release for anyone other than me.
- I have picked strong preview images and, for video, a strong 10-second preview.
Questions
Not sure about something before you publish? Ask us — we would much rather answer a question than ask you to change something afterwards.
These guidelines explain what we look for and how we apply our standards. The binding rules are set out in the Forbidden Content & Community Standards and the Terms and Conditions, which take precedence if anything here seems to differ. See also Forbidden Words and How We Pay You.