Summary: This glossary will help to guide you through the important terminology, concepts and definitions (including examples) that will be relevant to you as you begin to create and sell items on Envato Platforms.
*Top Tip: Try pressing Control F (or Command F on Mac) on your keyboard to ‘find’ specific keywords in this document!
Since Envato offers a range of platforms, including Envato Market, Envato Elements and Placeit across a wide variety of products (or content types) such as Code Scripts, Video, Music & Audio, Website Themes, Design Assets, Stock Photos and 3D Models, there are certain concepts, terms and definitions that are unique to Envato and have different meanings to what is standard.
Here, we’ve created an Author glossary organised using the categories of the Help Center. This means that if you’re exploring a particular section and looking for some more clarity on specific words or processes we’re talking about, you can easily navigate to the specific section when and where you need it.
This is all part of ensuring that we can better explain and support our global community to navigate our ecosystem. If you’re new to Envato or just need a refresher, please take some time to get to know us through our Author Glossary.
Please note: You can download this document so you can have it with you within easy reach when you're creating, uploading or managing your portfolio of items or account!
If we’ve missed anything or if you'd like some support, please let us know by reaching out or navigate through our articles by category for more information.
1. Getting Started with Envato
Username
This is your author name created when you first created your Envato Account. You can change your author name up to three times.
Envato Market Account
This is where you upload and manage your items and account on Envato Market.
Envato Elements Account
This is where you sell and manage your items (and sometimes upload depending on your content type) and account on Envato Elements.
Content Type
Also known as Item Type and Asset Type, Content Type refers to the primary medium/content of your item. For example, Video, Audio, Graphics, Themes, Photos and 3D are all content types. Making sure your item is placed in the right content type makes your item more easily discoverable for customers.
Category
Category is the next level down from your Content Type and refers to the specific category that your content lives in. For example, if your Content Type is Graphics, the categories underneath that might be vectors, textures, icons, backgrounds, etc. This extra level of categorization helps customers to filter through and find the items they are looking for within the specific content type.
Platforms
Also known as Shop Fronts, platforms refer to the platforms available within the Envato Ecosystem. For example, alongside our most established platform Envato Market, we also have Envato Elements, Placeit, and Envato Tuts+ as our platforms.
Marketplaces
This refers to the individual marketplaces (and content types) available specifically through Envato Market, such as:
- ThemeForest for Web Themes & Templates
- AudioJungle for Audio & Music
- VideoHive for Video Templates & Stock Video
- PhotoDune for Stock Photos
- GraphicRiver for Graphic Fonts, Logos, Icons, Templates and more
- CodeCanyon for Code Script Items
- 3DOcean for 3D Print Models and CG Textures
Authors
Also known as Sellers and Creators, Envato Authors are our talented community members who sell and earn using our Envato platforms. Envato Authors come in all shapes and sizes, whether they are a hobbyist, a small to medium sized business or a large enterprise.
Customers
Also known as Subscribers on Envato Elements (being our subscription platform), they are our community of active users who purchase creative items on our Envato platforms, whether that's once-off or recurring across our Envato ecosystem.
Users
This is often used to describe both Customers and Authors, who use, sell, buy and operate using our Envato platforms.
Profile Page
This is the place where you can share a little bit about yourself and your brand. It’s a great place to market yourself and your items to potential customers.
Author Dashboard
The Author Dashboard is the starting point to upload your items, manage your profile and complete your tax information. It is accessed through Envato Market and it will help to navigate you to various Author resources.
2. Item Quality and Technical Requirements
File Preparation
This refers to the process of preparing a file (before it can become an item) so that it meets our technical requirements, both general (to Envato) and specific (to the content type).
Item Quality
This refers to the degree to which an item meets our specific set of requirements. Envato’s Item Quality expectations are overarching standards that are assessed across these main requirements that we look for during the review process:
Item Information
Also known as item metadata and attributes, refers to the important information that an Author needs to include when uploading an item to sell on Envato. Item information (which includes tags, titles, and item description) helps to provide context to customers about the item. It also helps in search and discovery so your item can get found by the customers searching for it.
Item Presentation
This refers to the important marketing aspect of selling an item online and is all about how an item looks to a customer. Item Presentation (which includes cover images, preview images, live previews, watermarks - where applicable) helps attract customers by showcasing all the features of your item. The more attractive it looks, the more it can appeal to customers looking for an item to purchase.
Technical Requirements
This refers to how the item works and ensuring that it is free of errors and meets customer expectations to be able to use the item. As this can differ depending on what is required, there are technical requirements provided for each content type.
Legal Requirements
This refers to how compliant the item is across our Envato terms. We look to make sure items are free of any offensive materials and potential copyright or trademark issues.
Review
To ensure that items submitted during the upload process meet our quality expectations, we have a review process which assesses items across our requirements. When items are uploaded and submitted for review, they are assessed by our qualitative team with an approval, soft or hard rejection.
Review time
This refers to the current average wait times (across content types) based on the queue (of items submitted) and the available resources of our reviewers.
Approved Items
If an item is approved through the review process, it is defined as an approved item and it is published immediately.
Hard Rejected Items
If an item is hard rejected, this means that the Quality team has determined that the item is not suitable for sale on Envato. This can be for a number of reasons but generally, it means that the item is not at the quality level required or it has breached legal content guidelines. Hard rejected items cannot be resubmitted.
Soft Rejected Items
If soft rejected, this means that the item is almost ready to go, however it still needs a few more changes before it can be published! Feedback about the item will be provided to the Author through an automated email and notes in their Author Dashboard and the item can then be resubmitted (once applying the changes requested). Please note that this is not available for photo items.
Assets
This refers to the smaller components that form part of your item, like the photo used in the preview of your Theme item or a music track within your Video item. Your item is the whole product you are making available on Envato to be licensed to your customers.
Item States
This refers to the state your item is in during the review process. On Envato Market it could include: Approved/Published, Soft-Rejected, Hard-Rejected, Soft-Disabled and Hard-Disabled. On Envato Elements, it could include: Draft, Changes Required and Rejected.
Approval Ratio
You may see an approval ratio mentioned when we talk about submission limits across different item types. This number is determined by how many items you submit divided by how many items are approved. So if you submit your first ever 10 items and 5 are approved, then your overall approval ratio would be 50%. Please note that the amount of items or the time period that the ratio is calculated across, may change across different submission limits.
3. Uploading your Items and Portfolio Management
Item(s)
Also known as Assets, Creative Assets and Content, an item is the final product that is sold and marketed through Envato Platforms. It is what customers see on the site prior to their purchase and what they receive post-purchase. They are uploaded and sold on our platforms based on meeting our quality and technical requirements.
Item Submission
This refers to the process of submitting or uploading your item for our review process to sell on Envato. This takes place in the upload page (once an item’s information and presentation requirements like the category and attributes, tags, title, preview images, etc. have been added) and then it is then uploaded.
Item Page
The item page is the place where your item is displayed once it has been reviewed and approved. This is where you can include all your item information and presentation, including a description and images.
Upload Page
The upload page is the place where you upload your items. It can depend on your content type (or what platform you’re contributing to), but the majority of item submissions take place here.
Uploading
This refers to the process of submitting your item(s) to Envato for review. This takes place in the upload page.
Bulk Upload
Also known as a bulk submission, this refers to the process of uploading multiple / bulk items for review, instead of one by one.
Publishing
Also known as live, this refers to the process of an item being made available for sale on the platform after successfully passing review.
4. Payments & Taxes
Earnings
This is the money you receive (as an Author), after any fees and taxes, from the sales you make on Envato.
Item points
These are points assigned to different item types to help weight them in terms of complexity. They are used as part of our Subscriber Share model on Envato Elements to determine Author earnings.
Earnings Dashboard
Also known as an Earnings Report, this is a visual representation of your earnings (item sales) that is made available for logged in Authors in either their Market profile, or via the Elements App.
Subscriber Share / Revenue Share
Subscriber share is the revenue share methodology we use on Envato Elements. With subscriber share, your earnings as an Author are directly linked to the money collected from each individual subscriber. We look at each subscriber and assign you with a share of 50% of their net revenue based on how important your items were to them (i.e your share of all item points they used in that period).
Sales
A sale happens when an item you're selling on Envato Market has been purchased - congratulations! Sales are recorded on your statement along with information to tell you exactly which item was purchased and the amount it was purchased for.
Purchase
A purchase happens when you buy an item license from an author selling on Envato Market. The total price paid by the customer is made up of the license price which is paid to the Author, and a payment for Envato’s customer services called a Buyer Fee. Using the shopping cart you can make multiple purchases in a single checkout.
Order
An order is made up of one or more purchases. Every time you complete the checkout process on the Envato Market, we assign an order ID to all transactions that were completed as part of the checkout process.
For example, if you have purchased multiple items in a single shopping cart, the item licences and buyer fees will all have the same unique order ID. Your order may also be subject to a handling fee charge, depending on your payment method and order total.
Payout
A payout is when you request a withdrawal of your Envato Market earnings. This is shown as a payout on your statement.
Nominated Payout Account
This is your chosen account that your earnings from Envato are delivered to on a monthly basis.
Reversals & Refunds
A reversal happens when a purchase is refunded or reversed as a result of a chargeback. A reversal always appears on a customer's statement along with an accompanying credit note. For some types of refunds such as author-initiated refunds, the author’s statement will show the
reversal and the related credit note.
In other cases, when the refund is marked as a ‘goodwill’ refund from Envato, the author’s statement and balance will be unchanged and the credit note will be generated from Envato to the customer.
Referral Income
When a new user clicks a referral link (generated through the Envato Market Affiliate Program) with your account details and has not previously followed a referral link, then signs up for an account and purchases an item (or adds credit) via any of the Envato Market sites, you will receive a commission equivalent to 30% of that person's first credit or purchase.This is displayed as a referral on your statement.
Receipt
A receipt is generated when you add credit to your Envato Market account in exchange for Envato credit.
Invoice
An invoice is generated for the sale of every item or service on Envato Market. The Invoice will show the following information; date, invoice ID, order ID, seller's details, customer's details, item details (the details of the item purchased (including Item name, Item ID, license type, size if applicable (e.g. on PhotoDune), and item price)), and total (in USD). For convenience, services to authors are aggregated into a single monthly service fee invoice.
Service Fee Invoice
Every month authors will receive a single aggregated invoice for all Author Fees during that period.
Statement
Your statement is a list of all transactions and any activity that has altered your account balance. It contains information on all your sales, purchases, credits, withdrawals, changes to exclusivity, referral program earnings and reversals.
Credit Note
A credit note is when a reversal of an invoice occurs (negative invoice). When an invoice has been generated and the transaction is cancelled or voided, a credit note is issued to support it.
Total Price
When you make a purchase, the total price you pay will be made up of the Item Price for the item license, and Envato’s Customer and Handling Fees (if applicable).
Item Price
When you make a purchase, the price paid for the item license to the author of that item is called the Item Price.
Handling Fee
A handling fee may apply if the “Buy Now” (PayPal) payment method is used. Handling fees are charged per order (not per item).
List Price
This is the price you see on an item page, and includes the Item Price and Buyer Fee.
Author Fee
When you make a sale on Envato Market, you are charged an Author Fee by Envato for use of our platform and services. The Author Fee rate we charge is dependent on whether you sell exclusively with Envato Market, and the volume of sales you’ve made. The volume is measured as the total list price of those items for all time.
Buyer Fee
This is similar to an Author Fee, but on the Customer side. It’s the fee paid to Envato for use of our platform and services. This includes services like 24/7 customer support, fraud protection, and item quality control.
5. Your Envato Account
API Key
An API Key is a security token that you can use to authenticate with our API. It is a secret, like a password, that should be protected.
Two Factor Authentication
This is an extra layer of security that helps to protect your Envato account. When you have two-factor authentication on your account you will be asked to enter an authentication code in addition to your username and password when logging in.
Backup Codes
These are one-time use codes that will enable you to gain access to your account when you don’t have access to your mobile device. Your backup codes are automatically generated when you first set up two-factor authentication.
Account Credentials
These refer to the private account details used to create your Envato Account, such as your username and password.
Phishing / Scams
Sometimes, strangers might be trying to lure you into sharing your account credentials by pretending to be Envato, when in fact they are not associated with Envato at all. These types of attempts are commonly referred to as "phishing" and the perpetrators are called "phishers."
Deactivation
This refers to the process of removing or deleting a user account if it has been requested that we do so.
6. Policies, Terms and Licenses
License
When you ‘sell’ an item, you’re making your item available to customers to use that item under certain conditions; you’re not actually selling the item itself. What a customer can and cannot do with the item depends on which type of license they get. There are a number of different license for Envato Market depending on the type of item, and a different license for Envato Elements items too.
Exclusivity
As an author on Envato, you can nominate whether you will sell your items only on Envato (exclusive), or also sell them somewhere else (non-exclusive). If you choose to offer your items on an exclusive basis, then you’ll benefit from lower author fees (so you will take home more money from each sale), but this means you cannot sell, distribute, or even give away for free your items (or any related items) outside of Envato.