Adobe buys stock library Fotolia

Ever since it launched the Creative Cloud, Adobe has been striving to add value to the subscription service. Adobe wants the Creative Cloud to be more than just a delivery service for its flagship apps like Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC – it wants it to be a place where designers share and critique each other's work, as well as a marketplace to buy and sell design assets and services.

Central to the former goal was Adobe's purchase, two years ago, of designer portfolio network Behance. And today it's taken another big step towards the latter goal, with the announcement of its intention to acquire stock library Fotolia for around $800 million in cash.

Fotolia, a source of photos, images, graphics and HD video that's well known within the design community for its TEN collection competitions, will now be integrated into the Creative Cloud. This will provide Adobe's subscribers with the ability to access and purchase over 34 million images and videos within the software.

It all ties in with Adobe's stated aim to "simplify and accelerate your design process" – a laudable aim which can also be read as 'never open a single window outside the Creative Cloud'.

The purchase will not affect Fotolia's current customers, as it will continue to run as a standalone stock library, accessible to all.