Adobe Stock

On December 11, 2014, Adobe announced that it would acquire Fotolia, a privately held royalty-free stock image marketplace, for approximately $800 million in cash, planning to integrate the search and purchase of images and videos into Creative Cloud while continuing to operate Fotolia as a standalone brand. Founded in 2004, with offices in New York, Paris, and Berlin, Fotolia was owned by KKR, TA Associates, and management; at the time it offered more than 34 million images and videos, operated in 23 countries, and had websites in 14 languages. Founder and CEO Oleg Tscheltzoff continued to lead the Fotolia team after the deal.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1][1][1]

In January 2015, Adobe completed its acquisition of Fotolia for a final price of $807.5 million and integrated it into its Digital Media segment to enable the delivery and purchase of stock assets within Creative Cloud; this new service was Adobe Stock.⁠[2][2][2]

On June 16, 2015, Adobe launched Adobe Stock, calling it the industry’s first stock content service integrated directly into the content creation process and the tools creatives use every day. At launch the service offered more than 40 million curated images, shared its catalog with Fotolia, and was integrated into the Creative Cloud versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and After Effects: designers could first place watermarked images in their Creative Cloud Libraries and edit them, and after licensing, the edits were automatically applied to the high-resolution image. Users who were not Creative Cloud members could also buy through a standalone website; in the United States pricing started at $9.99 for a single image, and a 10-images-per-month subscription plan let unused images roll over for up to a year. The service launched in 36 countries and 13 languages, and Adobe also invited photographers and designers to contribute content.⁠[3][3][4][3][3][4][3][3][3]

In its early days, contributors had to register on the Fotolia website, and their work could be sold through multiple channels, including the Fotolia website and applications, API partners, and Adobe Stock. In its fiscal 2015 annual report, Adobe described Adobe Stock as an online marketplace deeply integrated with Creative Cloud, offering more than 40 million curated photos, graphics, and videos, with key competitors including Shutterstock and Getty ImagesGetty ImagesGetty Images is a visual content company headquartered in Seattle, United States, whose three brands, Getty Images, iStock, and Unsplash, license creative images, editorial images such as news and sports pictures, video, and music. Its holding company, Getty Images Holdings, Inc., was listed on the New York Stock Exchange from 2022 and has traded over the counter since September 2026.Open the full entry.⁠[5][5][2][2]

On November 5, 2018, Adobe announced that Fotolia would be shut down on November 5, 2019, and that its more than 57 million images and videos and most of its features had already been integrated into Adobe Stock; Fotolia contributors had to migrate by February 5, 2019, buyers could use their Fotolia accounts until November 5, 2019, and eligible customers could use their remaining credits on Adobe Stock after the transition was complete.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

On March 21, 2023, Adobe introduced Firefly, a family of generative AI models; the first model was trained on Adobe Stock images, openly licensed content, and public domain content whose copyright had expired, which Adobe said was intended to make the generated content safe for commercial use and avoid infringing the intellectual property of other people or brands. Adobe also said it was developing a compensation model for Adobe Stock contributors and would share details once Firefly was out of beta.⁠[7][7][7][7]

As of fiscal 2025, Adobe Stock provides designers and businesses with millions of high-quality, curated, royalty-free photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, templates, audio, and 3D assets, built into apps such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Express, where users can search for assets and add them to their Creative Cloud Libraries; assets come in free and paid collections and can be licensed within the apps, through stock.adobe.com, or through a multi-asset subscription.⁠[8][8][8]

Adobe Stock: Official website: https://stock.adobe.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]