Adobe to Acquire Fotolia

Acquisition to Deliver Vibrant Image and Video Marketplace for Creatives Worldwide

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dec. 11, 2014 — Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Fotolia, a leading marketplace for royalty-free photos, images, graphics and HD video, for approximately $800 million in cash. Fotolia will be integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud, providing current and future Creative Cloud members with the ability to access and purchase over 34 million images and videos, significantly simplifying and accelerating the design process. The acquisition of Fotolia cements Creative Cloud’s role as a vibrant marketplace for creatives to buy and sell assets and services as well as showcase their talent to a worldwide audience. Adobe also plans to continue to operate Fotolia as a standalone stock service, accessible to anyone.

“The acquisition of Fotolia will reinforce Creative Cloud’s role as the preeminent destination for creatives,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media, Adobe. “Creative Cloud is becoming the go-to marketplace for the creative community to access images, videos, fonts and creative talent, through critical creative services like Fotolia and our new Creative Talent Search capabilities.”

With over 3.4 million members, Adobe Creative Cloud features the world’s leading desktop tools, an array of complementary mobile apps, training content, creative assets and services and ready access to a dynamic community. Creative Cloud is transforming how creatives find inspiration and deliver their best work -- and the value of Creative Cloud is increasing all the time through product updates and new capabilities like Creative Talent Search. Following the completion of the acquisition, Adobe expects to integrate the delivery and purchase of stock assets into Creative Cloud.

“Becoming part of the Adobe family is a dream come true for the Fotolia team and will accelerate our vision to become the best place for artists to build a business and the ultimate destination for designers to find stunning creative work,” said Oleg Tscheltzoff, founder and CEO of Fotolia.

Founded in 2004, with offices in New York, Paris and Berlin, privately-held Fotolia is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., TA Associates and management. Fotolia currently operates in 23 countries and has websites in 14 languages.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of Adobe’s fiscal Q1 2015, is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The potential financial impact to Adobe of this transaction is not reflected in financial targets Adobe has previously provided, or new targets disclosed as part of Adobe's financial results, released on December 11, 2014. Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently. Upon close Fotolia CEO, Oleg Tscheltzoff, will continue to lead the Fotolia team as part of Adobe’s Digital Media business.

For more information on Fotolia and the creative community, see: http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2014/12/building-a-vibrant-marketplace-for-the-creative-community.html

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

This press release includes forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks and uncertainties related to Adobe’s ability to successfully integrate Fotolia’s stock content service into Creative Cloud. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including statements regarding: the ease of use of any future Adobe stock content service, the functionality of the service’s commerce system, plans for integrating the service into Creative Cloud and other anticipated benefits of the transaction to Adobe; the ability of Adobe and Fotolia to close the announced transaction; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These risks, uncertainties and other factors, and the general risks associated with Adobe’s business, could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Adobe and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Adobe's SEC filings. Adobe does not assume any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements or other statements included in this press.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

Interview with Fotolia about their Instant App

Why you should buy and use mobile stock photos? How to shoot the perfect mobile stock image and why Fotolia Instant collection is so successful? Morgan David de Lossy and Murat Erimel from Fotolia answer them in the interview with stock industry veteran Amos Struck from http://www.stockphotosecrets.com

Fotolia launches new collection and mobile app, Fotolia Instant

NEW YORK, October 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the new trends in social media, mobile phone and Smartphone use, the world-leading microstock agency, Fotolia, is launching a new app and collection, uniquely designed for Smartphone photos. Created for iPhone 4 and up, Fotolia Instant offers fresh, new, "in-the-moment" images taken using the new app, which allows users to shoot and upload to Fotolia directly from their Smartphone.

Instant offers new opportunities
With Fotolia Instant (http://www.fotolia.com/instant), iPhone photographers can take photos from their mobile phones, filter them, tag them and upload them directly to Fotolia. Thanks to a new filter and easy exposure control, the new Instant app allows users to take better, more esthetic shots without compromising image quality and resolution.

Photos being submitted to the Instant Collection must meet the same quality and esthetic standards as other images for sale on Fotolia, as well as meet the legal requirements related to image rights and intellectual property as specified by Fotolia. The Fotolia Instant app makes it easy for photographers to upload digital Model Releases to the site, directly from their Smartphone, making the process simple and efficient.

New collection offers fresh images at affordable prices
Fotolia's Instant Collection offers users a new opportunity to enhance their visual communications with spontaneous, high-quality photos, which are legally sound, for only a few dollars. All images sold on Fotolia's platform within the Instant Collection will go for the price of 3 Credits (about $3 depending on your package).

The Instant Collection features images that cater to a specific, more spontaneous and in-the-moment look. "The increase in social networking and the continuous improvements to the quality of Smartphone cameras have given birth to a more spontaneous and immediate iconographic culture. It's much less fixed and formatted than before," explains Fotolia's CEO and co-founder, Oleg Tscheltzoff. "The incredible success photography apps for Smartphones have seen proves just how much our society loves to share informal and spontaneous moments."

Downloadable for free as of today in the Apple Store, Fotolia Instant will also be available for Android next month. An iPad application will also be launched shortly that will allow users to browse Fotolia's library, and download directly images to their device or Dropbox account.

About Fotolia
Fotolia is a leading provider of royalty-free photos, vectors, illustrations and HD video, and the preferred choice of millions of artists and offers high-quality, content creators worldwide. As the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional, royalty-free images on one site, Fotolia provides its members with quality, reliability and affordability. Today, Fotolia is over 4 million members strong, and spans the globe with websites in 15 languages and offices in 23 countries. With over 24 million files to choose from, Fotolia offers something for everyone on any budget. Fotolia was founded in 2004 in New York City.

Fotolia teams up with PrintUI

Fotolia has recently teamed up with PrintUI to make printing images easier than ever. Easy PrintUS is a new, turnkey version of the InDesign-based PrintUI approach. It will save users a step, by offering Fotolia images directly through its website.

Users must create a Fotolia account, and purchase Credits, which will allow them to put them towards images purchased via Print UI, under a new tab that allows users to search for and purchase new images and access previously purchased images. Through the interface, users can download comp images and continue on to purchase the image, which is replaced with the high-resolution version directly on Print UI, once the user confirms the purchase.

Find out more about how it works here: http://printui.com/blog/2013/07/fotolia-stock-photography-support/ or go to the Print UL developer documentation page and download the new Stock Photography Overview document.

Fotolia opens up to northern markets with new Swedish site launch

New Yourk, June 2013 - Fotolia continues to expand across the globe, this time heading North with the launch of Fotolia Sweden. The new website, which can be viewed at www.fotolia.se, marks the launch of Fotolia's 23rd localized market and website, solidifying its place as the Europe's number on image bank and a leading, world-class mircostock photo bank.

Swedish launch a strategic move
In recent years, Fotolia has seen an increase in local demand in Sweden, In an effort to continue to provide truly global content and services, the new Swedish site will offer all of its services, including Monthly Subscription Plans, with prices starting at 1.40 SEK per image.

A local, dedicated team based in Stockholm will offer Customer Support in Swedish, as well as assistance with any other Fotolia products via email or telephone. Country Manager and Swedish team leader mikael Elfstrom brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge on the local market: "The Swedish market is a very specific and localized market, so bringing Fotolia in Stockholm will allow for us to increase our customer base, as well as increase the diversity of images in Fololia's collection, which already ahs 20+ million reyalty-free images."

Making Fotolia available to Sweden's population of almost 10 million people may also be a stepping-stone to other Scandinavian markets. Opening up to Scandinavian countries will fill a need in the creative industry for specialized Nordic content. In April 2013, Fotolia also launched in the Netherlands and already the diversity of images in Fotolia's collection is being felt. With its global expansion, Fotolia now has over 4 million users and is available in 23 countries and in 14 local languages.

About Fotolia
Over 3 million people prefer Fotolia for affordable, royalty-free images. graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 14 languages and offices in 23 countries. With over 20 million files to choose from, you will find what you need on Fotolia.com.

TEN's 3rd PSD by Brazilian artist Adhemas Batista available on Friday, March 8th

March’s artist, Adhemas Batista, is known as a “color salesman” thanks to his use of bright and lively colors, which has inspired his slogan, “I’m selling colors”. Inspired by the vibrancy of his home country, Brazil, Batista’s work is highly energetic, detailed and urban. “I think our environment and personal experiences directly influence our life, as artists or designers. My work is probably more Brazilian than I am. I can be very calm and serious, while it’s happy all the time,” says the now L.A. resident. According to the artist, his creation is a “graphic explosion evoking the urban and youth culture, a kind of energetic rebellion, with bright colors and complex shapes.

More than just a learning tool for other designers, every artist shares his or her personal style and influences, how they came to become the artists they are today, along with the techniques they used to create the PSD through short videos. These videos are released on TEN Collection's Facebook page and on Twitter (@Fotolia), or view them directly on Fotolia's TEN Collection channel.

TEN by Fotolia Season 2 continues this Friday with another amazing free design

Sci-fi fantasy meets greek mythology in this month's TEN by Fotolia design, available for free this Friday only.

Consumed with a passion for art and design, Soongyu Gwon, who works as a Creative Director at D.FY Inc. Design Group in Seoul (South Korea), defines himself as a "digital image maker".The work and style of this man, who is above all in search of the deeper meaning in things, materializes in his ultra-graphic, perfectly mastered works. Inspired and enriched by Korea's 5,000 years of history, as well as traditional asian culture, and being close to nature, his compositions also show the influence of contemporary arts: comics, fantasty and horror movies are Soongyu Gwon's favorite genres since he saw Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive" in high school.

Two videos, both with subtitles in 12 languages, were shot in South-Korea. The one revealing his everyday world will be available as a sneak preview on the dedicated TEN Facebook page, from February 6th. The one unveiling his work techniques will be available on release day, February 8th, on the Youtube TEN Collection channel and on the the TEN Collection website.

Gustavo Brigante's stunning psd composition for TEN by Fotolia is available for free Thursday only

An Argentinian designer is Fotolia's choice to create the premiere piece to launch season 2 of TEN - the innovative monthly promotion offering free psd downloads from artists around the world that includes Royalty Free licenses for all the Fotolia works used in it. The stylish, art-house style film that accompanies each release on the 10th of each month, will include a "making of" video this season - giving the downloaders a window into the creative thinking and processes of the featured artists. Season 2 will include works from 10 little-known but highly talented artists and 2 spotlight works from undisclosed accomplished creators spreading the season over the entire year.

This first work, a personal interpretation of the theme "Let's work," encapsulates Gustavo's belief that perseverance is the key to success throughout all aspects of life. "It was easy to find the photos of my choice on Fotolia,” he explains. “As I neared the end of this work I needed one additional photo. I took advantage of my encounter with the TEN team to organise a shooting session, in which the cameraman took part as a model. I then imported his photo into Photoshop. To obtain graphic consistency, I managed a few adjustments of colours, shades and exposition, without damaging the original image. This allowed me to bring together stock images from Fotolia, and personal photos. As for the methods and tools I used, I chose those in Photoshop and 3D, which enabled me to add another dimension to my work. The last step was to integrate the shadows of it various elements.

TEN Season 2 launches (Thursday / Today) - get your free download for 24 hours on the 10th and watch the films anytime.

Fotolia's launching a new designer contest!

NEW YORK, September 4, 2012 – Fotolia introduces its worldwide TEN Collection contest. From September 10 to October 10, digital artists from all over the globe will have an opportunity to challenge the ten original artists behind the images of the TEN Collection project. Finalists will be eligible to win from a selection of great prizes, totaling an astounding $300,000 in value. The grand winning artist will have their entry featured in an international advertising campaign worth approximately $200,000.

All contestants must submit their entries between September 10 and October 10 by visiting Fotolia’s Facebook page http://www.tencollectioncontest.com. Contestants will have to create a PSD file based on the theme of their choice, using at least three of the same Fotolia images used by the challenged artist. Themes include: business, family, travel, food, lifestyle, street art, mobile, money, drinks and abstract. The grand winner will be selected on October 17 by judges from the TEN Collection, Fotolia, Wisibility and Amkashop.

Other prizes up for grabs include:

• a copy of Adobe® Creative Suite® 6 Master Collection software
• a Wacom Intuos5 Touch S tablet
• a 1-year Fotolia subscription (100 downloads / month)
• 1,000 “TUTO credits” for use on tuto.com
• a wide size PVC print order on Amkashop.com

“The TEN Collection project has been a true success with graphic designers and creative artists alike. There have been approximately 150,000 downloads worldwide over the last ten months and that’s amazing”, says Guillaume Le Bleis, General Director of Fotolia France. “Knowing that designers all around the globe are benefitting makes it all worthwhile. We’re really excited to launch the TEN contest because we’ll once again be able to reach out to passionate designers who have a desire to push their creative limits.”

About the TEN Collection
TEN Collection was launched in December 2011. A community outreach project, it allowed the public to download intricate PSD images for free, created by top digital artists in the industry. For ten consecutive months, graphic designers and creative enthusiasts were invited to learn insider techniques, and special tips and tricks to help further their own skills.


About Fotolia

Over 3.5 million people prefer Fotolia for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 12 languages and offices in 20 countries. With over 18 million files to choose from, find it on Fotolia.com.

Fotolia Expands To New Worldwide Markets and Now Covers 20 Countries

NEW YORK, July 17, 2012 – Fotolia continues to span the globe by expanding its services to Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Australia. With this recent expansion, Fotolia now provides services to 20 countries in 12 official languages. The launch of localized services in Latin America and Australia is a strategic move to acquire more content from local contributing artists, and to build long-lasting relationships with customers in these countries.

With high Internet penetration rates, Fotolia’s unique, Internet-based stock photography business has flourished in North America and Europe. Though South American rates grew over 10x over the last 10 years, they still only have 55% of the Internet penetration rate that North America has. This increase in Internet access feeds directly into Fotolia’s crowdsourcing model.

Since Fotolia’s expansion into Brazil in 2010, the company has experienced a positive influx in Latin American interest. With several of their best-selling artists from Argentina, Fotolia is looking forward to discovering and recruiting top talent in Latin America. Alejandro Ventura, professional photographer and Regional Director of Fotolia South America, confirms this trend. “Latin countries are full of talented photographers waiting to be discovered. Fotolia is going to help reach a worldwide audience by introducing microstock and licensing concepts to these new untapped markets.”

“We’ve seen incredible growth in Latin America and Australia, and they’re quickly becoming as big as some of our European markets. Localizing our services was essential to providing the best care to our growing customer base”, says Oleg Tscheltzoff, CEO and co-founder of Fotolia. “We continue to be the stock photography agency with the best international coverage, and our recent endorsement by KKR means that we can consider exciting opportunities and expand our reach to more countries.”

About Fotolia
Over 3.5 million people prefer Fotolia for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 12 languages and offices in 20 countries. With over 18 million files to choose from, find it on Fotolia.com.

About KKR
Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a leading global investment firm with $62.3 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2012. With offices around the world, KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through its client relationships and capital markets platform. KKR is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KKR). For additional information, please visit KKR's website.

KKR announces growth investment in Fotolia

NEW YORK -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (together with its affiliates, "KKR"), today announced a $150 million growth equity investment in Fotolia. In addition, KKR, TA Associates and Management worked with KKR Capital Markets and a number of relationship banks to put in place a $150 million senior financing for the Company.

Founded in 2005, Fotolia offers its users over 17 million digital images and videos. Fotolia is the leading microstock platform in Europe and is ranked among the top stock photography websites globally, providing a unique marketplace for photographers to sell their images. Every day, photographers and designers upload thousands of new images and videos onto Fotolia’s platform. Photographers receive commissions from each image that is licensed via Fotolia. Fotolia therefore provides a benefit to both photographers and buyers by protecting intellectual property rights and generating commission income for photographers, while offering quality images at affordable prices to its buyers.

Oleg Tscheltzoff, co-Founder and CEO of Fotolia, said: “After only seven years, this investment is a testament to our rapid progress as a company. We are extremely proud to have KKR, one of the largest and most reputable private equity firms, join Fotolia as a lead investor. KKR shares Fotolia’s philosophy of growth through innovation and will be contributing valuable entrepreneurial capital. Our new partner offers operational capabilities and a deep network that will help Fotolia accelerate its growth. The extensive worldwide network of KKR will enable us to cement our global leadership in the stock photography industry and further our goal of being the global source of inspiration for designers and buyers of creative content.”

Philipp Freise, Head of European Media Investments for KKR, commented: “We are very excited to partner with the team that has built Fotolia from a startup into one of the world’s leading microstock platforms with a strong leadership position in Europe. The Company has grown significantly since 2005 and has consistently demonstrated the kind of innovation and leadership that we look for in our digital media investments. Today’s investment is about fueling even more growth and fostering a new phase of development, to which we will contribute the whole suite of KKR’s capabilities.”

Fotolia received its first growth investment from TA Associates in 2009.

Jonathan Meeks, a Managing Director at TA Associates, added: “We have enjoyed being associated with Fotolia over the past three years and partnering with Oleg and his team to foster the company’s continued growth. We welcome KKR as a new investor and look forward to working closely with them and management to further build value in Fotolia.”

About Fotolia
Headquartered in New York, Fotolia operates websites in 15 countries in 11 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Turkish, and Korean). With over 17 million digital images and videos to choose from, Fotolia offers one of the largest image databases of quality. Over 3 million people choose Fotolia for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Fotolia's leadership in the digital images sector is recognized by its partnerships with, amongst others, the Associated Press. Earlier this year, Fotolia acquired Wilogo, a crowd-sourced design community. Connect with Fotolia on Facebook and Twitter.

About KKR
Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a leading global investment firm with $62.3 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2012. With offices around the world, KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through its client relationships and capital markets platform. KKR is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KKR). For additional information, please visit KKR's website.

About TA Associates
Founded in 1968, TA Associates is one of the largest and most experienced middle-market growth private equity firms. The firm has invested in over 400 companies globally and has raised more than $16 billion in capital. With offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong, TA Associates leads buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the healthcare, technology, financial services, business services and consumer industries. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.

AP Images to distribute royalty-free images from Fotolia

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press and Fotolia, one of the world’s leading microstock image companies, today announced a collaboration giving customers access to millions of royalty-free images.

Starting today, AP Images customers will be able to buy editorial, rights-managed and royalty-free images, including millions from Fotolia, on APImages.com, solidifying its standing as the industry’s first one-stop-shop for all imagery needs.

“With the addition of the high-quality library of microstock images from Fotolia, AP now offers the full range of visual content to all customers across the editorial and commercial spectrum," said Fernando Ferre, vice president of AP Images. “Our customers are asking us for a solution and this partnership allows us to address our customers’ needs comprehensively, along with our industry-leading editorial offerings and our partners’ royalty-free and rights-managed creative content.”

On APImages.com, AP will offer MicrostockRF monthly subscriptions to new and existing customers, with packages of 50 to 5,000 images per month. MicrostockRF will be available globally to all AP customers in all territories, in addition to AP’s products.

"We're excited to be a part of yet another industry first by opening up a new market for our 126,000-plus artists", said Oleg Tscheltzoff, co-founder and CEO of Fotolia. "We believe this is just the first step in a strategic alliance that will allow both of us to continue our industry-leading innovations, grow our companies and benefit our customers."

About The AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. On the Web: www.ap.org.

About Fotolia
Over 3 million people prefer Fotolia for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowdsourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 12 languages and offices in 15 countries. With over 16 million files to choose from, find it on Fotolia.com.

Fotolia acquires crowdsourcing design community Wilogo.com

Leading online stock photography agency purchases the pioneer in crowdsourced design: Wilogo.com

NEW YORK, NY - (March  2012) - Fotolia announces the acquisition of Wilogo.com, a leading crowdsourcing design community. Since its inception in 2006, Wilogo has been connecting businesses and designers from all over the world. Wilogo.com is available in 4 languages, and has produced hundreds of thousands of logos for its clients. Wilogo's community also has designers with skills in print, web, and packaging design, fulfilling businesses with the entire range of their marketing and communications needs.

Citing similarities in corporate mantras, Fotolia CEO Oleg Tscheltzoff expressed optimism towards future prospects of the two companies working together. "Both Fotolia and Wilogo are pioneers in the democratization of graphic design on the Internet. We've helped hundreds of thousands of photographers sell images at affordable prices to millions of business owners and graphic designers. Wilogo goes a step further by helping business owners launch their businesses with the look of an amazing brand on a bootstrap budget."

For a fee of just $295, Wilogo clients post their design specifications to thousands of designers. Just days later, hundreds of custom designed logos are shown. After selecting the top choices, final logos are modified and presented with complete international usage rights. Wilogo's service is backed by a 100% money-back guarantee.

"Response from our customers, as well as our design community has been amazing. We've served clients as big as L'Oréal and Danone, as well as Internet startups like Seesmic", says Wilogo CEO Jérôme Bazin. "They're constantly telling us that we have the best solution for their branding needs."

About Wilogo

Founded in 2006 as the world's first crowdsourcing design community, Wilogo connects businesses with designers throughout the world with design contests for logos, print, web and packaging design. Businesses get fast, dependable and professional looking designs, while designers get paid for their winning entries. Wilogo is based in Germany and France, and is available in 4 languages, including English and Spanish.

About Fotolia
Over 3 million people prefer Fotolia for affordable, royalty‐free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowdsourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 12 languages and offices in 14 countries. With over 16 million files to choose from, find it on Fotolia.com.

Fotolia new Website Layout

Fotolia released today it's new website layout. The website has a nice clean look and responds fast. What do you think?

AudioMicro Receives Fotolia Investment

AudioMicro and Fotolia To Partner in Content Licensing Ventures

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 1, 2011 - AudioMicro, which offers the world’s largest collection of user-generated royalty free music and sound effects, announced today that it has received an equity investment from Fotolia, Europe’s leading micro stock photo site.  Existing investor DFJ Frontier, a West Coast seed and early-stage investor, also participated in the financing, which totaled $750,000.  In connection with the financing, Oleg Tscheltzoff, co-founder and chief executive officer of Fotolia, has joined AudioMicro’s board of directors.

Fotolia and AudioMicro will collaborate on new projects, each targeting a different content vertical.  They intend to launch four of these projects by the end of next month.  Fotolia, which is backed by TA Associates, also owns Flixtime.com, a site that turns photos into videos, and Photoxpress.com, a subscription photo service.

“AudioMicro is a leader in crowd-sourced stock music and sound effects,” said Tscheltzoff.  “We’re pleased to partner with them to accelerate their business.”

“Fotolia’s investment and partnership is a great endorsement of our vision, and recognition of the traction we’ve gained,” said Ryan Born, founder and chief executive officer, AudioMicro.  “We’re delighted to work with the Fotolia team.”

About AudioMicro
An industry pioneer in licensing music and sound effects through credit-based and subscription packages, AudioMicro acts as a discovery and distribution platform for stock audio content.  Its collection of royalty free music, stock music, sound effects, and free sound effects includes over 225,000 tracks of both crowd-sourced and premium, record label-owned content.  AudioMicro also operates the Audioo voicemail sharing service.  The company is venture-backed by DFJ Frontier.  For more information, visit AudioMicro.com.

About Fotolia
Over 2 million people prefer Fotolia for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 12 languages and offices in 14 countries. With over 12,000,000 files to choose from, find it on Fotolia. www.fotolia.com

Changes To The Royalty Structure At Fotolia

Fotolia announce earlier today with an email to their contributor a change tho the royalty structure. It will effect mostly lower non-exclusive fotolia rank contributors by around ~ 5% points.

Dear Fotolia Contributor,


2010 was another record year for the Fotolia community. We set new all-time highs for the number images in our collection, the number of members, and photographer royalty payouts. For 2011, we're implementing some changes in efforts to continue this trend.


Competition in the market is increasing, both amongst the photographers in the community, and amongst stock photography agencies. We've been monitoring the situation carefully, and have continued to increase our marketing spend in the number and frequency of ad campaigns. In addition, Fotolia continued its international leadership in new markets, with the opening of the Russian and Chinese web sites. With the increase in sales, the velocity of the rank changes has also accelerated. In order to sustain our continued efforts in marketing, we are making some changes to the royalty structures at the mid and lower tiers next week.


Fotolia continues to maintain photographer commissions at a significantly higher than those of our major competitors, and our increased efforts in marketing will result in an even higher velocity towards increased rankings.


Please note also that our new recency filter gives some priority to newer and fresher content, which means that the best new photographers with fresh content will have a better chance of rising to the higher ranks.


Thanks for your continued support, and we look forward to a great 2011 together.


Sincerely,
Fotolia.com

Fotolia releases the new version of Fotolia Desktop

December 22, 2010 - Fotolia released version 2 of their interactive Fotolia Desktop Application. This new version maintains the core features of the original - optimized search and one-click image purchase/download, along with great new features, including infinite scrolling search and powerful gallery management tools.

“We received feedback from over 10,000 Fotolia Desktop users, who conducted over 1,000,000 searches with the app” says Thibaud Elzière, Co-founder of Fotolia and VP of Product Development. “We redesigned and improved the application based on their comments”

“Our community has amassed a collection of over 11 million images, illustrations, vectors, and videos over the last 5 years” Says Oleg Tscheltzoff, CEO of Fotolia. “The Desktop Application is a great way for both designers and business professionals to access this vast amount of content quickly and seamlessly.”

For more information or to download the free Fotolia Desktop, visit http://en.fotolia.com/desktop

Fotolia Acquires Clients of Microstock Agency Polylooks

Polylooks Ceases Operations and Transitions Customers to Europe’s Leading Microstock Agency

New York / Berlin, November 30, 2010 – In the wake of Deutsche Telekom’s decision to shutdown their online microstock photo agency Polylooks, Europe’s leading Microstock-Agency Fotolia is offering clients of Polylooks a way to seamlessly transition their accounts. From December 1st to 15th, all active clients of Polylooks can convert their accounts, including all credits, into a Fotolia account. This partnership agreement was made in consideration of Polylooks’ decision to discontinue their services as of December 31st, 2010.

Commencing January 1st, 2011, visitors of the Polylooks website will be redirected to Fotolia.co.uk Image buyers have the opportunity to switch their accounts in a smooth and straightforward fashion from Polylooks to Fotolia, to transfer their credits without any loss or charge, and to continue image buying without interruption. As clients of Fotolia, they will be able to access over 11 million royalty free photos, vectors and videos.

“We want our clients to enjoy the best possible continuity and quality when buying images – even after we discontinue our service. That is why we’re recommending Fotolia”, says Norbert Weber, head of Polylooks.

“We are very excited to offer this to the Polylooks community” adds Oleg Tscheltzoff, CEO, Fotolia LLC. “Not only does it strengthen our position as the leading stock photography marketplace in Europe, but we are convinced that all new clients will be thrilled by our service and our unparalleled selection of high quality images and videos.”

About Fotolia
Over 2 million people prefer Fotolia, LLC for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site. Founded in New York City in 2004, Fotolia spans the globe with websites in 11 languages and offices in 13 countries. With over 11,000,000 files to choose from, find it on Fotolia. www.fotolia.com

Fotolia Partners with deviantART for Microstock Offering

Fotolia and deviantART announced today their plans to blend the international microstock business of Fotolia.com with deviantART’s worldwide social network of artists by launching the “deviantART Stock Project with Fotolia.” This new offering is part of deviantART’s plans to establish an integrated commercial stock offering within its network and serves Fotolia’s goal of expanding its footprint in the U.S..

DeviantART is currently home to 15 million members around the world and represents the largest online aggregation of microstock users. The Stock Project marks the first time a microstock provider is tapping the power of community for greater distribution and participation.

“DeviantART is the purest of all artist communities throughout the world. It works on democratic philosophy that complements our goals with Fotolia. We believe that the stock industry should be an open even-playing field for all artists and not set up elitist barriers to entry. We see a lot of synergies with how deviantART has democratized art and created a safe and welcoming environment,” said Oleg Tscheltzoff, founder and CEO of Fotolia. “The success of deviantART goes far beyond its impressive member base. When you take a look at the site you can see a community working together to make things happen for artists. The culture of sharing and learning is a natural magnet.”

“Our community uses microstock in high volumes. We wanted to introduce a solution with affordable purchase options, simple licensing terms and without heavy subscription costs. But it was more important to have a partner like Fotolia that understands the importance as a business of developing community as resource,” said Angelo Sotira, founder and CEO of deviantART. “We talked with all the major stock houses and Fotolia was the only partner for us. They offer an extensive collection of commercial stock assets and expertise; They consistently offer the best prices for stock and the best split for artists who want to contribute to the stock catalog; and Fotolia has a strong international presence that serves our global membership.”

The initial offering will increase the amount of stock already available on deviantART.com and provide members with commercial tools to facilitate an image-licensing program. The fully integrated product, expected next year, will provide members with seamless on-site access to microstock assets and create a unique deviantART collection from the community’s resources.

To learn more visit: http://stockproject.fotolia.com or http://stockproject.deviantart.com.

Millions of Fotolia images available through Free CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X5 update

The acclaimed CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X5 features direct access to Fotolia’s royalty-free collection of over nine-million images. Customers using the latest version of Corel’s award-winning graphic design software can receive this new functionality via a free update from www.corel.com/updates.

“The professionals using Fotolia and CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 have instant access to fresh content by using the search and download feature,” explains Oleg Tscheltzoff. “As a leading global provider of stock images, we are very pleased to team up with Corel on this initiative.” Visitors to Fotolia will find over 10,000 images comprised of photos, vectors, illustrations, and videos added to the collection each day.

Corel and CorelDRAW are registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its subsidiaries.

“Working with Fotolia will give our users more options to create with impact by providing them with the opportunity to connect with even more content," said John Falsetto, Senior Product Manager, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. "Having integrated access to a high-quality stock image source like Fotolia is extremely valuable to today's graphics professional."

Known for its high-quality and affordable collection, Fotolia’s images start at less than $1 USD. All downloads come with flexible licensing options that include unlimited copy runs. Over two-million creative professionals, artists, and contributors have signed-up for a free account on www.fotolia.com

For more information about CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5, to purchase an ESD or download a free 30-day trial, please visit www.corel.com/coreldraw . To learn more about how CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is used worldwide, please visit the product's community site at http://coreldraw.com.