Adobe discontinuing stock photo service

Adobe has sent a note around to customers (including yours truly) announcing that it is shuttering its Stock Photo service effective April 1, 2008. The company says it is doing so “in order to focus our efforts in other areas.” Translation: “Despite producing the most popular photo editing software in the world, we’re not making any money on selling stock photos.” While I (and our art department) do use Photoshop constantly, I’ve never used the stock photo service. Network World’s got a couple of subscriptions to other such services, and I find myself using Shutterstock.com when ever the need for a photo arises. With so much competition for existing sites, it was probably tough for Adobe to crack the market. Current customers have until March 31, 2008 to re-download any purchased photos.